Not many would consider it hard labor to stand in the shadow of Jennifer Lopez. Few, perhaps, could stand as still and as long as documentary filmmaker Jason Bergh.
For nearly a decade, Bergh has recorded the multi-hyphenate star behind the scenes as she has charted new paths as a content producer and beauty mogul, and danced her way onto America’s biggest stage — the Super Bowl Halftime Show. Last month, Bergh took his loftiest seat at J. Lo, Inc. by serving as director for “The Greatest Love Story Never Told,” a much-discussed documentary about the making of Lopez’s 2024 visual album “This Is Me … Now.”
Imposingly tall and excessively kind, Bergh has been a gentle giant in the unscripted space for years. He’s directed episodic and short content on notable music figures like Alicia Keys and athletes Stephen Curry and Clay Matthews. After the dust settled on “Greatest Love Story,...
For nearly a decade, Bergh has recorded the multi-hyphenate star behind the scenes as she has charted new paths as a content producer and beauty mogul, and danced her way onto America’s biggest stage — the Super Bowl Halftime Show. Last month, Bergh took his loftiest seat at J. Lo, Inc. by serving as director for “The Greatest Love Story Never Told,” a much-discussed documentary about the making of Lopez’s 2024 visual album “This Is Me … Now.”
Imposingly tall and excessively kind, Bergh has been a gentle giant in the unscripted space for years. He’s directed episodic and short content on notable music figures like Alicia Keys and athletes Stephen Curry and Clay Matthews. After the dust settled on “Greatest Love Story,...
- 4/5/2024
- by Matt Donnelly
- Variety Film + TV
There’s a moment in Jennifer Lopez’s latest documentary The Greatest Love Story Never Told, directed by Jason Bergh, where she gets to the heart of why she’s pursuing a multi-format rollout of her ninth album This Is Me … Now. “It’s not like anybody was clamoring for the next JLo record,” she says with a self-aware laugh in an interview scene. “There’s some people around me who are like, ‘This is stupid. She doesn’t need to do this. Why is she doing this?’ And they’re right.
- 2/28/2024
- by Brittany Spanos
- Rollingstone.com
“I’ve been married four times now,” Jennifer Lopez says to the camera during the opening minutes of “The Greatest Love Story Never Told,” “and I’m sure people watching from the outside are like ‘What is this girl’s fucking problem?’”
If nothing else, this semi-candid Epk of a film — which chronicles the making of “This Is Me… Now: A Love Story,” the self-financed musical fairy tale that Lopez released on Prime video earlier this month in support of her new album of the same name — identifies the multi-talented music icon’s “fucking problem” more nakedly than anything else she’s ever made: She’s desperate to be understood, but petrified of putting herself out there.
It’s a dilemma inherent to celebrity in the digital age, and one that might be relatable to anyone who’s tried to be vulnerable in a world that can destroy you for exposing your heart.
If nothing else, this semi-candid Epk of a film — which chronicles the making of “This Is Me… Now: A Love Story,” the self-financed musical fairy tale that Lopez released on Prime video earlier this month in support of her new album of the same name — identifies the multi-talented music icon’s “fucking problem” more nakedly than anything else she’s ever made: She’s desperate to be understood, but petrified of putting herself out there.
It’s a dilemma inherent to celebrity in the digital age, and one that might be relatable to anyone who’s tried to be vulnerable in a world that can destroy you for exposing your heart.
- 2/27/2024
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
With her ninth album “This Is Me…Now,” Jennifer Lopez promised to be more honest and vulnerable than ever before — a bookend to 2002’s “This Is Me…Then” in which she would “tell her side” of the romances that for decades have been one-dimensionally splashed across the pages of tabloids worldwide. Even as a lifelong fan, I was skeptical just how far back she’d draw the curtain given the meticulous control she’s exerted over her career.
Between the record and “This Is Me…Now: A Love Story,” the hourlong not-a-film-but-not-a-music-video accompaniment released concurrently with it, Lopez conveyed pop emotionality more effectively than true intimacy. But “The Greatest Love Story Never Told,” the third part of her album-cycle media offensive, delivers precisely the revelatory perspective that its counterparts lack. Directed by Jason Bergh, the documentary explores the complicated production of “A Love Story,” in the process exposing a global superstar’s ambitions,...
Between the record and “This Is Me…Now: A Love Story,” the hourlong not-a-film-but-not-a-music-video accompaniment released concurrently with it, Lopez conveyed pop emotionality more effectively than true intimacy. But “The Greatest Love Story Never Told,” the third part of her album-cycle media offensive, delivers precisely the revelatory perspective that its counterparts lack. Directed by Jason Bergh, the documentary explores the complicated production of “A Love Story,” in the process exposing a global superstar’s ambitions,...
- 2/26/2024
- by Todd Gilchrist
- Variety Film + TV
"The prize for aging is wisdom." Prime Video has revealed the full trailer for a documentary titled The Greatest Love Story Never Told, a behind-the-scenes companion to JLo's new film And album called This Is Me...Now (watch the trailer). The "cinematic event", a fantastical sci-fi fairy tale adventure, is also a companion to the album, visualizing her songs in a spectacular way. "Her story. In her own words." Directed by Jason Bergh, The Greatest Love Story Never Told follows Jennifer Lopez as she attempts her most daring project yet: independently producing a new album and cinematic original that explore her twenty-year journey to self-love. It is a unique behind-the-scenes experience with Lopez and her many collaborators as she produces a new album & movie. This isn't the first JLo making of doc, as she also released Halftime a few years ago. The reviews for the This Is Me...Now film are...
- 2/18/2024
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Directed by Jason Bergh, The Greatest Love Story Never Told follows Jennifer Lopez as she attempts her most daring project yet: independently producing a new album and cinematic original that explore her twenty-year journey to self-love. Intimate and empowering, the documentary offers unflinching access to Jennifer’s most personal moments as she works hard to reclaim her narrative through the making of This Is Me…Now. From interviews with her inner circle, including producing partners and longtime collaborators, to candid home moments, this is a vulnerable portrait of an icon who put it all on the line and discovered a newfound determination in self-acceptance and love.
Watch the trailer below:
“The Greatest Love Story Never Told” will stream globally on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide on February 27. The documentary which was produced through Artists Equity and directed by Jason Bergh, comes on the heels of the release of “This Is Me…...
Watch the trailer below:
“The Greatest Love Story Never Told” will stream globally on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide on February 27. The documentary which was produced through Artists Equity and directed by Jason Bergh, comes on the heels of the release of “This Is Me…...
- 2/17/2024
- by Kristyn Clarke
- Age of the Nerd
Jennifer Lopez marked the release of her ninth studio album This Is Me… Now with a visit to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Friday.
When discussing the inspiration behind her new record, Lopez said the process of being back in the studio and working on the project made her look back at the past two decades, including that “personal, private journey that nobody knew about.”
When acknowledging “the growth and all the falling down and getting up” throughout the years (and the public’s perception at the time...
When discussing the inspiration behind her new record, Lopez said the process of being back in the studio and working on the project made her look back at the past two decades, including that “personal, private journey that nobody knew about.”
When acknowledging “the growth and all the falling down and getting up” throughout the years (and the public’s perception at the time...
- 2/17/2024
- by Charisma Madarang
- Rollingstone.com
Following the premiere of her autobiographical musical film This is Me…Now: A Love Story, Jennifer Lopez has announced another project: documentary The Greatest Love Story Never Told, which features the multi-hyphenate sharing a rarely-shown vulnerable side of herself with fans. The Amazon MGM Studios film will be available to stream on Prime Video on Feb. 27.
“I’ve been married four times now. I used to be terrified of being alone. I didn’t know what else to do by myself,” confesses Lopez in the documentary’s trailer. “I’ve decided to tell my story that I’ve never shared with anybody in the world.”
She continues, “I’m sure people watching from the outside were like, ‘What is this girl’s problem?’ What I portrayed to the world was, ‘Oh, this didn’t work out and it’s fine and I’m good and they’re good.’ And all...
“I’ve been married four times now. I used to be terrified of being alone. I didn’t know what else to do by myself,” confesses Lopez in the documentary’s trailer. “I’ve decided to tell my story that I’ve never shared with anybody in the world.”
She continues, “I’m sure people watching from the outside were like, ‘What is this girl’s problem?’ What I portrayed to the world was, ‘Oh, this didn’t work out and it’s fine and I’m good and they’re good.’ And all...
- 2/16/2024
- by Tatiana Tenreyro
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
“The Greatest Love Story Never Told”, directed by Jason Bergh, is a new documentary, providing a behind-the-scenes look at her movie “This Is Me…Now: A Love Story”, streaming February 27, 2024 on Prime Video:
“…follow Jennifer Lopez as she attempts her most daring project yet: independently producing a new album and cinematic original that explore her twenty-year journey to self-love.
“Intimate and empowering, the documentary offers unflinching access to Jennifer’s most personal moments as she works hard to reclaim her narrative.
“From interviews with her inner circle, including producing partners and longtime collaborators, to candid home moments, this is a vulnerable portrait of an icon who put it all on the line and discovered a newfound determination in self-acceptance and love…”
Click the images to enlarge...
“…follow Jennifer Lopez as she attempts her most daring project yet: independently producing a new album and cinematic original that explore her twenty-year journey to self-love.
“Intimate and empowering, the documentary offers unflinching access to Jennifer’s most personal moments as she works hard to reclaim her narrative.
“From interviews with her inner circle, including producing partners and longtime collaborators, to candid home moments, this is a vulnerable portrait of an icon who put it all on the line and discovered a newfound determination in self-acceptance and love…”
Click the images to enlarge...
- 2/16/2024
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
Jennifer Lopez will unveil a new album, This Is Me…Now, and accompanying film, This Is Me…Now: A Love Story, on Feb. 16. In addition, Amazon MGM Studios will release a documentary, The Greatest Love Story Never Told, that showcases how both projects came to be on Feb. 27.
Directed by Jason Bergh, the documentary “follows Jennifer Lopez as she attempts her most daring project yet: independently producing a new album and cinematic original that explore her twenty-year journey to self-love.”
The official synopsis adds that it “offers unflinching access to...
Directed by Jason Bergh, the documentary “follows Jennifer Lopez as she attempts her most daring project yet: independently producing a new album and cinematic original that explore her twenty-year journey to self-love.”
The official synopsis adds that it “offers unflinching access to...
- 2/14/2024
- by Emily Zemler
- Rollingstone.com
The eighth annual HollyShorts Film Festival has tapped Joe Carnahan for its 2012 Visionary Award. Past recipients include Paul Haggis, Eli Roth and Neil Labute. This year's fest, which runs Aug. 9-16 at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, will feature the world premiere of the Zachary Guerra-helmed short The Devil's Dosh, which Carnahan exec produced. Devil's Dosh will unspool during opening-night festivities, which will be hosted by Extra’s Ben Lyons and Epix’s Carly Steel. The festival already locked down Zachary Quinto to open the event with the premiere of his short Periods. The year's HollyShorts also will feature West Coast premieres of the Jason Bergh and Sal
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- 7/16/2012
- by Tatiana Siegel
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
At 35 minutes, "Alekesam" is a short documentary with a subject that could probably fill a Ken Burns-style PBS miniseries, full of political unrest, social uprisings, and jazz music: Hugh Masekela, a musician and activist who fought against apartheid (he was exiled from South Africa for more than 30 years), struggles to reconnect with his son Sal Masekela, a current Espn commentator who is just now embarking on his own musical career. But while the doc tries to focus on the tenuous emotional connection between a distant father and a resistant son, it ends up coming across more as a fluffy promotional piece for Sal's new album than anything genuinely probing or insightful.
Hugh Masekela has had an amazing life and an even more amazing career. A jazz trumpet player who incorporated African rhythms, he was exiled from South Africa for standing up to apartheid but found himself accepted by artists...
Hugh Masekela has had an amazing life and an even more amazing career. A jazz trumpet player who incorporated African rhythms, he was exiled from South Africa for standing up to apartheid but found himself accepted by artists...
- 4/23/2012
- by Drew Taylor
- The Playlist
2012 Tribeca Film Festival Announces Short Film Selections
The 2012 Tribeca Film Festival (Tff), presented by founding sponsor American Express, today announced its lineup of 60 short films, 26 of which are world premieres.
For the second year running, the recipient of the Tribeca Film Festival.s Best Narrative Short award will qualify for consideration in the Short Films category of the annual Academy Awards® without the standard theatrical run, provided the film otherwise complies with the Academy rules. The 2011 Tff Narrative Short Pentecost was nominated for Best Live Action Short at this year.s annual Academy Awards®, while last year.s award-winning Tff documentary short Incident in New Baghdad was nominated for Best Documentary Short.
Tff.s shorts programs chart a wide range of cultural perspectives and geographic coordinates. Drawn from more than 2,800 submissions, the 2012 roster represents 25 countries and territories, including Australia, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Egypt, France, Germany, Haiti, India, Ireland, Israel, Japan,...
The 2012 Tribeca Film Festival (Tff), presented by founding sponsor American Express, today announced its lineup of 60 short films, 26 of which are world premieres.
For the second year running, the recipient of the Tribeca Film Festival.s Best Narrative Short award will qualify for consideration in the Short Films category of the annual Academy Awards® without the standard theatrical run, provided the film otherwise complies with the Academy rules. The 2011 Tff Narrative Short Pentecost was nominated for Best Live Action Short at this year.s annual Academy Awards®, while last year.s award-winning Tff documentary short Incident in New Baghdad was nominated for Best Documentary Short.
Tff.s shorts programs chart a wide range of cultural perspectives and geographic coordinates. Drawn from more than 2,800 submissions, the 2012 roster represents 25 countries and territories, including Australia, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Egypt, France, Germany, Haiti, India, Ireland, Israel, Japan,...
- 3/13/2012
- by Melissa Howland
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
HollywoodNews.com: The 2012 Tribeca Film Festival (Tff), presented by founding sponsor American Express, today announced its lineup of 60 short films, 26 of which are world premieres.
For the second year running, the recipient of the Tribeca Film Festival’s Best Narrative Short award will qualify for consideration in the Short Films category of the annual Academy Awards® without the standard theatrical run, provided the film otherwise complies with the Academy rules. The 2011 Tff Narrative Short Pentecost was nominated for Best Live Action Short at this year’s annual Academy Awards®, while last year?s award-winning Tff documentary short Incident in New Baghdad was nominated for Best Documentary Short.
Tff’s shorts programs chart a wide range of cultural perspectives and geographic coordinates. Drawn from more than 2,800 submissions, the 2012 roster represents 25 countries and territories, including Australia, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Egypt, France, Germany, Haiti, India, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Palestine, Puerto Rico,...
For the second year running, the recipient of the Tribeca Film Festival’s Best Narrative Short award will qualify for consideration in the Short Films category of the annual Academy Awards® without the standard theatrical run, provided the film otherwise complies with the Academy rules. The 2011 Tff Narrative Short Pentecost was nominated for Best Live Action Short at this year’s annual Academy Awards®, while last year?s award-winning Tff documentary short Incident in New Baghdad was nominated for Best Documentary Short.
Tff’s shorts programs chart a wide range of cultural perspectives and geographic coordinates. Drawn from more than 2,800 submissions, the 2012 roster represents 25 countries and territories, including Australia, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Egypt, France, Germany, Haiti, India, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Palestine, Puerto Rico,...
- 3/13/2012
- by Josh Abraham
- Hollywoodnews.com
SYDNEY -- To call the production values of the Australian surfer documentary Bra Boys amateurish would be too kind. But there's something strangely compelling about the undiluted machismo of the culture it celebrates. It's a piece of unabashed myth-making from first-time writer-director Sunny Abberton, himself a member of the infamous surf tribe from the working-class beachside suburb of Maroubra, in Sydney.
Footage of world-class surfing and a hard-charging rock soundtrack should attract the niche wave-rider market overseas. The addition of Russell Crowe as narrator of some largely superfluous commentary gives it an imprimatur of professional cool. (Crowe will make his directorial debut with a film based on the docu later this year.) The film became Australia's highest-grossing non-IMAX documentary when it was released locally last year, making mainstream celebrities of its subjects. So far the film has done well at international fringe festivals.
One-eyed and technically inexperienced he may be, Abberton (co-directing with fellow Bra Boy Macario De Souza) is able to provide a raw insider's look into the way an aggressive, dysfunctional environment spawned this territorial clan of blood-brothers. With their penchant for bare-knuckled brawling and run-ins with the police, the Bra Boys have been making headlines in Australia since the mid-1990s. Abberton doesn't shy away from including amateur video of all-in street fights, yet the Bra Boys are generally portrayed as misunderstood outlaws rather than the thuggish gangsters of the authorities' vision.
The self-serving narrative soon zeros in on the Abberton brothers -- Sunny, Jai, pro surfer Koby and Dakota, the youngest. The boys, who have a heroin-addicted mother and three different fathers, find solace in the surf and in the company of other troubled kids from broken homes. We're taken inside a tight-knit community where stabbings, turf wars and police scrapes are as commonplace as the surfing and beach parties that show off the Bra Boys' playful side.
The well-publicized controversies include a 2003 murder trial, in which Jai was charged with, and later acquitted of, killing a fellow Bra Boy and standover man, while Koby was charged with being an accessory.
The narrative is ramshackle, a seemingly ad hoc collection of badly edited talking-head interviews and wobbly, unfocused footage, punctuated by Gothic intertitles mirroring the style of gang members' tattoos. The objectivity of an autobiographical documentary has to be questioned, but it's unlikely a stranger could get the subjects to speak with such candor.
BRA BOYS
Berkela Films
Bradahood Prods./Garage Industries
Sales: Hopscotch Prods.
Credits:
Directors: Sunny Abberton, Macario De Souza
Writer: Sunny Abberton
Producers: Sunny Abberton, Michael Lawrence
Executive producers: Jason Bergh, Sal Masakela, Michael Lythcott, Nicholas Cook, Michael Lawrence, John Mossop
Directors of photography: Macario De Souza, Brook Silvester
Music: Jamie Holt
Narrator: Russell Crowe
Editor: Macario De Souza
Running time -- 85 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
Footage of world-class surfing and a hard-charging rock soundtrack should attract the niche wave-rider market overseas. The addition of Russell Crowe as narrator of some largely superfluous commentary gives it an imprimatur of professional cool. (Crowe will make his directorial debut with a film based on the docu later this year.) The film became Australia's highest-grossing non-IMAX documentary when it was released locally last year, making mainstream celebrities of its subjects. So far the film has done well at international fringe festivals.
One-eyed and technically inexperienced he may be, Abberton (co-directing with fellow Bra Boy Macario De Souza) is able to provide a raw insider's look into the way an aggressive, dysfunctional environment spawned this territorial clan of blood-brothers. With their penchant for bare-knuckled brawling and run-ins with the police, the Bra Boys have been making headlines in Australia since the mid-1990s. Abberton doesn't shy away from including amateur video of all-in street fights, yet the Bra Boys are generally portrayed as misunderstood outlaws rather than the thuggish gangsters of the authorities' vision.
The self-serving narrative soon zeros in on the Abberton brothers -- Sunny, Jai, pro surfer Koby and Dakota, the youngest. The boys, who have a heroin-addicted mother and three different fathers, find solace in the surf and in the company of other troubled kids from broken homes. We're taken inside a tight-knit community where stabbings, turf wars and police scrapes are as commonplace as the surfing and beach parties that show off the Bra Boys' playful side.
The well-publicized controversies include a 2003 murder trial, in which Jai was charged with, and later acquitted of, killing a fellow Bra Boy and standover man, while Koby was charged with being an accessory.
The narrative is ramshackle, a seemingly ad hoc collection of badly edited talking-head interviews and wobbly, unfocused footage, punctuated by Gothic intertitles mirroring the style of gang members' tattoos. The objectivity of an autobiographical documentary has to be questioned, but it's unlikely a stranger could get the subjects to speak with such candor.
BRA BOYS
Berkela Films
Bradahood Prods./Garage Industries
Sales: Hopscotch Prods.
Credits:
Directors: Sunny Abberton, Macario De Souza
Writer: Sunny Abberton
Producers: Sunny Abberton, Michael Lawrence
Executive producers: Jason Bergh, Sal Masakela, Michael Lythcott, Nicholas Cook, Michael Lawrence, John Mossop
Directors of photography: Macario De Souza, Brook Silvester
Music: Jamie Holt
Narrator: Russell Crowe
Editor: Macario De Souza
Running time -- 85 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
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