Jason Bergh Ain't No Disposable Hero

A sit down with the co-founder of Berkela Films, makers of high quality action sports films that go beyond the action.

JB: I am here to show and promote the two movies I am involved with, I am: Danny Way and Disposable Hero. I have a company called Berkela Films with Sal Masekela. We are here to finance and distribute our own projects as well as other filmmakers projects we feel are compelling. This year we will be creating and distributing action sports films with more of a documentary feel as well as a narrative feature feel. Our slate will consist of 3-5 movies this year. Our mantra is action sports films that matter.

 

JB: Quality over quantity. You see it in the record business. A lot of people get signed and they get shelved because they don’t get the attention that they need I think this happens in action sports films also. Sal Masakela (X Games host) and I saw the void in that space and we wanted to fill it. 

 

JB: Our first acquisition was the Brian Deegan film. The results came back amazing. The sales for the movie are through the roof. In the first month it was a lot more sales than what the big films did of the year. We didn’t expect that at all. What we’re realizing is that it’s about putting the films in the right place and giving them a right platform. This was the perfect first movie for us because we really are trying to emphasize the story of the athlete over the “porn".

 

JB: X-Dance is absolutely one of the most amazing things for this community because it gives people doing films a chance to shine and get the attention that they need. It’s so great that it’s wrapped around Sundance where there are these huge films and then there’s our smaller films right there. It gives us something to look forward to. A film festival like this is good because it gives people a reach and somewhere to take it.

 

JB: Disposable Heroes actually came about from some conversations with Brian. When we fist sat down and watched it we wondered if we would be able to even sell it because the craziness of slicing open and drilling his bones. We were like holy s#*t, this is crazy. We wanted our first film to be a banger and talking to Brian it melded together. Brian really wanted people to see the other side of freestyle of motocross and the price the athletes pay. Dave Dawes really showed the dark side of it.

Lat34: Why should people come to X-Dance?

JB: I think people should support X Dance because it’s a grassroots festival it’s a cool way to come together and show the top action sports filmmakers in the world. The other things that’s cool is that a lot of the filmers haven’t met before and the whole point in my opinion is to really grow and to take the audience and build it up to the Sundance level. These films are really good stories that can transcend the action sports genre.

 

 

JB: I directed it with Greg Hunt. We were trying to tell Danny’s story but not over do it and leave him room to still conquer the world because he’s not done. We felt that the world needed to know about this kid from So Cal who ended up jumping the Great Wall of China. I think that was the point when we realized that story needed to be told. It came from this article that Andrew Vonce did for FHM and it was one of the most comprehensive pieces done on him and it was from the outside looking in. The film was a mixture of me with story telling experience and my documentary experience and Greg from the skate background and DC. Danny trusted us to tell his story and not over do it. If you do a documentary on someone it’s sort of like saying they are done with their career and Danny has so much further to go. I think that’s why it’s a half hour.

 

JB: The last week was so intense. We had people bringing all of these old tapes from all over the place. It was in the trenches for weeks with head down and focus. Then we had a final cut and we watched it when we were done and when we sat back we realized it was a really cool account of Danny Way. We were honored that Danny let us do it. At the end of the day Danny’s hard to nail down too so we were lucky to get him.

 

JB: Dave Dawes directed the Deegan one and that was our first acquisition. I thought it was really telling down during the Q&A Deegan tells us that he is not going for a double backflip. His story wasn’t told in as much depth as it could be told in the future either because we feel like there is another movie in him. That was just an account over the last three years and all of hospital beds he’s been in and the screws. The dark side.

 

JB: They are both super human athletes. They deserve the respect that Michael Jordan or Wayne Gretzky gets. Just because snowboarding and skateboarding isn’t on NBC every night doesn’t mean these athletes aren’t iconic. This is our goal. We want to make these athletes household names like Jordan. It’s time. We have some exciting new projects so stay tuned.