EMMY NOMINATED PRODUCER JOINS PLUM PRODUCTIONS
Published in Reel Chicago, October 2014
Plum Productions new producer, Melissa Berg
Emmy nominated producer and writer Melissa Berg joined Chicago’s Plum Productions as a producer in October. She brings a wealth of television experience — and a proven track record for a cappella persuasion — to the renovated north side Firehouse Studios that the company has called home for the past five years.
Besides producing and writing for news networks, soap operas and talk shows, Berg’s recent achievements include credits on a number of childrens programs for PBS flagship station WGBH in Boston. There, she served as coordinating and associate producer on animated shows like Arthur, Postcards from Buster and Curious George for five years before arriving at Plum.
The experience allowed her to hone a unique edge that she looks forward to wielding for Plum’s clients.
“I’m a big story teller,” she says. “I want to help clients find the right story and tell it in an entertaining way.”
Earlier this year, Berg’s work for Curious George earned her a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Pre-School Children’s Animated Program.
“It was an honor to be recognized,” she says. “And it looks awesome on a resume.”
While Plum executive director Tim Plum agrees that “the Emmy nomination catches your eye,” it was Berg’s unique energy and presence that ultimately landed her the job.
“What really won me over is just who she is as a person,” he remembers. “She’s very in the moment and very responsive and just seems to just get it.”
Plum’s typical production schedule includes a large number of jobs for health care and financial services corporations — including a recently completed piece for Visa shot at Jane’s restaurant in Bucktown — but the boutique is devoted to delivering quality to businesses of any size.
“Our thing is to try to meet the clients wherever they’re at and enhance whatever vision they have,” Plum says.
He’s quick to note that Berg is already helping to ensure that quality by forming great working relationships with the team.
“Melissa and produer Lisa Goepfrich make a dynamic duo,” he continues. “They share an office. They bounce ideas off of each other. They do everything to stay on time and on budget.”
In light of Berg’s proven knack for getting things done, it is nearly impossible to overstate her dedication.
In 2012, Berg, who describes herself as a “big baseball fan,” made sure that an episode of Curious George featured the song, ‘Take Me Out To The Ball Game,’ during a scene in a ballpark where he learns to count to ten.
Unfortunately, the other producers did not seem to share her love for the game and, as a result, wanted to cut it.
Berg convinced them to reconsider in the most passionate way she knew how.
“I sang it for the co-producers in the studio and for Universal Studios over the phone,” she says.
“And then they got it.”