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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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s biggest stage \u2014 the Super Bowl Halftime Show. Last month, Bergh took his loftiest seat at J. Lo, Inc. by serving as director for \u201cThe Greatest Love Story Never Told,\u201d a much-discussed documentary about the making of Lopez\u2019s 2024 visual album \u201cThis Is Me \u2026 Now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Imposingly tall and excessively kind, Bergh has been a gentle giant in the unscripted space for years. He\u2019s directed episodic and short content on notable music figures like Alicia Keys and athletes Stephen Curry and Clay Matthews. After the dust settled on \u201cGreatest Love Story,\u201d Bergh caught up with Variety to discuss his and Lopez\u2019s New York connection, creating safe boundaries in candid storytelling and his hopes to break into the feature narrative space.<\/p>\n
How long have you been with Jennifer now?<\/p>\n
Almost six years. The first thing I did was coverage on one of the last shows in her Las Vegas residency. I\u2019ve been working in this space for 20 to 25 years. I started documenting street culture in New York. It\u2019s been a long run just trying to find my voice, and I\u2019ve been lucky to be with Jen on this very powerful run she\u2019s been on.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Greatest Love Story Never Told\u201d is obviously a meta project, given it documents a visual album about her life. Even though you\u2019d been with her for some years at this point, how did you build the trust that\u2019s required for something this candid?<\/p>\n
She\u2019d been working on the script and the album for a while. As they got deeper into production they realized, \u201cWe should probably document this entire process.\u201d It\u2019s so layered, and there\u2019s a lot you can\u2019t tell on the musical side. Having done \u201cHalftime\u201d with her \u2014 which was very much centered around her Super Bowl Halftime performance \u2014 and then a long run of press for \u201cHustlers\u201d and then the inauguration popped up, I wound up spending 10 to 12 hours per day shooting and running all around the country with her. \u201cThe Greatest Love Story Never Told\u201d is very personal to her and that was exciting to me. I left our meeting thinking, \u201cThis is what I\u2019ve worked all these years with her for.\u201d The trust is built from intention, from her knowing my intention as a filmmaker and my absolute respect for her and her team. I\u2019m from New York. J. Lo is a queen to us and represents us.<\/p>\n
What kind of conversations did you have about access to her? What boundaries were put in place? There\u2019s a lot laid bare in this film.<\/p>\n
It was implicit, which comes when you work with someone for so long. I also give a lot of credit to Ana Carballosa, who is Jennifer\u2019s best friend. She had a camera too and was there for things I couldn\u2019t get. Access was unfiltered and then in the edit we decided if something served our story or not. Sure, it\u2019s revelatory, but we\u2019re very relaxed with each other.<\/p>\n
What about boundaries with the supporting cast, like Ben Affleck, Benny Medina, Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas?<\/p>\n
Medina! I call him Uncle Benny because he\u2019s been such a huge supporter of mine. The whole camp is very big on story \u2013 making sure we have a beginning, middle and end. Ben is amazing too. He\u2019s a great filmmaker who understands the process and is extremely supportive. I had to pinch myself, honestly. I moved out to Los Angeles 20-something years ago, and always have dreamed of being in this position.<\/p>\n
Do you think you want to make the jump from docs to narrative features?<\/p>\n
Yes. I don\u2019t like to rush things and I try to be patient. It\u2019s not just a job for me. Scripted is something I\u2019ve been dreaming about for a long time. I\u2019m reading some really great scripts now but I have to find something that grabs me by the heart. Not to quote Eminem, but you got one shot.<\/p>\n
I think you should do something scripted with J. Lo. There\u2019s a grittiness you both have, in the New York sense.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s my vibe, man. A little bit of roughness, a little texture. There\u2019s so much beauty in that.<\/p>\n
A common thread in all of your work is that you\u2019re not afraid to lean into emotion. Where was that at its height in \u201cThe Greatest Love Story Never Told\u201d?<\/p>\n
There are two very powerful moments in \u201cThis Is Me \u2026 Now,\u201d for the songs \u201cBroken Like Me\u201d and \u201cRebound.\u201d When we were shooting \u201cBroken,\u201d you could hear a pin drop. There are 100 people on set, but there she is, just digging this pain out of herself. This raw emotion through dance and music. I am an emotional dude, and you can\u2019t help but be drawn in with her in those moments. As a documentarian, I had to be very cautious about how I document those moments because I want her to stay unguarded. I shot with longer lenses and from further distances, and worked my way in.<\/p>\n
\u201cBroken Like Me\u201d opens at a Sex and Love Addiction meeting and Jennifer delivers a really intense monologue before the song starts.<\/p>\n
She told me that Ben helped her write that. It\u2019s some of her best acting I\u2019ve seen. There\u2019s a lot of personal truth.<\/p>\n
How much of your footage ended up on the cutting room floor?<\/p>\n
So, we shot eight weeks. That\u2019s hundreds of hours of footage, but everything that wound up on the floor was something that didn\u2019t serve us. The film is soul-bearing. I\u2019m proud of what we have.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s your favorite J. Lo song?<\/p>\n
Dude, \u201cJenny From the Block.\u201d And I really like \u201cDinero,\u201d that\u2019s a banger.<\/p>\n
View this article at Variety<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Jennifer Lopez Documentarian Jason Bergh Talks \u2018Greatest Love Story Never Told,\u2019 New York Pride and Scripted Ambitions: \u2018You Got One Shot\u2019: 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
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