Gretchen J. Berg (born February 8, 1971) is an American writer and

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of a television show, television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television networks, but upon acce ...

. She has worked extensively with her writer and producing partner

Aaron Harberts Aaron Harberts (born January 20, 1973) is an American television writer and producer. He was a co-showrunner of CBS's '' Star Trek: Discovery'' with Gretchen J. Berg until their departure in June 2018. Harberts and Berg have been writing/producin ...

on a number of television series including ''

Pushing Daisies ''Pushing Daisies'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Bryan Fuller that aired on ABC from October 3, 2007, to June 13, 2009. The series stars Lee Pace as Ned, a pie-maker with the ability to bring dead things back to lif ...

'' and ''

Revenge Revenge is defined as committing a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. Vengeful forms of justice, such as primitive justice or retributive justice, are often differentiated from more fo ...

''. She was also one of the

showrunner A showrunner is the top-level executive producer of a television series. The position outranks other creative and management personnel, including episode directors, in contrast to feature films, in which the director has creative control over th ...

s of '' Star Trek: Discovery'' alongside Harberts until their departure in June 2018. In 2019, the team of Gretchen J. Berg and Aaron Harberts joined ''

Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist ''Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist'' is an American jukebox musical comedy-drama television series created by Austin Winsberg that premiered on January 7, 2020, on NBC. The series stars Jane Levy as Zoey Clarke, a software developer who discovers ...

'' on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

as writers and executive producers.

Career

Gretchen J. Berg was born in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, Pennsylvania, and went on to attend

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

. While there, she met future writing and producing partner Aaron Harberts. Their first work was on ''

Beverly Hills, 90210 ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (often referred to as ''90210'') is an American teen drama television series created by Darren Star and produced by Aaron Spelling via his production company Spelling Television. The series ran for 10 seasons on Fo ...

''. Together the pair created the series ''

Pepper Dennis ''Pepper Dennis'' is an American comedy-drama television series that aired on The WB from April 4 to July 4, 2006. It was announced on May 17, 2006, that ''Pepper Dennis'' would not be one of the WB shows transferred to The CW. ''Pepper Dennis'' ...

'' on

The WB The WB Television Network (shortened to The WB, stylized as "THE WB", and nicknamed the "Frog Network" and/or "The Frog" for its former mascot Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network that ran from 1995 to 2006. It launched on ter ...

and worked as

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...

s. Berg and Harberts were also co-executive producers on ''

'' and co-

s on the medical drama ''

Mercy Mercy (Middle English, from Anglo-French , from Medieval Latin , "price paid, wages", from Latin , "merchandise") is benevolence, forgiveness, and kindness in a variety of ethical, religious, social, and legal contexts. In the social and le ...

''. In 2010, Berg and Harberts agreed a deal with the studio

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

in 2010 under a two-year deal, initially as executive producers on the

midseason replacement In American network television scheduling, a mid-season replacement is a television show that premieres in the second half of the traditional television season, usually between December and May. Mid-season replacements usually take place after a ...

'' Off the Map''. The duo became showrunners of the drama '' GCB'', through their deal with ABC. Berg and Harberts worked with

Mark Gordon Mark Gordon (born March 14, 1957) is an American politician serving as the 33rd governor of Wyoming since January 7, 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as state treasurer; then-governor Matt Mead appointed him to th ...

in pitching work to television studios in 2012, with sales to both ABC and

. Their deal with ABC was extended for a further two years in 2013, and moved to become executive producers from season three onwards of ''

'', where they previously had been consulting producers. Berg and Harberts were recruited as executive producers on '' Star Trek: Discovery'', under showrunner

Bryan Fuller Bryan Fuller (born July 27, 1969) is an American writer and producer, best known for creating the television series ''Pushing Daisies'' (2007–2009) and ''Hannibal (TV series), Hannibal'' (2013–2015). Fuller is also known for his work as a writ ...

. The trio had previously worked on ''Pushing Daisies'' together. They were two of several executive producers, alongside

Heather Kadin Heather Kadin (born August 7, 1972) is an American television producer and film producer. She co- executive produces '' Star Trek: Discovery''. Life and career Kadin was born on August 7, 1972, in Scottsdale, Arizona. Before being President ...

and

Akiva Goldsman Akiva Goldsman (born July 7, 1962) is an American screenwriter, producer, and director. Goldsman's filmography as a screenwriter includes ''The Client (1994 film), The Client''; ''Batman Forever'' and its sequel ''Batman & Robin (film), Batman ...

. When Fuller stepped back from the

role on ''Discovery'', Berg and Harberts were promoted into the position together. But Berg and Harberts were later fired from ''Star Trek: Discovery'' due to alleged infighting and verbal altercations during production, with Harberts allegedly shouting expletives at a fellow writer. Gretchen J. Berg and Aaron Harberts' most recent project is the current

musical comedy-drama series ''

''. As an executive producing and writing team, Berg and Harberts help navigate the decisions Zoey must make regarding whether to reveal her secrets, and the resulting impacts on her relationships. The characters on this hour-long musical drama express their inner-most feelings and desires to Zoey through frequent musical numbers. The first episode aired January 7, 2020.

References

External links

*
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berg, Gretchen J. 1971 births Living people American science fiction writers Northwestern University alumni Writers from Pittsburgh Screenwriters from Pennsylvania American showrunners Television producers from Pennsylvania American women television producers American women television writers American television writers 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American screenwriters