| Mark Burg | |
| Occupation: | Film producer, manager, actor |
| Yearsactive: | 1986–present |
| Spouse: | Shainaz Donnelly[1] |
Mark Burg is an American film producer, manager and actor. He is the co-founder of Evolution Entertainment and produced the Saw film series as well as the CBS television series Two and a Half Men.
Burg graduated from the Roy H. Park School of Communications at Ithaca College in 1981.[2] In the 1990s, Burg worked for Island Pictures and Palm Pictures, producing such films as Basketball Diaries (1995), The Sandlot, The Cure, and Strictly Business (1991).[3] In 1998, Burg founded Evolution Entertainment along with his producing partner Oren Koules.[4]
In 2003, Burg and Oren Koules saw a seven-minute teaser of a film written by Australian screenwriters, Leigh Whannell and James Wan, and agreed to produce the film. The film would later become the original Saw film that wasreleased in 2004.[5] The budget for the film was $1.2 million with $1 million of the funding coming direct from Burg and Koules. Production was done under a newly formed subsidiary of Evolution Entertainment called Twisted Pictures. The film turned in the Saw franchise with the sequel released in 2005 and the franchise making $420 million at the box office by 2007.[6] Evolution Entertainment was also responsible for the production of Two and a Half Men starting in 2003.[5]
Burg became the sole-owner of Evolution Entertainment in 2011, buying out co-founder Oren Koules.[7] He also became an advisor for Forest Road, a special-purpose acquisition company, in 2020.[8] Burg also co-produced Spiral, the ninth installment from the Saw Franchise. The franchise has grossed more than from box office and retail sales as of 2021.[9]
He was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.
| Year | Film | Credit | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Can't Buy Me Love | Co-producer | [10] | |
| 1988 | Bull Durham | [11] | ||
| 1991 | Toy Soldiers | Executive producer | [12] | |
| Strictly Business | Executive producer | |||
| 1993 | The Sandlot | Executive producer | ||
| 1994 | Airheads | |||
| 1995 | The Cure | |||
| 1996 | Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood | Executive producer | ||
| The Little Death | Executive producer | |||
| Eddie | ||||
| 1997 | B.A.P.S. | |||
| How to Be a Player | ||||
| 1998 | The Gingerbread Man | Executive producer | ||
| Body Count | ||||
| 1999 | Black and White | Executive producer | ||
| 2000 | Lockdown | |||
| 2001 | Good Advice | |||
| Diary of a Sex Addict | Direct-to-video | |||
| 2002 | Run Ronnie Run! | |||
| John Q. | ||||
| Malevolent | Executive producer | |||
| 2003 | Love Don't Cost a Thing | |||
| Dude... We're Going to Rio | Executive producer | Direct-to-video | ||
| 2004 | Saw | |||
| 2005 | Saw II | |||
| 2006 | Saw III | |||
| 2007 | Dead Silence | |||
| Catacombs | ||||
| Saw IV | ||||
| 2008 | Repo! The Genetic Opera | |||
| Saw V | ||||
| Vlog | Executive producer | |||
| 2009 | Saw VI | |||
| 2010 | Lottery Ticket | |||
| The Tortured | ||||
| Saw 3D | ||||
| 2013 | Texas Chainsaw 3D | Executive producer | ||
| Ain't Them Bodies Saints | Executive producer | |||
| Grace Unplugged | Executive producer | |||
| 2014 | Catch Hell | Executive producer | ||
| 2016 | Havenhurst | Executive producer[13] | ||
| 2017 | 9/11 | Executive producer | ||
| Jigsaw | ||||
| 2018 | Traffik | Executive producer | ||
| 2019 | The Intruder | |||
| American Skin | ||||
| 2021 | Spiral: From the Book of Saw | |||
| 2023 | Saw X | |||
| End of the Road |
| Year | Film | Role | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Boxing Helena | The producer wishes to thank | |
| 1995 | The Basketball Diaries | Special thanks | |
| 1998 | Let's Talk About Sex | Very special thanks | |
| 2017 | Atomic Blonde | The producers wish to thank | |
| He Helped Me: A Fan Film from the Book of Saw | Special thanks |
| Year | Title | Credit | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | The Three Amigos | Documentary | ||
| 2004 | The Casino | |||
| 2005−06 | Love, Inc. | Executive producer | ||
| 2008 | Vlog | Executive producer | ||
| 2011 | Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen | Co-executive producer | Television special | |
| 2003−12 | Two and a Half Men | Executive producer | ||
| 2012−14 | Anger Management | Executive producer | ||
| 2017 | Hit the Road | Executive producer | ||
| 2017−20 | Loudermilk | Executive producer |
Burg has been nominated and won numerous awards. He received three Primetime Emmy Award nominations for his work on Two and a Half Men and won both a TV Land Award for his work on the same and a ShoWest Award for his work on the Saw film series.
| Year | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Two and a Half Men | [14] | |||
| [15] | ||||
| [16] | ||||