‘Burt’ shines light on Parkinson’s by bringing heart, humor and hope to low-budget filmmaking

LOS ANGELES — A low-budget film made with limited time and resources is telling the story of a real-life musician while supporting a charitable cause.

“Burt” follows Burt Berger, who is living with Parkinson’s disease. Joe Burke and Oliver Cooper, the filmmakers behind the project, met Berger years earlier while he was performing at a restaurant in Malibu and were drawn to his story.

“Beautiful personality, beautiful soul, beautiful music,” Burke said. “Me and Oliver both fell in love with him. I got to know him over the years, almost like I was researching a documentary. Like, who is this guy? He moved to LA in 1974 to pursue music, never quite made it, never made an album. And now he was 69 years old when we were kind of shooting this movie and I said, ‘The world needs to know Burt Berger.'”

Burke and Cooper co-wrote and co-produced the film, blending Berger’s real-life experiences with fictional elements.

The project was completed on a minimal budget and tight timeline.

“I said, ‘$7,000 is what I have to spend on this movie, can we do it?’ And he’s, like, ‘$7,000, seven days, let’s go!'” Cooper said

“And two months later, we were on set making the movie!” Burke added.

Cooper said the production operated with a very small crew.

“We only had a three-person crew. We had the sound guy, we had Joe running around second camera. Obviously, he’s not getting paid. And then we had our DP who was getting gas money,” Cooper said.

The film highlights both Berger’s life and his determination to continue creating music despite his diagnosis. A portion of the film’s proceeds will be donated to causes related to Parkinson’s disease.

“This is Burt, this is his story and he just happens to have Parkinson’s and he’s not going to let that define him,” Cooper said. “And he’s not going to let that beat him. And I think that’s the beauty of it.”

The film also reflects the filmmakers’ sense of accomplishment.

“We all want to feel like we did something that we can really hang our hat on. And I feel like with this movie, we finally did,” Burke said.

“I can die a happy man,” he added.

“Burt” is now available on digital, and its music, along with the film’s score, is expected to be released next month.