Burger was born in Greenwich, Connecticut. After graduating from
Yale University with a degree in fine arts, he became involved with
experimental film in the late 1980s and went on to direct music videos for such alternative artists as the
Meat Puppets. He approached
MTV about creating and directing a series of inspiring promotional announcements for what would be the
MTV Books: Feed Your Head campaign against
aliteracy. In association with
Ridley Scott Associates, he directed commercials for companies including Mastercard, IBM and ESPN, and created a series of television spots for
Amnesty International and their campaign for prisoners of conscience. Burger made his directorial feature debut with
Interview with the Assassin in 2002, which he also wrote. It won the Best Feature Film category at the
Woodstock Film Festival and
Avignon Film Festival, and was nominated for three
Independent Spirit Awards, including Best First Film and Best First Screenplay. Burger’s follow up feature was
The Illusionist, starring
Edward Norton and
Paul Giamatti. His screenplay for the film was based on the short story "Eisenheim the Illusionist" by
Steven Millhauser. It premiered at the
2006 Sundance Film Festival and opened the 2006
Seattle International Film Festival and the 2007 Deauville Film Festival. It was nominated for Best Screenplay at the 2007 Independent Spirit Awards and Best Cinematography at the
2007 Academy Awards. Burger's additional credits include the 2007 post-Iraq War indie drama
The Lucky Ones, starring
Rachel McAdams,
Tim Robbins, and
Michael Peña; and
Limitless (2011)
, starring
Bradley Cooper and
Robert De Niro, which opened at #1 at the box office and grossed over $160 million worldwide. In 2014, Burger directed the film
Divergent, based on the novel by Veronica Roth.
Shailene Woodley starred alongside
Theo James,
Kate Winslet,
Miles Teller,
Ansel Elgort and
Ashley Judd. Released by Lionsgate, it grossed over $280 million worldwide, making it Burger's most commercially successful film to date. Following
Divergent, Burger directed the first two episodes of Showtime’s Wall Street drama
Billions, starring Paul Giamatti and
Damian Lewis. He then served as an executive producer on CBS’s TV adaptation of
Limitless. His additional credits include the
Divergent series films
Insurgent (2015) and
Allegiant (2016). Burger most recently directed
The Upside, a remake of the French hit
The Intouchables. Starring
Bryan Cranston and
Kevin Hart, it was theatrically released in January 2019. Burger currently resides in
New York City with his wife, architect Diana Kellogg, and their family. ==Filmography==