Producer Al Berman Takes Viewers to New Heights

Former Scarsdale resident Al Berman at the top of Taipei101 in TaiwanMany of us watched Alex Honnold’s daredevil climb to the top of Taipei 101 on Netflix last week – but we bet you didn’t know that the Executive Producer of the show has roots in Scarsdale.

Al Berman, his wife Sherry and their three boys lived in Greenacres for 20 years, before moving west after their youngest son graduated. Since that time Sherry has been working as an attorney at Sony while Al continued to produce some of the most highly rated and groundbreaking show in television history.

Berman began his career in network news as the Executive Producer of shows including CBS This Morning, The Early Show and America Tonight, and traveled the world with Dan Rather for the CBS Evening News. He ran special events coverage from Ground Zero on 9/11 and was Executive Producer of The Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.

But he is probably best known for his work on live shows such as Survivor, The Apprentice and the Biggest Loser. Most recently, he made history by filming Free Solo star Alex Honnold, climbing Taipei 101, the 1,667 foot, 101 story skyscraper, in Taiwan, before a live audience on Sunday January 25, 2026.

Berman agreed to answer a few questions about this project, which terrified and amazed over six million viewers:

How did you get involved with the Taipei 101project?

It’s been a long journey beginning in 2008 with the French climber Alain Robert. I was hired to produce a live special for the FOX network. We traveled to Taipei 101 and got approval from the building. But, soon after, Robert climbed the New York Times building and was arrested. FOX canceled the program.

In 2013 National Geographic hired me to produce the special with a young Alex Honnold. That was before he became famous from the film Free Solo. Once again we traveled to Taipei and got all the permissions. But management changed and National Geographic decided to not take the risk.

In 2020 I was hired again to produce the special with Alex for the history channel. But Covid put an end to that.
Then finally last year, Netflix gave it the green light.

Tell us about the logistics - how many people were involved? How many people did you bring over and how long were you in Taiwan? How were you able to position the cameramen?

We had around 170 people on the crew. About 125 from the US or UK and about 45 locals. I made 3 trips to Taiwan for a total of about 4 weeks.

Alex Honnold selected the cinematographers positioned on the building either hanging from ropes or on tripods in key areas. It was vital that he feel safe with the team around him. These were the best climber/shooters in the world. Interestingly, none had experience shooting live, but they were quick studies. And the images they got were stunning.

Were you nervous?

Everybody asks that. I was not at all nervous. I’ve done live programs my entire career.

Why do you think Alex is able to do this?

He has a singular passion for free soloing specifically and climbing in general. He trains exhaustively - both his body and his mind. He won’t climb until he is certain he is ready. In fact, if he had any doubts prior to the climb we would have canceled it.

Was this the most logistically challenging project in your career? What were some of your other biggest feats?

There’s never been a live program that has combined so many exquisitely talented people with divergent expertise. Climbers, shooters, riggers, transmission specialists, safety teams, sports reporters, set designers and more.

So this is certainly one highlight of many. A few years ago I produced Earth Live for National Geographic - 59 live cameras focused on wildlife on every continent except Antarctica. That was a biggie.

What will you work on next?

Stay tuned.

How long did you live in Scarsdale - when did you move to Los Angeles - and what do you miss?
We lived in Scarsdale 20 years. Raised our children there. When the youngest went off to college we moved to LA where most of our business was based. My wife Sherry is an entertainment attorney.

With the exception of the fires last year, life has been good for us in LA. What do we miss the most -our friends.

Thanks Al – we miss you too!