Meet Your Makers: Creating Your Own Visual Culture with Stan Bertin

After starting out as a journalist, Stan Bertin co-founded a live concert video streaming platform and worked with France’s Radio Nova, and the European cultural platform TV channel Arte, before venturing into advertising production at Henry/Slowdance and continuing at Partizan and Mirror Mirror.

His experiences have led him to working with developing directors such as Alice Kong, Dexter Navy, and James F. Coton. He produced music videos for artists like the Chemical Brothers (Michel Gondry), Flavien Berger, and Rone, as well as advertising campaigns for brands such as Peugeot, Hermès, Hennessy, OuiGo, and Burger King, collaborating with agencies Rosa Paris, Buzzman, Marcel, Romance, Ogilvy, and more.

Stan Bertin has also produced a number of short films and documentaries, including Being Flat directed by Quentin Dupieux. He has earned a multitude of awards and nominations at the Cannes Lions, France’s Club des DA, UKMVA, MTV MVA, the Annecy Festival, IDFA, and the 1.4 Awards.

Stan is heavily involved in talent development, and for the past 4 years, has been a member of the pre-production commission for music videos at the Centre National du Cinéma de l’Image Animée, a French public institution, which supports the film and audio-visual industry, including digital creation, through training, creation, distribution, exportation, and funding.

LBB> What first attracted you to production - and has it been an industry you’ve always worked on or did you come to it from another area?

Stan> My first experience on set was while I was a seven year old kid… as a model haha. A close friend of my mother was a fashion photographer. I did several national campaigns for Jacadi and BN for example. This is how I discovered production.. in a way.

In general, my parents were very into music and films. We were going a lot to the theatre to watch movies in family and friends. Also, we were lucky to have Canal + and MTV channels at home. My siblings and I were watching movies and music videos a lot. 

I studied journalism and was a journalist for a couple of years but quickly started to produce radio and multimedia's shows in sports and general news. Then I co-created a live show videos platform. That’s how it started.

LBB> How did you learn to be a producer?

Stan> By myself at first. While I was in charge of the artistic direction of a French website/start up I co-created. We were filming concerts and broadcasting it online (live or on demand). I produced more than 350 live shows videos among other content such as artists interviews (as a journalist), jam sessions, WebTV festivals, … It was unique, intense and without any guidelines. It was wild and very fun. After this experience, I decided to start from the bottom: as a runner and production assistant. 

A couple of people were very important at that time: Brune Failliot (global communication and digital director chez Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin) how introduced me to Jean-François Sacco (Rosa Paris creative director and co-president), Jean-Luc Bergeron (Henry EP and co-founder) and Robin Accard (The Red Ceiling EP and co-founder).

They were the first people to believed in me. Their trust – which I value a lot – helped me to start in the business. Then, Georges Bermann, Partizan founder offered me my first real EP job opportunity couple years after.

LBB> A good producer should be able to produce for any medium, from film to events to digital experience. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Why/why not?

Stan> I do agree as it’s the experiences I had. I like to say that I consider all the projects landing on my desk. Embracing and facing projects, gaining experience depending the constraints is always a challenge and interesting. When I’m facing a project, I always need at least two of these following things to be good: creative, budget, schedule. 

LBB> What’s your favourite thing about production and why?

Stan> Being embarked by singular talents and working with them to make something creative, crafted and unique we’ll be proud of. 

LBB> What do you think is the key to being an effective producer - and is it something that’s innate or something that can be learned?

Stan> It’s the adequation of a couple of things that are for me essential such as the culture of image, the motivation of doing, the humility of learning and the sense of networking (which is being aware or its capacity to embark people with your creative and artistic vision).

LBB> Which production project from across your career are you most proud of and why?

Stan> 'Being Flat' directed by Quentin Dupieux is probably one of the most rewarding projects for me. For many reasons. Working several times with Michel Gondry and Thomas Cailley was also very cool – as an EP – you dedicate all your experiences, taste and sweat to people that are very rare talents. Developing talents such as Alice Kong, Fanny Sidney, James F. Coton, Zoel Aeschbacher, Lise & Romane, …

LBB> And in terms of recent work, which projects have you found to be particularly exciting or have presented particularly interesting production challenges?

Stan> Working with Fanny Sidney & Zoel Aeschbacher this past year was a blast. Two directors creating a duo to have fun in dialogue comedy and developing them as commercial directors was one the best recent experience.

LBB> Producers always have the best stories. What’s the hairiest / most insane situation you’ve found yourself in and how did you work your way out of it?

Stan> Riding a horse on a top of a LA hill in Beverly Hills, without any permits in the middle of the night with an OG cowboy from Compton, a stoned Jamaican producer and two cool French directors. For a very low music video project. I was a blast because I was a very young EP at that time, unexperienced and willing to please the directors I was working with. 

LBB> What are your personal ambitions or aspirations as a producer?

Stan> Producing singular talent. Whatever the format is. Either commercial, music video, documentaries or even fiction. 

LBB> As a producer your brain must have a never-ending "to do" list. How do you switch off? What do you do to relax?

Stan> I relax listening to music, reading comics and books. A lot. Always.

LBB> What advice would you give to people who are interested in becoming a producer?

Stan> Make your own visual culture (feed your curiosity, take this very seriously), have your own taste (and defend it), be able to explain how it has been done (best credibility ever), believe in your instinct, always be alert on details, always keep close the big picture, be confident and embark people with all of this.

LBB> From your experience what are the ingredients for a successful production?

Stan> A technical director with experience and taste, dedicated to the project

A clear brief to create a dialogue with the creative team

Creative generosity to reveal the core of the script through images.

An A-team crew

The right budget with enough time to prep

LBB> What’s the key to a successful production-client relationship?

Stan> Being confident enough to properly express my visual culture and my producing skills.