Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Boris Labourguigne. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Boris thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Folks often look at a successful business and imagine it was an overnight success, but from what we’ve seen this is often far from the truth. We’d love to hear your scaling up story – walk us through how you grew over time – what were some of the big things you had to do to grow and what was that scaling up journey like?
Scaling up my business was a long and challenging journey that required a lot of work, dedication, and passion. My lifelong love of video and desire to create high-quality content I wanted to watch led me to start my own business, 3èmeGauche, a YouTube channel, with a friend in 2009.
My first big step was partnering with Augustin Chastel de Belloy, who had a different background than me but shared my vision and passion. Together, we created LEFT, a production company specialized in Music Videos, Commercials, and Brand-Content.
As our company grew, I made it a priority to delegate tasks to people who were better than me at specific tasks, which allowed me to focus on the bigger picture and plan for the future. We’ve learned that building a solid foundation and growing sustainably is key, and our alignment with our values has helped us build our network of directors and talents, establish long-term relation with clients, and attract the right people to join our team.
We’re still at the beginning of our journey, and we’re still growing and facing challenges. One of our recent challenges was finding the right person to help us manage our operations in France as we expanded our focus in the US and in the narrative space.
Boris, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I’m Boris, a 34yo queer business-owner raised in a small village called Beaulieu in the South of France. In 2009, I started a YouTube channel in my student room in Paris, which eventually led me to move to Los Angeles 4 years ago to pursue the development of my company.
LEFT is a creative production company based in California and France. We specialize in creating elevated music videos, commercials, and brand content for clients in tech, luxury, beauty, fashion, and lifestyle industries. We’ve expanded into narrative content and provided production services for The Walking Dead spin-off with Norman Reedus shot in France. We’re also developing several series for streaming platforms.
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
I met my co-founder, Augustin Chastel de Belloy, through a stroke of luck and coincidence. Back in 2011, I was running 3emeGauche from a small office on rue Béranger in Paris, which I shared with two other companies run by two friends I had met in school, Jonathan and Matthieu. One of these companies was a film festival, and the other was a production company.
It just so happened that Matthieu’s business partner, Nicolas, was a former schoolmate of Augustin’s from HEC PARIS. When Augustin reached out to Nicolas to find a partner for his own company, they came up with the brilliant idea to introduce us.
Thanks to Matthieu Rumani and Nicolas Slomka’s help, Augustin and I were able to meet and eventually partner up to create LEFT.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
I never saw myself leaving Paris, where I was happy and surrounded by friends and family. But after some amazing opportunities in the US and a few trips to Los Angeles, I began to fall in love with the city and the Californian way of life. It was during a taxi ride back from CDG airport that I made the decision to pivot my life and move to LA for the next few years.
Making the decision to move to LA was not easy, but having Charly, my husband, by my side made all the difference. He was just as excited as I was to take this leap of faith, and his support gave me the courage to pursue my dreams. It was a big pivot for him too, leaving behind his own career and his life in France, but we were both ready for a new adventure. I am forever grateful for that.
Contact Info:
- Website: leftproductions.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/borislab
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/boris-labourguigne-81a6939b/
Image Credits
Copyright Nika Burnett for the 3 of the photos (everything except the photo with the LEFT hat in the restaurant and the black and white outdoor)