We were lucky to catch up with Rebecca Berrih recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Rebecca thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?
My company is called Elysian Fields Entertainment. Elysian Fields are the final resting place of the souls of the heroic and the virtuous in Greek mythology and religion. In French, Elysian Fields is called Champs-Elysees, and as a Parisian, I loved the double meaning.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I produce and direct movies and make commercials and music videos. During COVID, the lockdown forced us to be creative and come up with concepts possible to make with little to no people on set, and we made a music video for EMITT FENN that was all CGI, with a dancing pigeon. the video turned out great and ended at a TED TALK about happiness.
I just recently made a commercial for LeKool champagne. Robert LeKool Bell, the founder of KOOL & THE GANG, created the brand. Working with a music legend like him was a true privilege, and we had a lot of artistic freedom regarding the commercial concept. We re-created the famous rose scene from AMERICAN BEAUTY, which was fun.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
During COVID, I had a nightmare that gave me an idea for a film.
The idea became GLITCH, I previously worked on film screenplays, but I never wrote one on my own.
I started writing the screenplay in 2020 and worked countless hours on it. In 2021 and 2022, I shared it with professionals in the industry, but the feedback was not great. And getting bad feedback was better than many times when I was getting no answer, which was heartbreaking. I also sent it to all the writing contests I knew of, but the script received no positive feedback.
But I kept working, reworking, and re-reworking it. I knew the concept was good, but the script was not ready.
After 3 years of working on it, I recently started sharing the latest draft, and I’ve been receiving praise at every contest I submitted it to. I recently received a letter from the Academy to inform that I reached the quarterfinal of the Nicholl, which is the best screenwriting program/contest in the world. I was born in France and I always loved America and American movies, and getting a letter with the letterhead of the Oscars was unbelievable, I could not think of a greatest honor.
With the strike about to be over, I’m now planning to shoot it next year.
Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
The more precise your goal is, the faster you’ll reach it. How can you become a director, a painter, or anything else if you aren’t 100% sure you want to become one? The second you know what you want, you can do everything to reach that goal.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.efentertainment.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rebeccaberrih/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elysianfieldsentertainment
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccaberrih/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/rebeccaberrih
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTQQ_OIoctkMkSLeNXXhq8Q
Image Credits
Rolling Stones Digital Magazine Behind the scenes of BEYOND THE SKY, Pictures by Samantha Hellman Poster for the SNCF Commercial produced by Rebecca Berrih Behind the scenes of BEYOND THE SKY, Pictures by Samantha Hellman Thutmose – Memories, from the music video produced by Rebecca Berrih Emitt Fenn – Who Dat, from the music video produced by Rebecca Berrih