Named by Dazed as one of the ‘five new Wes Anderson’s’, Bertie’s journey so far has been one of overcoming.
From child actor to YouTube sensation and now fully-fledged filmmaker, Bertie Gilbert’s a bloody hard worker. His journey so far has been one of experimentation, courage, and grit.
A fledgling career as a child actor (Horrible Histories and a small cameo as Scorpius Malfoy in Harry Potter) kindled a desire to explore where Bertie could fit on the other side of the camera. ‘When I was a kid I didn’t think about directors or the role they play,’ he tells whynow, ‘so I assumed early on that I wanted to be an actor. I was always interested in the fakery of everything, and YouTube really helped make that connection for me in wanting to be on the production side’.
ArrayBertie turned to YouTube as a teen, making diary vlogs and openly sharing about his anxieties, hopes, and concerns. People liked it. His stock and following grew rapidly through his engagement with emotions that people all over the world were struggling with themselves. To date his channel has 442k subscribers. The fact that online fame was the kickstarting element of his career doesn’t exactly sit well with Bertie. He’s constantly struck with imposter syndrome following his transition to more serious filmmaking. ‘I’m always reckoning with my beginning. Although I’m so grateful for the opportunities it’s given me, I fostered something so at odds with who I am as a natural introvert that I found myself living out in the open to thousands of people at the age of 14′.
He didn’t expect the swift ascension. ‘I had long hair and a lisp,’ he recalls, ‘and I always had nits. I was supposed to be an outcast and really settled into that idea’. Despite, or more likely because of this, subscribers welcomed and warmed to him and his vulnerable honesty, much in vogue among bloggers in the 2010s. At 16 Bertie ventured on his first short film project, with his YouTube channel providing him with broad platform that most filmmakers starting out have to do without, a ready-and-waiting audience.
I thought I was far up on the ladder when in reality, I hadn’t even started climbing it.
‘There are so many encouraging people. It’s amazing but creates an echo chamber that can get to your head. For a while I thought I was far up on the ladder when in reality, I hadn’t even started climbing it’. Moving towards making films for festivals was a shift that provided Gilbert with the opportunity to develop confidence away from the unwavering loyalty of his fan base. ‘Having any platform holds weight to a certain extent, but the anonymity in the process of entering film festivals makes all of that clout disappear, it’s just looked at for what it is and not who’s behind it’.
Bertie’s dad died suddenly when he was a young lad. The experience and proximity to death sparked many questions about himself and his trajectory, and he’s still looking for answers, as all bold artists and philosophers do. ‘I felt that there weren’t any answers in his death. He died from a brain tumour and the nature of it was so random it instilled in me a frustration with the indifference of the universe. It didn’t make any sense, but filmmaking does’.
The personal and tender themes from his early vlogs are still at the core of his work now and are firmly rooted in a need to transmit the personal through the lens. ‘From the beginning I’ve always been trying to explore the same things, but as I get older I’m able to articulate those ideas better while understanding where they come from so much more’.
His latest project, Please Care!, co-written with Dean Dobbs, is his most ‘legit’ so far. Starring Hugh Skinner and produced by Oscar-winning Slick Films, the short is being tipped for an impressive festival run. It follows a secondary school teacher recovering from a life tragedy who takes it upon himself to make a spectacle of his suffering by writing and directing a play about his life for his students to perform.
Looking ahead to the film’s release, Bertie’s inspired, and, certainly, the opportunities will only keep rolling for this emerging talent. But, when we discuss what comes next, he’s as honest as you’d expect, ‘I was in a bad place after we wrapped on the film, and for the first time in a long time, I’m feeling like myself again’. As a self-made creator, there’s always another idea or a new script he’s working on, but now, coming out the other side of a tough period, there’s a newfound sense of importance on prioritising his happiness over the demand to churn out projects. ‘When you ask what I’m excited about, I guess I’m most excited about not being miserable!’
- You can view all of Bertie Gilbert’s work over on his YouTube channel.
