Marc Parisel
Born on 16th January 1982 My educational background is in Finance (Private industries).
I first created my media company in 2015 creating documentaries and corporate videos and developed my skills along the way.
I also am a former dancer and model, and used my experience on stage to compose my shot with the emotions I wanted to get in each of my creations.
My Director's debut was in Thailand in 2017, where I coproduced and directed a music video.
In 2021, I did my debut on a movie set as a director with a first short film I wrote, produced and directed: "Artistic Move".
The movie inspired by Agatha Christie features 1 location, 9 characters and a total production team of 30 persons from 10 nationalities.
in 2023, "The Mandate" is my second short movie Which I directed and co-produced / co-wrote with Ross Cain, also the Leading and sole actor in this challenging monologue.
I am now based in Canada where I intend to work my way through the cinema industry.
Your project has entered in our festival. What is your project about?
The Mandate is a mirror to our society’s way of thinking featuring both an individual portrait of a so-called leader breakdown, and a collective one through people judging about him and his personality without digging into it. The movie combines historical quotes to show how easy it is to manipulate people with words, and on the other side, it is easy for everyone to judge a person without knowing.
And indeed, it is always easier to judge a book by its cover without reading it. The character is so much more than all the emotions he displays throughout the movie. his inner struggles and prejudices he came through, his experiences that brought him to that moment, preparing his speech and shifting his thoughts as he establishes his strategy brick by brick. He fights for a vision and what is true to him, freedom of a Nation, of his people. Are the ideas and the tools he uses questionable, of course they are, but the movie does not stop at the point where his behavior, his ideas, his solutions are good or bad. And this is the bigger picture, showing how fast we judge a person with our own perspective, our own experience, without considering other’s experience or a new angle that would make our way of thinking evolve.
What are your ambitions with your project?
My ambition is first that people consider their thoughts about any topic before taking side. Nowadays, the most common way is to root for an opinion not even digging about all aspects of a topic, and directly pointing out obvious negativity, victimizing the general opinion. But is it necessarily the accurate one? And second, I wanted to show that in every Human being, at first there were only positivity and genuine nice intentions. It is easy to tell things without knowing, it doesn’t excuse some behaviors of course, but it just points out lack of depth, being directly judgmental about a person or a situation. I am not saying bad is good or good is bad, I am saying there is more to it than just these two concepts.
Tell us something about your shooting? What pleasantly surprised you?
The energy of the location was exactly the one we intended when we started shooting. It is actually the overall, the chemistry out of every element: the set, the decoration, the character played by the actor. And it was even more fostering for everyone to get into the story telling we aimed at. From our perspective, it worked perfectly.
For what group of spectators is your film targeted?
Everyone who has the capacity to make up their mind. It is an inner journey. It is at the same time an educative movie on History and who (Leaders or dictators) said the quote used in the movie, as well as a way to trust your instinct on the intentions a person gives instead of only listening to the words they say.
Why should distributors buy your film?
The movie is an education on feeling the intention of the person(s) you are interacting with. It is easy to let yourself being convinced by slogan or general ideas, how about we propose a way to feel others’ intentions or, even better, start to trust our own guts with the important amount of information we receive every day.
It is also a burning topic dealing with actual news or behaviors (hidden or not) of the current political world, and it is important people don’t feel overwhelmed by a political speech but also learn how to read between the lines.
How would you specify your work? What characterizes your film?
Depth, with both emotions and perspective. Every shot is a composition, a painting featuring the evolution of the character, his inner journey. There is so much more to look at in terms of meaning, backstory, evolution of his personality. Every detail was prepared during preproduction with the team, it is like a choreography and not only with words.
The movie is a drama on society’s (judgmental) way of thinking as well as what made the Dictator (interpreted by Ross Cain) have such an emotional breakdown with everything behind or coming along with it.
Why did you decide to become a filmmaker?
Part of my life I cut myself from my own emotions. I chose Filmmaking as an awareness for me to respect my own emotions and let them through. It is a tool for me to find ways to touch people, the audience or anyone willing to watch one of my movies. Reconnecting with my emotions letting them lead you, without overwhelming or misleading you is essential for me. It is really about understanding who I am and where I come from emotionally speaking.
Who is your role model?
Spielberg/Lucas. They had so much fun doing movies and such a craft to create characters. And the evidence is, they don’t grow old, neither them nor their movies. Their characters had defining moments so genuinely built, their evolution deals with topics each of us can relate to in real life at some point. You simply enjoy the moment when you watch one of their movies.
Which movies are your favorites? Why?
“Inglorious bastards”, “Back to the future”, “Chicago 7”.
Inglorious Bastard because Tarantino has this skill to maintain you on the edge of your seat for as long as he wants. The instance is the opening scene between this French farmer and Christopher Waltz, time flies seemingly and suddenly you feel the atmosphere of the scene.
Back to the future for the reasons I shared on Spielberg in the previous question. Both characters of Marty and Dooooc are so complementary and so different at the same time. They have their defining moments and an exceptional buildup in their personality and their complicity.
The trial of the Chicago 7, for me it is so incredible how much each actor brings into this true story. Sasha Baron Cohen nails it as a leader and someone who has true charisma. The balance between recreating actual moments and how each of them makes their choice is a delight.
10. Where do you look for inspiration for your films?
I think you already got it at this point, I love to look for true stories and bring them to the screen. It is like finding a way to feature all the emotions that happened in real life to reach the defining moment of a character or the main situation which the movie itself deals with.
Which topics interest you the most?
True stories and Society. Finding creative ways to recreate what a person truly felt in real life is what interests me the most. Because first, you relate on facts, and it ads even more when you know a person had thos feelings at some point. It is something incredible to share with everyone, it gives me goosebumps, and it is what I feel when I watch true stories. For me, when you reach that level, that is where you succeed: First by connecting and working with the production team and actors to reach that level, and second when the audience feels it watching the movie.
What do you consider your greatest achievement in your career?
My latest project. I always consider challenging my knowledge and skills in each of my new movie. For me it is already a success to bring it to life because the essence of my work is to recreate all these emotions, building up defining moments people can relate to. Completing a movie is the major part of my work. When it is out, it is out of my hands and I live it to the audience to be the only critic of it, rather they like it or not, I will respect it, and I am always ready to discuss my ideas with them. That is what makes it interesting, right? There is not only one point of view, and that is the magic of our work. Sharing my vision and challenging it is and will always be my biggest achievement.
What do you consider most important about filming?
Keep the emotions, the characters, and the actors genuine. Everything calculated or not needs to be genuine and must remain fluid. Everything that is not natural, the audience will see it, whether it concerns trues stories or superheroes, the eye catches everything that does not seem natural to it.
Which film technique of shooting do you consider the best?
The one that will serve storytelling. There is not one technique that needs to be used all the time. Dolly zoom is impressive but now everyone is using it. So I try to be creative and find other ways to render the same way with a considered emotion. So I would say, the filming technique I consider the best is definitely the simplest and most efficient way to make the audience feel what I want them to feel. And it is a combination of location, character build-up, camera movements, and storytelling.
How would you rate/What is your opinion about current filmmaking?
The multiplication of platform gave exposure to a higher number of movies, which is great. Alongside, I feel like there is a gap bigger and bigger between incredible movies being created and other which lacks originality or storytelling, for the only purpose of filling these platforms and keep their members.
What can disappoint you in a movie?
A character played with not enough depth. I often see actors playing emotions by being them, it is more and more common. Like if an actor(ress) needs to be angry, he/she will be anger, but we often forget there are so many ways to play an emotion. I see more and more actors intellectualizing their feelings on set, I’d prefer they take the time to work on it, bringing a true emotion, or no emotion if they don’t feel it, but at least have a genuine reaction instead of being in their brain.
Who supports you in your film career?
Close friends and family are all behind my work and some of them are also part of it. Respecting and knowing who you work with allow you to have more depth and confidence when preparing for the movie. And that’s all we want when we go to watch a film, being moved emotionally because you either relate to or are against what happens into it.
What are the reactions to your film? (opinion of spectators, film critics, friends and family)
Mentions by friends and family were that they wonder where the idea came from. They liked how the story unfolds and the delivery of the actor, portraying the role in a very particular way. They liked a lot the cinematography, the composition of each shot, the color grading, how it was captured and how the message was conveyed. Everybody wanted to know more about actual quotes that are seemingly inserted into the script. It rang bells while watching but being caught into the story, they were not able first to catch them all or in the case they did, they were not able to think about who in real life said what and into which context.
And that is one of the points: there are two easter eggs (among others) in the movie. The first one you’ll see it in the ending credits, clearly explained: Back-to-back quotes from Hitler and Churchill, which for my historian friends, appeared to be a really bold move. It also shows that you can use words you wish, what counts above all is the intention you put behind it. The second is a truly easter egg concerns the portrait and the Dictator addressing it (him): He quotes Napoléon Bonaparte, trying to get inspiration from his “Mentor” in the portrait, who is no one else than the Duke of Wellington, known in history books as the person defeating Napoleon in Waterloo. And this, so far, only one person noticed.
People who watched also loved the struggle of the story and the end of the journey delivering the quotes making people get back on their feet, not having any frustration about knowing without knowing.
More technically, I have two close friends who are specialists of history, and they found it bold featuring actual quotes into a movie that mixes real political positions and fictional portraits. They confirmed my wish to integrate quotes while the ending credits is the right move.
Also, another friend from the industry told me the composition of the shots and camera movements were accurate and gave the feel of the evolution of the character and felt immersed into it.
And this, for me, is a success on its own, because even without me telling my goals, they confirmed by saying them that I reached the feeling, the intention I had with the directions I took. But I am not going to say much otherwise you won’t want to watch anymore, knowing what to expect from it (smile).
Have you already visited any of the prestigious film festivals?
I have been to festivals but the reason why we chose to enter the London Director Awards festival is because we found it prestigious. Being in a festival rated among the top 10 on the filmfreeway platform is already from my point of view being in a prestigious festival. My movie has been selected to only two festivals so far. Then yes, if the movie is selected to your festival, I am even more willing to visit you and other festivals, because I would be able to meet and open the path to work with production companies and provide a solid evolution/continuity to my career in the industry. It gives me the occasion to pitch my work and what I want to achieve.
What are your future plans in filmmaking carriere?
I have several options in mind. I am a former dancer, and I would love to go for a musical. Mixing music, dance and acting is the real challenge for me because not everyone is interested in this kind of play/movie. Though, I feel it is a real choreography and making people come to it is the real challenge and something I want to succeed in, making it different from original comedy and integrate modern beatboxing, dancing (like the twins) and integrate it in a social topic, not only fantasy.
The other option is to work for a studio which core work is based on storytelling, inner struggles, or true stories as I mentioned. There is so much to be original with and lived emotions to be transcribed, conveyed to the audience, some they can relate to and which can immerse them for as many different reasons.
I first created my media company in 2015 creating documentaries and corporate videos and developed my skills along the way.
I also am a former dancer and model, and used my experience on stage to compose my shot with the emotions I wanted to get in each of my creations.
My Director's debut was in Thailand in 2017, where I coproduced and directed a music video.
In 2021, I did my debut on a movie set as a director with a first short film I wrote, produced and directed: "Artistic Move".
The movie inspired by Agatha Christie features 1 location, 9 characters and a total production team of 30 persons from 10 nationalities.
in 2023, "The Mandate" is my second short movie Which I directed and co-produced / co-wrote with Ross Cain, also the Leading and sole actor in this challenging monologue.
I am now based in Canada where I intend to work my way through the cinema industry.
Your project has entered in our festival. What is your project about?
The Mandate is a mirror to our society’s way of thinking featuring both an individual portrait of a so-called leader breakdown, and a collective one through people judging about him and his personality without digging into it. The movie combines historical quotes to show how easy it is to manipulate people with words, and on the other side, it is easy for everyone to judge a person without knowing.
And indeed, it is always easier to judge a book by its cover without reading it. The character is so much more than all the emotions he displays throughout the movie. his inner struggles and prejudices he came through, his experiences that brought him to that moment, preparing his speech and shifting his thoughts as he establishes his strategy brick by brick. He fights for a vision and what is true to him, freedom of a Nation, of his people. Are the ideas and the tools he uses questionable, of course they are, but the movie does not stop at the point where his behavior, his ideas, his solutions are good or bad. And this is the bigger picture, showing how fast we judge a person with our own perspective, our own experience, without considering other’s experience or a new angle that would make our way of thinking evolve.
What are your ambitions with your project?
My ambition is first that people consider their thoughts about any topic before taking side. Nowadays, the most common way is to root for an opinion not even digging about all aspects of a topic, and directly pointing out obvious negativity, victimizing the general opinion. But is it necessarily the accurate one? And second, I wanted to show that in every Human being, at first there were only positivity and genuine nice intentions. It is easy to tell things without knowing, it doesn’t excuse some behaviors of course, but it just points out lack of depth, being directly judgmental about a person or a situation. I am not saying bad is good or good is bad, I am saying there is more to it than just these two concepts.
Tell us something about your shooting? What pleasantly surprised you?
The energy of the location was exactly the one we intended when we started shooting. It is actually the overall, the chemistry out of every element: the set, the decoration, the character played by the actor. And it was even more fostering for everyone to get into the story telling we aimed at. From our perspective, it worked perfectly.
For what group of spectators is your film targeted?
Everyone who has the capacity to make up their mind. It is an inner journey. It is at the same time an educative movie on History and who (Leaders or dictators) said the quote used in the movie, as well as a way to trust your instinct on the intentions a person gives instead of only listening to the words they say.
Why should distributors buy your film?
The movie is an education on feeling the intention of the person(s) you are interacting with. It is easy to let yourself being convinced by slogan or general ideas, how about we propose a way to feel others’ intentions or, even better, start to trust our own guts with the important amount of information we receive every day.
It is also a burning topic dealing with actual news or behaviors (hidden or not) of the current political world, and it is important people don’t feel overwhelmed by a political speech but also learn how to read between the lines.
How would you specify your work? What characterizes your film?
Depth, with both emotions and perspective. Every shot is a composition, a painting featuring the evolution of the character, his inner journey. There is so much more to look at in terms of meaning, backstory, evolution of his personality. Every detail was prepared during preproduction with the team, it is like a choreography and not only with words.
The movie is a drama on society’s (judgmental) way of thinking as well as what made the Dictator (interpreted by Ross Cain) have such an emotional breakdown with everything behind or coming along with it.
Why did you decide to become a filmmaker?
Part of my life I cut myself from my own emotions. I chose Filmmaking as an awareness for me to respect my own emotions and let them through. It is a tool for me to find ways to touch people, the audience or anyone willing to watch one of my movies. Reconnecting with my emotions letting them lead you, without overwhelming or misleading you is essential for me. It is really about understanding who I am and where I come from emotionally speaking.
Who is your role model?
Spielberg/Lucas. They had so much fun doing movies and such a craft to create characters. And the evidence is, they don’t grow old, neither them nor their movies. Their characters had defining moments so genuinely built, their evolution deals with topics each of us can relate to in real life at some point. You simply enjoy the moment when you watch one of their movies.
Which movies are your favorites? Why?
“Inglorious bastards”, “Back to the future”, “Chicago 7”.
Inglorious Bastard because Tarantino has this skill to maintain you on the edge of your seat for as long as he wants. The instance is the opening scene between this French farmer and Christopher Waltz, time flies seemingly and suddenly you feel the atmosphere of the scene.
Back to the future for the reasons I shared on Spielberg in the previous question. Both characters of Marty and Dooooc are so complementary and so different at the same time. They have their defining moments and an exceptional buildup in their personality and their complicity.
The trial of the Chicago 7, for me it is so incredible how much each actor brings into this true story. Sasha Baron Cohen nails it as a leader and someone who has true charisma. The balance between recreating actual moments and how each of them makes their choice is a delight.
10. Where do you look for inspiration for your films?
I think you already got it at this point, I love to look for true stories and bring them to the screen. It is like finding a way to feature all the emotions that happened in real life to reach the defining moment of a character or the main situation which the movie itself deals with.
Which topics interest you the most?
True stories and Society. Finding creative ways to recreate what a person truly felt in real life is what interests me the most. Because first, you relate on facts, and it ads even more when you know a person had thos feelings at some point. It is something incredible to share with everyone, it gives me goosebumps, and it is what I feel when I watch true stories. For me, when you reach that level, that is where you succeed: First by connecting and working with the production team and actors to reach that level, and second when the audience feels it watching the movie.
What do you consider your greatest achievement in your career?
My latest project. I always consider challenging my knowledge and skills in each of my new movie. For me it is already a success to bring it to life because the essence of my work is to recreate all these emotions, building up defining moments people can relate to. Completing a movie is the major part of my work. When it is out, it is out of my hands and I live it to the audience to be the only critic of it, rather they like it or not, I will respect it, and I am always ready to discuss my ideas with them. That is what makes it interesting, right? There is not only one point of view, and that is the magic of our work. Sharing my vision and challenging it is and will always be my biggest achievement.
What do you consider most important about filming?
Keep the emotions, the characters, and the actors genuine. Everything calculated or not needs to be genuine and must remain fluid. Everything that is not natural, the audience will see it, whether it concerns trues stories or superheroes, the eye catches everything that does not seem natural to it.
Which film technique of shooting do you consider the best?
The one that will serve storytelling. There is not one technique that needs to be used all the time. Dolly zoom is impressive but now everyone is using it. So I try to be creative and find other ways to render the same way with a considered emotion. So I would say, the filming technique I consider the best is definitely the simplest and most efficient way to make the audience feel what I want them to feel. And it is a combination of location, character build-up, camera movements, and storytelling.
How would you rate/What is your opinion about current filmmaking?
The multiplication of platform gave exposure to a higher number of movies, which is great. Alongside, I feel like there is a gap bigger and bigger between incredible movies being created and other which lacks originality or storytelling, for the only purpose of filling these platforms and keep their members.
What can disappoint you in a movie?
A character played with not enough depth. I often see actors playing emotions by being them, it is more and more common. Like if an actor(ress) needs to be angry, he/she will be anger, but we often forget there are so many ways to play an emotion. I see more and more actors intellectualizing their feelings on set, I’d prefer they take the time to work on it, bringing a true emotion, or no emotion if they don’t feel it, but at least have a genuine reaction instead of being in their brain.
Who supports you in your film career?
Close friends and family are all behind my work and some of them are also part of it. Respecting and knowing who you work with allow you to have more depth and confidence when preparing for the movie. And that’s all we want when we go to watch a film, being moved emotionally because you either relate to or are against what happens into it.
What are the reactions to your film? (opinion of spectators, film critics, friends and family)
Mentions by friends and family were that they wonder where the idea came from. They liked how the story unfolds and the delivery of the actor, portraying the role in a very particular way. They liked a lot the cinematography, the composition of each shot, the color grading, how it was captured and how the message was conveyed. Everybody wanted to know more about actual quotes that are seemingly inserted into the script. It rang bells while watching but being caught into the story, they were not able first to catch them all or in the case they did, they were not able to think about who in real life said what and into which context.
And that is one of the points: there are two easter eggs (among others) in the movie. The first one you’ll see it in the ending credits, clearly explained: Back-to-back quotes from Hitler and Churchill, which for my historian friends, appeared to be a really bold move. It also shows that you can use words you wish, what counts above all is the intention you put behind it. The second is a truly easter egg concerns the portrait and the Dictator addressing it (him): He quotes Napoléon Bonaparte, trying to get inspiration from his “Mentor” in the portrait, who is no one else than the Duke of Wellington, known in history books as the person defeating Napoleon in Waterloo. And this, so far, only one person noticed.
People who watched also loved the struggle of the story and the end of the journey delivering the quotes making people get back on their feet, not having any frustration about knowing without knowing.
More technically, I have two close friends who are specialists of history, and they found it bold featuring actual quotes into a movie that mixes real political positions and fictional portraits. They confirmed my wish to integrate quotes while the ending credits is the right move.
Also, another friend from the industry told me the composition of the shots and camera movements were accurate and gave the feel of the evolution of the character and felt immersed into it.
And this, for me, is a success on its own, because even without me telling my goals, they confirmed by saying them that I reached the feeling, the intention I had with the directions I took. But I am not going to say much otherwise you won’t want to watch anymore, knowing what to expect from it (smile).
Have you already visited any of the prestigious film festivals?
I have been to festivals but the reason why we chose to enter the London Director Awards festival is because we found it prestigious. Being in a festival rated among the top 10 on the filmfreeway platform is already from my point of view being in a prestigious festival. My movie has been selected to only two festivals so far. Then yes, if the movie is selected to your festival, I am even more willing to visit you and other festivals, because I would be able to meet and open the path to work with production companies and provide a solid evolution/continuity to my career in the industry. It gives me the occasion to pitch my work and what I want to achieve.
What are your future plans in filmmaking carriere?
I have several options in mind. I am a former dancer, and I would love to go for a musical. Mixing music, dance and acting is the real challenge for me because not everyone is interested in this kind of play/movie. Though, I feel it is a real choreography and making people come to it is the real challenge and something I want to succeed in, making it different from original comedy and integrate modern beatboxing, dancing (like the twins) and integrate it in a social topic, not only fantasy.
The other option is to work for a studio which core work is based on storytelling, inner struggles, or true stories as I mentioned. There is so much to be original with and lived emotions to be transcribed, conveyed to the audience, some they can relate to and which can immerse them for as many different reasons.