1 00:00:21,509 --> 00:00:23,939 Ten years ago, I quit my job as a bookseller 2 00:00:23,939 --> 00:00:25,319 I packed my luggage 3 00:00:25,319 --> 00:00:27,769 and I left Paris to live in Los Angeles. 4 00:00:29,888 --> 00:00:31,508 I didn’t know anyone there 5 00:00:31,508 --> 00:00:32,618 but I knew that I wanted 6 00:00:32,618 --> 00:00:33,658 to make movies 7 00:00:33,658 --> 00:00:37,658 so it made sense to go to Hollywood. 8 00:00:38,674 --> 00:00:40,174 I came back to France 9 00:00:40,174 --> 00:00:41,864 after a few years 10 00:00:41,864 --> 00:00:44,464 and when people would ask me: 11 00:00:44,464 --> 00:00:46,184 : “What do you do in life?” 12 00:00:46,184 --> 00:00:47,034 I would reply: 13 00:00:47,034 --> 00:00:49,214 : “I’m a filmmaker. I make movies. 14 00:00:49,214 --> 00:00:53,214 Actually, I’m just back from a few years in Los Angeles.” 15 00:00:53,214 --> 00:00:56,994 I would oftentimes see a little sparkle 16 00:00:56,994 --> 00:00:57,764 in their eyes as they'd say: 17 00:00:57,764 --> 00:00:58,694 “That’s amazing! 18 00:00:58,694 --> 00:00:59,864 What type of films do you direct? 19 00:00:59,864 --> 00:01:01,264 Can we see them at the movie theatre? 20 00:01:01,264 --> 00:01:03,704 Have you worked with famous people?” 21 00:01:04,595 --> 00:01:05,545 And I would reply: 22 00:01:05,545 --> 00:01:06,745 : “I direct mostly fiction. 23 00:01:06,745 --> 00:01:09,075 You can’t watch my films at the movie theatre 24 00:01:09,075 --> 00:01:09,735 - not yet. 25 00:01:09,735 --> 00:01:13,735 And no...no, I haven’t worked with anyone famous.” 26 00:01:14,861 --> 00:01:15,861 At that moment 27 00:01:15,861 --> 00:01:16,761 there would be a silence 28 00:01:16,761 --> 00:01:18,621 long enough for their enthusiasm 29 00:01:18,621 --> 00:01:20,141 to go down a few inches 30 00:01:20,141 --> 00:01:20,871 And then, 31 00:01:20,871 --> 00:01:23,621 we would keep on talking about Los Angeles. 32 00:01:25,788 --> 00:01:26,628 Little by little, 33 00:01:26,628 --> 00:01:29,448 tired of seeing people’s reaction 34 00:01:29,448 --> 00:01:33,174 going from curious to disappointed 35 00:01:33,174 --> 00:01:34,774 when they would realize 36 00:01:34,774 --> 00:01:36,004 that I was a “wannabe”, 37 00:01:36,004 --> 00:01:40,804 I started lying about what I was doing. 38 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:41,930 I stopped saying 39 00:01:41,930 --> 00:01:42,970 “I’m a filmmaker” 40 00:01:42,970 --> 00:01:46,160 to say “I work as a freelance.” 41 00:01:47,220 --> 00:01:48,740 I stopped saying 42 00:01:48,740 --> 00:01:52,740 to say “I make videos for clients.” 43 00:01:52,740 --> 00:01:54,810 It sounded less dreamy 44 00:01:54,810 --> 00:01:56,520 but it was useful and practical. 45 00:01:56,520 --> 00:01:58,440 We would talk about how to find clients, 46 00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:00,440 how to bill them, about gear. 47 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:02,930 And more importantly, 48 00:02:02,948 --> 00:02:04,148 I stopped feeling like 49 00:02:04,148 --> 00:02:08,148 like I had to apologize for my lack of success. 50 00:02:08,148 --> 00:02:10,188 I began to feel a bit weird about it though 51 00:02:10,253 --> 00:02:11,073 , so I asked myself 52 00:02:11,073 --> 00:02:13,593 “Why do you lie about what you do? 53 00:02:13,593 --> 00:02:15,253 And why do you feel 54 00:02:15,253 --> 00:02:17,963 feel compelled to diminish people's expectations 55 00:02:17,963 --> 00:02:21,963 so they won’t think you’ve failed?” 56 00:02:23,113 --> 00:02:25,093 It’s at that point that I really started 57 00:02:25,093 --> 00:02:26,213 to become interested 58 00:02:26,213 --> 00:02:28,343 about the concept of “success” 59 00:02:28,343 --> 00:02:30,283 and how it has evolved 60 00:02:30,283 --> 00:02:31,673 in the last few years, 61 00:02:31,673 --> 00:02:34,803 especially with the social medias’ arrival in our lives 62 00:02:34,803 --> 00:02:36,093 that remind us daily 63 00:02:36,093 --> 00:02:38,303 how we rank on the graph of success 64 00:02:38,303 --> 00:02:41,203 compared to the other 8 billion. 65 00:02:43,247 --> 00:02:44,657 This ranking on the “success graph” 66 00:02:44,657 --> 00:02:45,717 explains why sometimes, 67 00:02:45,717 --> 00:02:48,067 when we talk with people, 68 00:02:48,067 --> 00:02:50,257 a contest starts 69 00:02:50,257 --> 00:02:52,977 to find out who has the most impact. 70 00:02:52,977 --> 00:02:54,597 It’s conveyed through innocent words: 71 00:02:54,597 --> 00:02:55,657 “I know X person” 72 00:02:55,657 --> 00:02:57,937 “X number of people follow me” 73 00:02:57,937 --> 00:02:59,917 “I travelled through X number of countries”, 74 00:02:59,917 --> 00:03:01,727 “I was a speaker at X event”.