According to Women and Hollywood, only 12.7% of the top-grossing films in 2021 were directed by women. A disappointing statistic for those campaigning for gender equality in the film industry, but even more of a reason to uplift the women making waves. The female duo who call themselves The Berts have been making their mark on Hollywood ever since their Amazon sleeper hit, Troop Zero, became the first streaming-only film to be released by the studio in January of 2020 after a strong showing at the Sundance Film festival the prior year.
I was introduced to Bert and Berties in 2019 when Variety featured them in a list-icle about 10 directors to keep an eye on. What makes the duo stand out is that in a world still often dominated by men, these two women have forged a career together without compromising on their directorial style and flair for storytelling.
Troop Zero
Troop Zero tells the story of Christmas Flint, a rejected Birdie Scout who decides to form her own troop from other outcasts and leads them to compete at the Birdie Talent show. Bert and Bertie had really strong motivations to make the movie:
‘We didn’t see stories about us; we didn’t identify with the majority of the stories being told. Growing up we had the boys adventure films like “Stand by Me” and “The Goonies,” but we didn’t have girls’ adventure films.
While pitching “Troop Zero,” we discovered that there had never been a film about a group of young girls that go on an adventure to achieve something by working together and succeeding! How had a film like this never been made? When we started thinking about the social and cultural impact this film could have on young girls, we knew we had to tell this story.’ See the full Interview with Sophia Stewart, Women and Hollywood here.
And the motivation must have been felt across the industry because this small budget movie attracted some big-name stars like Viola Davis and Allison Janney to star alongside breakout performer, Mckenna Grace.
The movie written, by Lucy Alibar, was inspired by her play Christmas and Jubilee Behold The Meteor Shower, is a celebration of female friendship. Bert and Bertie seem to have perfectly captured the joys of finding your tribe as a youngster, and embraced this feeling completely throughout the film.
McDonald's Advertisement
Bert and Bertie have balanced their work on feature films and TV shows with commercial work. In 2021, the pair was approached by McDonald’s U.K. to create a Christmas advert that tugs on your heart strings.
The ad tells the story of a young child and the imaginary monstrous friend she creates when she is young. She grows up with the friend encouraging her but eventually in her teenage years banishes the friend to the closet. During a trip to McDonald's, the girl, now a young woman, notices a child playing with a happy meal toy. She smiles. She remembers. She heads back to the closet, and there her monster remerges. We see the woman, now a mother with her friend again and a young child by her side.
The fact that Bert and Bertie can tell a multi-year story in less than 90 seconds is a testament to their craft. The ad was set to Mabel’s atmospheric cover of Cyndi Lauper’s "Time after Time," which reimagines the song as an emotional piano ballad. The creature is a CGI recreation of a child's drawing, complete with googly eyes and turquoise fur. It is this perfect blend of imaginative visuals and a memorable soundtrack, showcasing a distinctive feature of the duo’s work. They use both to great effect, and it results in a hugely impactful advertisement with storytelling at its core.
Hawkeye
Hawkeye was the little Marvel series that could. A spin off about one of the least well-known Avengers might sound like a skippable moment in the Marvel Comic Universe, but Hawkeye was one of the best received TV series from the franchise. Hawkeye scores an impressive 92% fresh on review aggregator site, Rotten Tomatoes. And a big part of that success was the much-lauded episodes 3, 4 and 5 of the series, directed by none other than Bert and Bertie.
These were the episodes in which (spoiler alert) we are introduced to Yelena Belova and The Kingpin, two huge crossovers from other MCU productions. Both were big moments within the series, and it demonstrates Marvel’s faith in the duo to deliver.
Talking about the Yelena Belova character, Bert and Bertie were delighted to work with a character that was bringing something new to Marvel, "a strong bad-ass female who was also funny." The exact same phrase could surely be applied to the duo which has never shied away from action or comedy and have delivered female centric films in a world still dominated by men.
So, what’s next for the pair? Well, their talents have certainly been noticed by Hollywood royalty. Cate Blanchett’s production company Dirty Films appointed Bert and Bertie as directors of the forthcoming feature film, Queen Bitch and The High Horse. Not much is known about the film, but with Bert and Bertie at the helm, you can expect a high-octane mixture of wit, adventure and directorial flare. Their recent success with Hawkeye may also lead to further excursions in the Marvel Comic Universe. With Disney set to release a slew of TV series and feature films, Bert and Bertie are certainly a team that can be relied upon to tell stories that can capture an audience’s imagination.
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Note From Tongal: This blog is part of a series of Tongal Community-written blog posts that were originally sourced in the Tongal Blog Open Call Project. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Tongal. Read more Tongal Community-written posts here!
