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AFAM: Hello Guillaume. Thank you very much for agreeing to answer our questions. It is a very unusual interview because your professional career is very unusual. Engineer by education (Ai 201), you decided to go into an acting and film director career. How come?
Guillaume: Hi AFAM, Thank you very much for having me. I love unusual interviews. After our school, ENSAM, I did several interviews for mechanical and consulting companies but I realized that wasn't what I wanted at the moment. I wanted to travel, which I did as a model: Athens, Paris, Singapore, Hong Kong, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Miami. But modeling wasn't fulfilling my brain, and being from Cannes, I needed Cinema in my life. I went on studying Meisner acting technique at the William Esper Studio in New York. In a short period of time, I ended up working under the direction of three time Academy Award winner Emmanuel "Chivo" Lubezki (The Revenant, Birdman), and David Fincher (Fight Club, Seven), acted along such house hold names as Eva Longoria (Desperate Housewives) and Jane Fonda (Barbarella), and twice collaborated with the David Lynch Foundation, even receiving this compliment from David Lynch (Mulholland Drive, Twin Peaks) himself: "Guillaume, you are a great actor". After directing several Music Videos and Short Films, and writing numerous spec scripts (one of them awarded by Francis Ford Coppola himself), I wrote, directed, produced and acted in "Devils in Disguise", my first feature film. It had its World Premiere at the Chinese Theater in Hollywood and it was watched 27 million times. I then co-wrote, co-directed and co-acted with Vesper Egon my second feature film, “Whenever I'm Alone With You”, a romantic comedy in the vein of the French New Wave that was shot in Cannes and premiered at the prestigious Oldenburg International Film Festival in September 2013. Vesper won Best Actress for her role in the film at the Matera International Film Festival. The film is currently touring festivals around the world. ulule.com/campanacci for more infos on "Whenever I'm Alone with You".
AFAM: please tell us more about your current and future projects.
Guillaume: My third feature film will either be: --SPOILED, about my fucked-up life as a model in Asia. It was a screenplay finalist at Evolution Mallorca International Film Festival in October 2023. --The adaptation of the best seller memoir of one of the world’s most efficient marijuana traffickers.
AFAM: you have been living in New York City, USA. Please tell us a bit more about this period of your life.
Guillaume: Yes, after 3 years in Miami, I moved to NYC to study acting. I loved it there. It is such a cinematic city. Each corner tells a different story. But my south of France blood couldn't deal with the cold so I moved to Los Angeles after 2 years.
AFAM: How being an engineer and a gadz’arts helped you in your acting and movie director career?
Guillaume: At first, I heard a lot of "it's a shame you never used your degree, such a shame you studied all these years for nothing". I even started to believe it. But then I realized ENSAM shaped me as a director. All my fellow Gadzarts work in such different industries: from finance to construction to consulting. We learnt how to learn. We adapt ourselves to any industry. Mine is just a little more different. But still, a film director manages a project, deals with logistics, has a whole team to make it happen, takes a thousand decisions a minute. All these could be said for an engineer.
AFAM: Thank you very much, Guillaume.
Guillaume: Merci AFAM!
AFAM: January 2024 (TBC) second feature film, “Whenever I'm Alone With You” will be shown at L'Hotel des Arts et Metiers at Iena.
Guillaume Campanacci (in the middle) during one of the industry events together with producer Torsten Neumann and actrice/co-producer Vesper Egon
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AFAM CFO Jean Pommier (An 83) met Angers-based students on campus to talk about American Friends of Arts et Metiers (AFAM) and its activities. The conference took place in the evening of September 22nd. More than 20 students came to meet Jean and to talk about his international experience in the United States and AFAM programs. Several students interested in pursuing internships in the US later contacted AFAM community manager to join the Shasta program.
If you are an Arts et Metiers student, you can join our Shasta program today!
Pictures from the event
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On September 7th gadz'arts based in New-York participated in AAGEF afterwork party. The event took place at the O Cabanon bar (Midtown) on the mezzanine floor.
AAGEF is a not-for-profit organization based in New York City that based in New York City that brings together the US Alumni of major French Grandes Ecoles including Arts et Metiers.
Stay tuned for more new events!
Gadz'arts group at O Cabanon bar
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AFAM: Hello Adam, and thank you for your time! Please tell us a few words about yourself.
Adam: Hello! I'm a Junior Mechanical Engineering student in Texas A&M University, and I spent my last summer interning at Arts Et Métiers in Aix-en-Provence as part of the IRES program (International Research Experiences for Students). My interests are in manufacturing and mechanical design.
AFAM: how have you heard about the program IRES and what did you do to become a part of the program?
Adam: I heard about this program from the Haliburton Engineering Global Program (HEGP) office here in Texas A&M. It was a very intriguing opportunity that I thought would fit best in my interests, as the program focus was on materials and manufacturing. I was able to get accepted by filling out an application and conducting an interview.
AFAM: What did you do as a participant of the IRES program? What did you enjoy the most? What was the most challenging part?
Adam: As a participant of this program, I worked under the guidance of Arts et Métiers faculty on a project related to surface hardening and nitriding. The thing that I enjoyed the most was getting to experience the work culture in France, and getting to know a lot of people in ENSAM. The most challenging part was having to learn some preliminary information and literature review to familiarize myself with the topic at hand.
AFAM: was it your first time being in France, in Aix? How did you like the country and the city of Aix?
Adam: It was not my first time in France. I had been to a couple of big cities such as Paris and Nice, but it was my first time in Aix! I really enjoyed the the city, and even though I visited some other big cities during my stay in the summer, I feel like Aix-en-Provence is my personal favorite. If I wanted to go back and live in France, Aix would probably be my first choice!
AFAM: thank you, Adam!
Photo taken from artsetmetiers.fr website
Adam (third from right) with other American students who took part in IRES project at Arts et Metiers in Aix-en-Provence
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