Francois Bergeron
Francois Bergeron (born 1964) is a Principal as well as the Chief Operations Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Thinkwell Group. Bergeron is skilled in creative & production management, technical design, and business management for location-based entertainment from a blank page to opening.
For the last 30 years, his professional career has been extensive and diversified, allowing him to explore a multitude of positions, from the most humble to the most complex, with an equal level of commitment: from sound design, technical director, project manager, producer and executive producer to founder, co-owner, COO/CFO of a global group with studios in Los Angeles, Beijing, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh and Montreal.
With 22+ years working as a sound designer for Cirque du Soleil (1990-2012) creating stories, building tours, theaters and shows around the world, overlapping as an Executive in Charge at Thinkwell Group, Francois gained tactical experience in the creative fields, and more recently, as the COO/CFO of the Group, the strategic know-how to orchestrate corporate growth, scaling from 3 to 200+ employees around the globe.
Early Life[edit]
François was born and raised in Canada, he left the Quebec theatre world in 1989 and joined Cirque du Soleil.
Career[edit]
François has been part of multiple award-winning projects with Cirque du Soleil, the Walt Disney Company, Universal Studios, and Thinkwell. He has extensive knowledge of all types of amplified systems for performance halls from an aesthetic, technical, operational, and historical point of view. The vast majority of his designs are for multiple point source systems, using distributed arrays, and large surround systems (up to 512 discrete surround channels) in difficult acoustical environments (big tops, retail areas, large performance spaces).
Cirque du Soleil[edit]
Prior to and since the founding of Thinkwell, Francois had been working for Cirque du Soleil for 20+ years, serving as Sound Designer for numerous productions. He continued to assist the company in creating new aural experiences for Cirque’s productions around the Globe for years following. His experience across numerous award-winning productions included "O" (Las Vegas), "Zed" (Tokyo), "La Nouba" (Orlando), and many others.
Thinkwell Group[edit]
Bergeron co-founded Thinkwell in 2001 and continues to lead the company as Chief Operations Officer and Chief Financial Officer alongside Joe Zenas, Chief Executive Officer, and Craig Hanna, Chief Creative Officer. As the Chief Operations Officer and Chief Financial Officer, Bergeron is responsible for overseeing the operations and financial well-being of the $100M+ company, including providing daily oversight of the company’s operating groups and managing investor relations.Thinkwell Group has since grown into one of the largest independent themed entertainment design agencies in the world, with offices in Los Angeles, Beijing, Abu Dhabi, Montreal, and Riyadh.
Some of the award-winning projects Thinkwell has worked on includes Snow Park at Ski Dubai and Warner Bros. Studio Tour London: The Making of Harry Potter[1]. In 2018, Thinkwell, in collaboration with Warner Bros. and Miral, conceived, designed and was a key member of the project delivery team to bring the newest global theme park destination, Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi, to life. Located in United Arab Emirates, the theme park was named as one of Time Magazine’s 100 Greatest Places of 2018[2].
Projects[edit]
| Attraction | Location | Year |
| Warner Bros. Studio Tour London: The Making of Harry Potter[3] | Leavesden, United Kingdom | Most recent expansion: 2019 Opened: 2012 |
| Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi[4] | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | 2018 |
| Richard Nixon Presidential Library & Museum[5] | Yorba Linda, California | 2016 |
| Fernbank Museum of Natural History | Atlanta, Georgia | 2011 |
| Snow Play at Ski Dubai | Dubai, United Arab Emirates | 2005 |
| Jurassic Park Institute Tour | Japan (touring) | 2004 |
| Universal 360 Nighttime Spectacular | Universal Studios Florida, Orlando, Florida | 2006 |
| Templo del Fuego | PortAventura, Salou, Spain | 2001 |
Projects[edit]
| Attraction | Location | Year |
| ZED – Cirque Du Soleil | Tokyo Disney, Tokyo, Japan | 2000 |
| Jurassic Park Institute Tour | Tokyo, Japan | 2001 |
| EFX – MGM Grand Hotel and Casino | Las Vegas, Nevada | 1995 |
| O – Cirque Du Soleil | Las Vegas, Nevada | 1998 |
| La Nouba – Cirque Du Soleil | Orlando, Florida | 1998 |
| Varekai – Cirque Du Soleil | Montréal , QC | 2002 |
| Quidam – Cirque Du Soleil | Montréal , QC | 1996 |
| La Nouvelle-Expérience – Cirque Du Soleil | Montréal , QC | 1990 |
| Saltimbanco – Cirque Du Soleil | Montréal , QC | 1992 |
Affiliations[edit]
Audio Engineering Society (AES)
IATSE, Local One, New York.
International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA)
Themed Entertainment Association (TEA)
References[edit]
- ↑ "'Harry Potter' movie studio tour opens outside London". Los Angeles Times. 2012-03-31. Retrieved 2019-08-23.
- ↑ "Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi: The World's 100 Greatest Places of 2018". Time. Retrieved 2019-08-23.
- ↑ "'Harry Potter' movie studio tour opens outside London". Time. Retrieved 2019-08-17.
- ↑ "Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi: The World's 100 Greatest Places of 2018". Time. Retrieved 2019-08-17.
- ↑ Woodyard, Chris. "Nixon Library reboots for a new generation". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2019-08-17.
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