François Bergeron (born 1964) is a Canadian

sound design Sound design is the art and practice of creating auditory elements of media. It involves specifying, acquiring and creating audio using production techniques and equipment or software. It is employed in a variety of disciplines including filmmaking ...

er and co-founder of

Thinkwell Group Thinkwell Group is an American experience design and production agency that was founded in 2001 with headquarters in Los Angeles, California. In 2022, TAIT acquired Thinkwell Group. Since 2006, the firm has gone from approximately 35 employees ...

and was the former

sound engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a sound recording, recording or a Concert, live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization (audio), equalization, Dynamic range ...

for

Cirque du Soleil Cirque du Soleil (, ; ) is a Canadian entertainment company and the largest contemporary circus producer in the world. Located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, Montreal, Saint-Michel, Montreal, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul on 16 Jun ...

for more than twenty years.

Early life

Bergeron was born in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in 1964 and has completed his education from Séminaire de St-Hyacinthe (today Collège Antoine-Girouard). In 1990, he left the Quebec theatre world and joined Cirque du Soleil.

Career

Awarded “Sound Designer of the Year” by Entertainment Design magazine in 1996, Bergeron has been part of multiple award-winning projects with Cirque du Soleil,

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...

Universal Studios Universal Studios may refer to: * Universal Studios, Inc., an American media and entertainment conglomerate ** Universal Pictures, an American film studio ** Universal Studios Lot, a film and television studio complex * Various theme parks operat ...

, and

Cirque du Soleil

Prior to and since the founding of Thinkwell, Bergeron had been working for Cirque du Soleil for 20+ years, serving as Sound Designer for various 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) (3), "Zed" (Tokyo)(4), "La Nouba" (Orlando), Varekai (Touring)(5) and many others.

Thinkwell Group

Bergeron co-founded

in 2001 and continued to lead the company as

Chief Operations Officer A chief operating officer (COO), also called chief operations officer, is an executive in charge of the daily operations of an organization (i.e. personnel, resources, and logistics). COOs are usually second-in-command immediately after the CEO, ...

and

Chief Financial Officer A chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization who is assigned the primary responsibility for making decisions for the company for projects and its finances; i.a.: financial planning, management of financial risks, ...

alongside Joe Zenas, chief executive officer, and Craig Hanna, Chief Creative Officer, until Thinkwell Group was sold to TAIT Towers in March 2022.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bergeron, Francois 1964 births Living people Canadian sound designers