Today we’d like to introduce you to Maria Bertrand
Hi Maria, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My name is Maria Bertrand and I grew up in Montreal, Canada. I have always been a huge animal lover and have had a unique connection to animals and the natural world so it is no surprise that animals were the catalyst to me living out my life purpose.
I moved to Los Angeles in 2002 and was working as a actress but my passion really lies in the storytelling process but I was having a hard time getting my foot in the door even though I was diligently writing scripts. Cut to 20 years later, February of 2020, I went through a rough breakup, had to move out of my home and then as the world knows, Covid happened. I lost all my income overnight and I was stuck renting a room in someone’s home and then, the worst of it, my best friend of 15 years, my dog, Moone died. I lost all hope, motivation and inspiration and didn’t even want to get out of bed … but there was a catch. Just before my dog passed away I had found a one day old, injured bird in the middle of the street. That baby bird needed to be fed every twenty minutes of ever day, from sun-up to sundown and for those brief moment sof interaction I was able to not feel so utterly depressed.
The baby bird had an injured beak that made him look like he was smiling so I fittingly named him Happy. I started sharing Happy’s story online and people from around the world started following our journey. As he got stronger I got stronger and it was inspiring people who were going through a very hard time. Then a producer by the name of Jim Greenbaum, reached out to me to make a documentary about me and Happy. That conversation relit the spark in my heart that I had forgotten when I lost everything and I got to work on the documentary. That documentary is called FINDINg HAPPY and it is now doing a fabulous festival run and it has won awards including Best Documentary at various festivals worldwide. Not only was I able to wrote and direct the feature film, but i got to tell a story about human-animal bonds and spread kindness, joy and compassion – it is literally everything I could have ever wanted all wrapped up into one project.
That project led me to fulfilling more dreams of mine including starting my own production company called HAPPY MOONE PRODUCTIONS in honor of Moone (my dog who passed) and Happy. Through Happy Moone Productions I have produced/directed and written 6 commercials as well as a scripted feature film that I co-wrote and co-directed, a female comedy called GOT DADDY ISSUES? that we are currently in post production on.
I also had a dream of publishing a children’s book and I now have the book Finding Happy The Sparrow out and have spoken to over 500 children at schools in the US and Canada. The book shares Happy’s rescue story and touches on grief and healing, topics that are not always the easiest to broach with young children so I hope it can help people who may need to have a difficult conversation with a child.
Happy continues to teach me lessons daily and I share his antics on social media and have grown an authentic following that I call the HAPPY FAMILY . His pages are dedicated to compassion, kindness, and bringing people together. He has over 163,000 followers across platforms and the views tally well into the millions.
Who knew one act of kindness could completely alter the course of my life and allow me to live out all my life dreams.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has not been a smooth road at all and I cannot even try to count the number of times I wanted to give up. but when a passion burns so deep. for me the passion of storytelling and leaving something behind that spreads some good in the world, it is almost impossible to walk away from it. If I had known when I moved to LA how long it would take me to feel like I am finally living my purpose I don’t know if I would’ve stayed. It has been very very difficult at times, especially when the pandemic hit and I lost everything overnight – I wanted to give up on not only my passion, but ,my life.
A creative journey is not a linear one. It’s not about climbing the corporate ladder and taking the necessary steps to get to a certain pinnacle. It’s unique and has different challenges for everyone who follows a creative path. I am proud of myself for stocking it out this long and for having the guts to follow my dreams.
It’s easy to say that having money doesn’t make you happy – and I fully agree with that statement, I see people constantly chasing after owning more, having more, acquiring more and that are not happy people. BUT being able to sustain yourself is so important so when it comes down to being able to pay rent or follow your dreams (which it did come down to that for me many times in my life) it’s not always an easy decision to make.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am an actress, writer, director and producer. I am the founder/CEO of the Production company called HAPPY MOONE PRODUCTIONS. Through my company I have produced my award-winning feature length documentary FINDING HAPPY that was shot in US and Thailand. I got to interview some amazing humans about their unique bonds with animals and one of thoe people was Lek Chailert who founded Elephant Nature Park where they rescue elephants and many other animals.
I also produced the scripted feature film, GOT DADDY ISSUES (in post-production) that I also co-wrote, co-directed and starred in. I directed, wrote and produced six commercials, two of which were created to be versatile for maximum use, which is something that sets Happy Moone apart from other production companies/ad agencies. I believe where HAPPY MOONE stands out from the rest is that I can pull talented and multifaceted teams together but I don’t have the overhead that most other companies have so I specialize in the tailored productions to fit a brands budget and creative needs.
I am also the founder of the brand HAPPy THE SPARROW and I partner and collaborate with other brands to spread a message of HAPPYness through the social platforms for @happythesparrow. I have been able to grow a solid following and will continue to do so.
www.happymoone.com
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
My children’s book that I also use for school speaking engagements is available on line on Amazon and at select bookstores.
And as I mentioned the socials for @HappyTheSparrow keep the message of HAPPYness spreading.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.happymoone.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/happythesparrow/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/happythesparrow/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariabertrand
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@HappyTheSparrow
- Other: https://www.findinghappythefilm.com/
Image Credits
Finding Happy poster was shot by The Riker Brothers.
