ISA Showcase: Bertan Berber

Hello, who are you and where do you come from?
Hey, I am Bertan Berber and I’m from Norway.

Why did you come to The ISA to study Stunt Performance and Action Acting?
Mainly to challenge myself, but also because I’m interested in the film industry and I feel like it’s a career path that I would very much enjoy.

What was the Audition process like? Was that hard?
To me the audition was quite easy and straightforward, the only thing that challenged me was the monologue. I was not very comfortable with acting so that pushed me out of my comfort zone a lot.

Looking back to when you first joined us, what did you hope to get from your course?
First of all to get the skills required so I can work with stunts immediately after graduation, and I think that is going well! Other than that my personal goals were to get in better shape, build healthy habits, and be more comfortable in uncomfortable situations - all of those have already been achieved and I’m very happy with the results.

You're half way through your course now. How's it going?
I have achieved most of my goals already and it’s really fun to look back and see how much progress I’ve made so far. I think I’ve made some friends for life and changed quite a lot as a person in a positive way. I can’t wait to see how much further this course can take me.

What have you learned so far?
I’ve learned a lot about how stunts really work behind the scenes and how much safety and planning actually is behind it all. Not only that but also a lot about the film industry, which I think is very good for us all planning to work in that industry, saves me from learning things the hard way.
I think those probably are the most important things, but of course I’ve learned much more than that, like how the body and mind works, how to do many different stunts, how to film, how to act, how to train, and of course my favorite: how to “kill” people on camera. There is much more but I’ll skip listing all those things.

What has this experience taught you about yourself, so far?
I have learned way too much about myself during this course, and it’s almost scary. I think it’s a very valuable experience and I do not regret my decision to come to the ISA.

What would you say to anyone considering joining The ISA?
This career path may not be the safest option considering everything, but I think if you want an exciting and active life, this is probably for you. Why choose ISA? Because they focus on more than just the physical aspect, you’ll be fully equipped mentally and physically for any challenge facing your way when you’re going out into the stunt world, in my opinion.

What do you plan to do after you graduate?
I’m actually going to serve in the military for a year after graduation, after that my plan is to work in the stunt and film industry all over the world. I want to travel and work in different countries.

You're studying a few different disciplines. What's your favourite and why? 
My favorite is definitely screen fighting. I love to choreograph fights and take part in action scenes with lots of fighting. I have a lot of knowledge about weapons in general and I love to learn how to use different kinds of weapons. This mixed with filming, acting and editing skills is just perfect. I’m achieving my childhood dream of entertaining people all around the world with videos that I publish on social media.

What's been your favourite moment so far?
Ah, so much to choose from! ...I think meeting and training with Ruustic was my favorite. I never thought I would be able to do something like that, I’ve watched his youtube videos and he is a big inspiration to me. So definitely having him as a teacher was a really cool experience early in the course.

What are the specific skills that you have learned or are still learning?
For the first time in my life I’ve achieved a muscle up, backflip and frontflip. I’m still practicing to make it better and more consistent. I’m really grateful for Pawel, our parkour teacher and some of the students with tricking backgrounds, they’ve taught me a lot and they inspire me every day. I’m still learning more flips and acrobatic stuff and I enjoy it very much. Something I focus on a bit extra is breakfalls. Since I like to do fights, having a bunch of different breakfalls in my arsenal is essential. Not only that but I love to look like I completely broke my neck and freak people out, even though it’s completely safe :)

You can follow Bertan on Instagram @bb.stunts