#burt's buzz

ESE: 85/100

Director: Jody Shapiro

Starring: Burt Shavitz

IMDb Rating: 6.6/10

A look at the world of Burt Shavitz, the face and co-founder of Burt's Bees. (Courtesy of IMDb)

I’m going to go a little out of my normal format for this because it doesn’t really work well for documentaries.

This documentary really made me feel for Ol’ Burt. It tells the story of how he started, built and eventually sold Burt’s Bees company to his partner, who turned it into the empire it is today.

So I watched this documentary a few weeks ago, but it was on someone's TV rather than my computer, and if you read my blog you know how much screenshots really help me. I scanned through the film on Netflix to get the screenshots and refresh my memory. 

The first thing I want to talk about is the interview of Burt. It's not the very first interview they show of him, but it is the most used throughout the film and incredibly visual appealing. I love the red chair he's sitting on and the cabin sitting perfectly in the background. What stands out to me, though, is the screen they used to offset the background from Burt. He really pops against what could be a brightly lit, distracting background. I have done an outdoor interview before, and it was very beautiful, but the scene behind my subject was very clean. I love how the filmmakers creatively solved a problem and I think it turned out beautifully. 

The character of Burt is just a gem. He doesn't hold back at all. He's very stubborn, he doesn't want to be around a lot of people, especially corporate types, but he seems to love the attention he gets when he goes oversees. 

I loved that this was more than a documentary about a company and its origins, and it was more than a documentary about an old grumpy man. There are so many layers to this film. There are also a lot of important supporting players in this film.

Some of the important supporting people are:

Burt's Taiwanese guide, who is so sweet and welcoming.

Burt's assistant, who has to put up with some hilarious, painstaking tasks.

Burt's brother, who lives in England and is completely different from Burt. 

The son of Burt's former business partner, who seems to really understand the whole story. 

That story being, how Burt got edged out of Burt's Bees. Back in the day, he was selling honey on the roadside, and then branching out a little to the markets. He met Roxanne Quimby who convinced him to market his products and sell more than just honey. The company grew quickly.

I love that we get to meet the designer who came up with the original art for Burt's Bees, art that has become iconic. 

So Roxanne moved the company and made Burt unhappy for many reasons, and she bought out his share in the company, which he eventually regretted. 

There are so many layers and the story is told very well. The videography is also beautiful and it often adds to the quirkiness of the film.