The Insouciant Interviewer

Apparently, I slightly insulted Noemie. We were at a party. I made a flip joke. She laughed nervously. A week later I got a call from a studio in Paris.

"We hear you're insouciant."

"What? What the heck are you talking about? What does that even mean?"

"Exactly! Like Noemie promised you'd be. Will you come to Paris?"

So MasterTaste was born, back in 2012.

The call was from Francois Morin, Co-Founder of French film studio, Campus Channel. They interview Academics - Deans and Professors - on a streaming internet TV channel for university applicants.

What makes the format so interesting is that Campus Channel features a face-to-face interviewer, who asks tough, mischievous questions, acting as 'the voice of the student'. French teenagers absolutely love it.

Campus Channel wanted to branch out into the lucrative MBA market. They needed a native English speaker, who could mould to their house style. I was to become the face of Campus Channel outside of France. At the time Francois was their 'naughty' interviewer, so it fell to him to show me the ropes.

Over the coming weeks, Francois became my drill-sergeant. Once I was properly attired - velvet jacket, fitted shirt and a bow tie - we sat under the hot studio lights, rehearsing for the big day:

"Be more aggressive, Nathan!"

"Don't move your arms so much on camera!"

"If they speak for more than 30 seconds, you must interrupt. Otherwise it will be boring for the viewers."

"Tell him: THAT'S BOULE-SHEET."

The pilot was filmed with Frederik Frery at ESCP (Ecole Superieure de Commerce), on a cold, wet January morning. Here's that pilot. Suffice to say, it worked. We named the project MasterTaste and sold the format to 20 top European Business Schools.

I took a cameraman and travelled to 11 countries, filming back to back, each day at a new school. It was a baptism of fire, and I loved it.

Naturally, I had serious doubts about this project:

- Why was this a good idea for these Schools?

- Why had they agreed to pay money to potentially be insulted?

- Why would they share such interviews with prospective applicants?

Higher Education is a crowded marketplace. There's little real distinction between competing schools or their MBA degrees. It's all about brand name, and the school's position in some finickity ranking table, such as the FT100.

For a student about to invest a great deal of money, and one or two years of her life, rankings and reputations don't give a full picture. The candidate wants to know if she'll fit in; enjoy the campus, the course, the city, the people. Ideally, she'd take a week off work to visit the school. Practically, that's rarely possible.

So the next best thing was for me to meet schools on the applicant's behalf.

No photographs of luxuriant lawns or stories of famous alumni - that's gloss. My role was to make an in-depth qualitative investigation with someone responsible for the learning experience; either the Dean, or a senior faculty member.

Rather than woodenly speaking to camera, putting on a fake smile and rattling off a marketing brief, the Deans of these 20 schools looked me right in the eye, taking questions on the fly. Engaged in conversation with someone who seemed like a prospective client, the Deans' real personalities came through.

I won't say it always worked perfectly. Some Deans arrived totally unprepared. One or two reacted badly to my probing questions. One time we filmed outside and it started to rain. Another time, there was a power cut. For a particularly memorable shoot, we left the lens cap off a camera when it was filming. 

Yet, every time, we captured moments of humanity and authenticity.

Under the pressure of the cameras - and forced off-script by my questions - the personal values of the interviewees shone through. Most are lifelong educators, teachers, coaches, advisors, so what was revealed was always intriguing; enthusiasm, passion, care, intellectual curiosity, a love of mentoring and developing others.

Once they put down the official 'marketing' party line and spoke from the heart, something fascinating happened. The spirit of the person - and of the school - became apparent. Something 'real' broke through.

Some were formal, others casual. A few Deans cared deeply about issues such as the Environment or Women's Representation. At least one pushed all her students to go into Finance. Another forced compulsory meditation time into the learning program. Yet another was openly a strict disciplinarian.

They weren't all necessarily to my taste.

But without a doubt, they were all distinctive.

For students who watch these videos, this human quality, this intangible and  unexpected personality makes all the difference. Viewers arriver at MasterTaste suffering from 'paralysis by analysis', having trawled through dozens of websites and chatted endlessly with fellow applicants online.

Once they've seen a MasterTaste video, applicants confirm their feelings one way or another, and make a decision.

Today all 20 schools are happily sharing their MasterTaste videos on Youtube.

These are long videos, running an average of 40 minutes. Still, the series has over 30,000 views, a number that increases year on year, as fresh applicants come seeking that irrational, human touch.

I invite you to browse MasterTaste series 1 and series 2 at the Spot On website. It's maybe a little amateurish in places; I'd certainly do things differently now with the benefit of hindsight.

You know what? It's wonderful to have my 'training process' captured in all its painful glory. I'm so grateful my video interview career started here, with my bow-tied insouciant character: MasterTaste.

Thank you, Campus Channel!