Born in Québec City, Bourret studied cinema at Concordia University
before earning his B.A.A. in Motion Picture Studies at Toronto's
Ryerson University.
In 1989, TVOntario, Canada's second largest public broadcaster, hired
Bourret as a production manager and within one year, promoted him as
troubleshooter production manager for both their French and English
networks. He oversaw the production and financial aspects of over 200
hours of network programming and implemented product placement for
drama productions within the network.
He negotiated the first co-production agreement between TVO and
Radio-Quebec and then line produced the resulting drama series French
Short Stories and Paroles d'échanges. Paroles d'échanges went on to
collect the Golden Apple (1st prize) at the National Educational Media
Network and received a 1991 nomination at the Prix Gémeaux (Canadian
version of the Emmys). French Short Stories received the 1992 Award of
Excellence from the Children's Broadcast Institute.
In 1993, he completed the Producer's Workshop at Norman Jewison's Canadian
Film Centre, where he specialized in the development of innovative
dramatic stories and film financing.
Bourret production managed the Swiss feature film Kein Mann ist perfekt (1995) and was
called in to production manage and produce the UK-Canadian
co-production Romantic Undertaking (1996) only two weeks before principal photography.
He production managed the re-shoot of the feature Spiel mit dem Feuer (1995) for Tri Star
Alliance and also production managed Muttertag des Grauens (1997) for ABC as well asBone Daddy - Bis auf die Knochen (1998) for HBO.
He then went on to line produce the action thriller Sanctuary (1998).
Bourret returned to television production to line produce Incredible Story Studio (1997), a
top ten kids series on YTV, Discovery Kids USA, Nickelodeon Australia
and Disney Europe.
In 1999, he served as Executive in Charge of Production (International
Drama & Co-Productions) for Motion International, Canada's second
largest production company, where he supervised the development and
production of projects for HBO, Lifetime, SRC, Paramount, M6 and
Pro-Sieben including Kein Alibi - Dunkles Geheimnis (2000) and The Courage to Love (2000).
Bourret recently produced the family feature film Virginias großes Rennen (2002), picked by
The Hollywood Reporter as one of "six films that will have buyers
buzzing" at the AFM 2002. Virginia's Run won the Best Film Award at the
Amsterdam International Children's Film Festival, received the Crystal
Heart Award at the Heartland Film Festival, and was part of the
official selection of the Berlin International Film Festival
(Kinderfest) as well as the Toronto International Film Festival
(Sprockets).
The film is a Knightscove Entertainment production, where Bourret also
served as Vice-President of Canadian Productions.
Bernard then returned to the freelance world and production managed the
Viacom pilot of Jake (2003) for UPN, the highest rated pilot by a test
audience for UPN. Bernard was called back to produce the series in
Vancouver. Jake (2003), exec-produced by David Greenwalt, Silvio Horta, Gina Matthews and
Grant Scharbo generated the best Audience Promotional Response in UPN
History.
Earlier in his life, Bernard served in the Canadian military as a navy
reservist, and as a sea cadet was awarded, at age sixteen, the
Certificate of Recognition for Services Rendered to Canada. Bourret was
also a member of the Canadian Ski Patrol and served on a rescue force
as a Québec Emergency Medical Technician.
Bernard is a member of the DGC and of the Academy of Canadian Cinema
and Television where he served as Juror for the 2002 Gemini Awards
(Canadian Emmys) and as Jury Chair for the same Awards in
2004.
