two Eurois reveal behind the scenes of the filming of the Inoxtag documentary

40 million views on YouTube, broadcasts in numerous cinemas in France and even a preview at the Grand Rex in Paris. The phenomenon Kaizenwhich tells how the youtuber Inoxtag prepared for a year to climb Everest and how this 22-year-old young man came away changed from this adventure.

The irresistible ascent of the neo-alpinist brought two Gaillonnais in his wake: Basil Monnot26 years old and director of the documentary, and Mathieu Caquelard27 years old, right-hand man of the videographer. Both, in their own way, were among the architects of the success of the documentary released in September.

From the André-Malraux high school to the Himalayas

Three months later, the two friends presented the film at their home, Megarama cinema of Gaillon (Eure), in front 300 people during a private evening dedicated to young talents organized by the City and the Divercité association.

“When we were having fun with Basile’s camera with our gang from the André-Malraux high school, we would never have imagined presenting a film here in front of our families, our friends and all these people”

Since their meeting in high school, the two friends have followed each other, crossed paths and found each other despite different trajectories. Basil Monnot became a director after studying at the Élancourt film school. At 19, he got noticed by directing the music video for 4Keus “O’Kartier, c’est la Hess” which has 57 million views.

Meetings with Inoxtag

Basile goes on to different projects, shoots several clips for will be born or Ibrahim Maalouf and advertisements. During one of these collaborations, the Gaillonnais met Inoxtag, his real Inès Benazzouz. “We worked together to realize his Cube project. We got along well and we said to ourselves that we could do something together later,” he recalls.

At the same time, Mathieu Caquelard is completing a degree in economics in Rouen. “At that time, Inox was looking for someone to help with its organization, to manage its planning and all the other aspects of these videos,” continues Basile. He then picks up his phone and calls his friend in whom he “detected something” to make people’s work easier and an “organizational force that could be used in audiovisual production”.

Between Mathieu and the young successful YouTuber, the feeling passes immediately. So much so that it has become Inoxtag’s Swiss army knife. “I’ve been working with him for three years. I became his handyman,” laughs the person concerned.

“Over time, my work has evolved, I still do administration and organization but I also participate in the writing of its four monthly live broadcasts.”

“Completely crazy”

When Inoxtag decided to embark on his crazy adventure and take them with him, the two Gaillonnais had the same reaction.

“First, we said to ourselves that climbing the highest peak in the world was completely crazy. Especially for a novice. Then, we changed our minds when we saw the seriousness and determination that Inox put into preparing the project”

From then on, Basile followed the young videographer in his preparation while Mathieu continued to manage the day-to-day affairs of Inoxtag in order to maintain the pace of production on the YouTube channel. “The film was written as it went along, focusing on Inox. The idea was to tell how this adventure would transform him,” explains Basile. Hence the name Kaizen, which in Japanese means “change for the better”.

Ama Dablam, first test

After several months of training in Europe, with mountain guide Mathis Dumas, Inoxtag left for Nepal for the first time. “Before attempting Everest, they had planned to test themselves on a first summit in the Himalayas,” explains Mathieu, who remained in France at that time.

Their choice is l’Ama Dablam. “The first trip allowed us to establish contacts with the Sherpas and the locals in preparation for the ascent,” says the director who will remain at the foot of the summit to coordinate the video teams.

Despite the preparation, the ascent of the first Himalayan peak proves exhausting for Inoxtag. “He was sick when he started,” remembers Mathieu. And returning to France is difficult. “We had not measured the fatigue that this would cause. Inoxtag had committed to so many requests that he had difficulty keeping up physically. »

At that moment, the documentary takes on another dimension. The YouTuber begins to talk about his need to disconnect in order to fully concentrate on his project.

“Six months before leaving for Everest, we reduced the number of videos to be produced each month. He also started to change since he decided to leave the second time without taking his phone”

Mathieu Caquelard, right-hand man of Inoxtag

At the foot of Everest

In the spring, and better prepared than the first time, the film crew leaves for Nepal with the aim of tackling the highest peak in the world. Basile, who went to Nepal, had to prepare “more for trekking than for mountaineering”.

“On site, we found the team of Sherpas. We organized ourselves to be able to shoot the scenes of the climb in the best conditions,” explains Basile who has to coordinate everyone from the base camp located at an altitude of 5,300 m.

“There were the drone shots, but also the reception of the images taken by the two camera operators who followed Inox and Mathis. In fact, one of them was a Nepalese sherpa. »

“Here we go, let’s go up”

Meanwhile, Mathieu is still in Paris. “My role was to liaise with those close to Inox. To reassure them and get news,” says the man who experienced the adventure remotely. He remembers the day he received the following text message: “Here we go, let’s go up.” “There, the stress increased. It was going to be a very intense four days.”

At the foot of Everest, the wait was not easy either. “They set off in difficult conditions for the climb. There were people and complicated weather. And despite all their preparation, they took significant risks.”

Arriving at base camp and even more so during the ascent, the Inoxtag team discovers a magnificent site but polluted by overtourism. “There was a crazy crowd to attempt the climb. For our part, we had decided that all the waste we had would have to be taken down. But that wasn’t the case for everyone. We didn’t hesitate for long to say that we had to show it in the documentary in order to raise people’s awareness,” explains Basile.

Kaizen becomes a phenomenon

If the adventure ended on the roof of the world for Inoxtag, the two Gaillonnais had a successful summer. When Mathieu found himself organizing the promotion of the film and all the related matters, Basile spent three months in a sprint to edit the 2 hours 20 minutes of the documentary. “It was so intense that at the time of release, I fell ill,” laughs the director who coordinated the work of more than a hundred people on the project.

Basile and Mathieu did not imagine that the film would take on such scale. “We would never have thought that Kaizen would become such a phenomenon,” assure the two friends. If the documentary had a very enthusiastic reception from young audiences unfamiliar with the mountains, Kaizen was received more critically in the mountaineering community.

“We knew that the reception would be quite polarized. We understand the criticism. We wanted to make a sincere and authentic film. We think we got there. Afterwards, once it was broadcast, the film no longer really belongs to us”

Instinct to go back on an adventure

One thing is certain, this adventure will have changed Inoxtag, but also Mathieu and Basile. In addition to the discovery of the mountains and raising awareness of the pollution of nature, “the message of the film is that we should not stay too much on our screens and to encourage people to go out and live in the world. We try to apply it to ourselves,” smile the two men.

After this epic adventure, Mathieu Caquelard will continue to collaborate on Inoxtag projects. For Basile Monnot, who hopes to continue his career as a director, the story with the YouTuber does not end there. Before the holidays, the two men launched a manga – their other shared passion – “Instinct” whose first volume is already a hit in bookstores. The start of another crazy adventure?

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