2023-10-07 05:00:43
Published on Oct 7, 2023 at 7:00 a.m.
Two BRI trucks and around twenty hooded and armed men are parked at the foot of the Beaugrenelle slab in Paris. Their mission? Arrest a hitwoman. Don’t panic at the Quai de Grenelle: it’s just cinema. Or rather the Netflix-style series. “Engine… Action!” » says a voice over the loudspeaker. No more noise in the alley, while a plainclothes police officer pushes a handcuffed young woman towards an armored van, where she joins two other suspects, Mathieu Kassovitz and Marina Foïs, under the gaze of several cameras.
On this 104th day of filming for “Furies”, which is scheduled for release in 2024, around a hundred professionals are mobilized for this action series, one of the three genres on which the platform is betting in France, with thriller and comedy . Areas where French know-how is recognized.
Under the Smad decree, the platform invests around 200 million euros per year in audiovisual production in France (films, series, streams and documentaries included), for 20 to 25 annual launches. “They would rather spend a lot on a little content than the other way around. They have stopped looking for a needle in a haystack and are instead pursuing a “premiumization” strategy,” notes a sector expert.
Showrunners: the real bosses
The budget for “Furies”, like that of other series, is a well-kept secret, but the bill for this type of ambitious project generally reaches at least two million euros per episode. “Netflix gave us the means to make a blockbuster,” simply confides Raphaël Rocher, one of the co-producers. Enough to finance the numerous stunts, the casting, which mixes established stars and emerging talents, but also the sets.
As in “Lupin”, the capital plays a major role, particularly in exports. The teams filmed in prestigious locations, such as the Opéra Garnier or the gardens of the Palais Royal. “We wanted to tell Paris differently, through a story of crimes,” summarize the two creators of the series, Jean-Yves Arnaud and Yoann Legave.
In the production of Netflix series, as elsewhere, they are the “showrunners”, the bosses. Script designers, present every day of filming, they provide advice directly to the actors and sometimes adapt the dialogue live. “We remain at the heart of creation throughout the process,” insists Jean-Yves Arnaud. Unlike the three directors who succeed one another on season 1 of “Furies”, proof of an inversion of the usual hierarchy of the 7th art.
First eco-production
On the set of “Anthracite”, the “showrunners” Fanny Robert and Maxime Berthemy are also at work. It is a thriller inspired by the massacre of the Solar Temple sect and which is somewhat in the vein of works like “Scream”. Under a foggy sky, at the edge of a lake near Chambéry, the men of the GIGN will intervene… Too late. Corpses already litter the lawn surrounding an abandoned building, while inside, a profusion of candles bears witness to a last mysterious ritual.
“We wanted to show horror and fear, but with a lot of luminosity,” say the two co-creators, “we wanted a spiritual side but also nature and breathtaking settings. For example, there were scenes filmed in winter in the high mountains at -15 or -20 degrees.” If Netflix did not skimp on resources, Fanny Robert and Maxime Berthemy also underline the “moral” support of the platform which gave them “total freedom”, from their first pitch in mid-2021. Netflix thus supported all phases of production, for example by organizing “experience sharing” sessions with other Korean and German creators.
Filmed mainly in Alpine settings, “Anthracite” is Netflix’s first “eco-production” in France. An “eco-referent” was responsible during filming for estimating the tons of CO2 emitted (journeys, energy consumption, etc.). Ultimately, 1% of the carbon cost must be donated to associations. The project also illustrates the way in which Netflix productions highlight territories and create local impacts. An office was created in Grenoble during this filming in which nearly two hundred talents from the region participated (actors, costume designers, etc.).
Schoolboy comedy
In the tradition of “Family Business”, the platform is finally digging into the furrow of schoolboy comedy, with “Fiasco”, a project led by the same producer, Jerôme Cendron, and the same director, Igor Gotesman (also screenwriter and co-producer, with Pierre Niney). A series with “unifying” humor, Netflix not looking for “niche comedies”, recalls Jérôme Cendron.
In the Montjoie studios, in Saint-Denis, while a set of trenches from the First World War is being dismantled, filming continues on the neighboring set. Under the gaze of Pierre Niney and Géraldine Nakache, who are waiting for their entrance on stage, a distinguished guest, Vincent Cassel, disguised as a resistance fighter from the Second World War, gives the answer to the actress Leslie Medina. A slew of “very bankable” stars, whose presence made it possible to obtain a substantial budget, even if it is less than for a drama. “Comedy is exported less than other genres, so we live in a slightly more constrained economy,” admits Jérôme Cendron.
No follow-up a priori in sight for this project. Unlike “Furies”, designed for several seasons. “The commitment” will be the justice of the peace. “That’s the real parameter, people have to have completed the series,” confirms Raphaël Rocher. Response next year for these three projects.
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