French Production Incentives Boost Country’s Visual Effects Sector

Jamie Lang French distribution company UFO has secured the rights to American filmmaker Ryan J. Sloan’s New psychological thriller “Gazer,” which will world premiere at this year’s Directors’ Fortnight on May 22. Set in New Jersey and starring Sloan’s partner Ariella Mastroianni, “Gazer” is the story of a young mother with a rare degenerative brain condition called dyschronometria.

The anarchic spirit of Julia Ducournau’s Palme d’Or winner Titane lives on in Emma Benestan’s Critics Week closer Animale, the genre-busting debut of a director who cites Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Kathryn Bigelow’s Near Dark, and the naturalist films of Chloé Zhao as influences. More surprisingly, she also credits Abdellatif Kechiche, since her first break was as assistant editor on his 2013 Palme d’Or winner Blue Is the Warmest Colour. 

Fundamental Films chairman Mark Gao and his CEO Ivy Hua are in Cannes to reconnect with the international industry as part of the Shanghai-based company’s return to international acquisitions and production. 

Christopher Vourlias It’s been 20 years since the Czech Republic hosted its first pavilion at the Cannes Film Festival’s Marché du Film, with a Czech delegation arriving at the prestigious French fest just days after their country had joined the European Union. The timing was both propitious and symbolic: In the two decades since, the Czech industry has grown more international in its outlook, spurred on by a growing number of co-productions and a wave of industry professionals who have come of age since the country joined the E.U.

Mediawan CEO Pierre-Antoine Capton into France’s Legion of Honor last October, calling the exec “the ultimate French success story.” In a country rarely known to promote social mobility, Capton-esque career trajectories are scarce. A self-made entrepreneur born into a middle-class Normandy family, Capton began his professional life as a teen with an entry-level internship, eschewing elite universities, making the exec a rare bird among France’s top media execs.

Naman Ramachandran India is making a concerted push to become a global production hub with enhanced incentives, diverse locations and a strong presence at Cannes. It is a record year for India at Cannes, with its first title in competition in 30 years, Payal Kapadia’s “All We Imagine as Light,” and seven more Indian or Indian-themed films across the festival’s various strands. In addition, the country has a strong Cannes Film Market presence, while the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, on behalf of India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB), has organized a range of events aimed at global content co-producers, sales agents and distributors at the India Pavilion on the Croisette.

Jennie Punter With the effects of the 2023 strikes growing smaller in the rearview mirror, Quebec has fine-tuned its incentives and is revving up for more than just a simple recovery in 2024. In January, the Quebec Film and Television Council warmed up post-strike Hollywood with a trade mission to reacquaint producers with the province’s strengths: a deep crew base (57,000 pros work in the audiovisual sector, roughly 27,500 of those on international productions); state-of-the-art soundstages near downtown Montreal; diverse locations; world-class animation and post-production studios; and a large VFX hub of award-winning talent.

EXCLUSIVE: Meryl Streep says that a meeting is “imminent” where she’ll hear about the proposals for her to return for a third helping of Mamma Mia!

EXCLUSIVE: Veteran producers Frida Torresblanco (Pan’s Labyrinth) and Frank Murray (First Reformed) have teamed up to launch Hangtime International Pictures, a new transatlantic production company headquartered in London and New York.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Omar Sy, the charismatic French actor of heist show “Lupin,” is set to star in “French Lover,” Netflix‘s romantic comedy that will mark the directorial debut of Nina Rives. Sy, who is currently attending the Cannes Film Festival and sits on Greta Gerwig’s competition jury, will star opposite Sara Giraudeau (“Bernadette”), Pascale Arbillot (“Lost Bullet”) and Alban Ivanov (“C’est la vie”). Hugo Gélin, who previously directed “Love at Second Sight” and “Two Is a Family,” a pair of heartwarming comedies which thrived at the French box office, is serving as artistic producer on the film.

EXCLUSIVE: Paris-based Nour Films has acquired French rights to Saudi director Tawfik Alzaidi’s first feature Norah ahead of its world premiere in the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard.

Eurovision entry Slimane has interrupted his own rehearsal performance to give an unexpected speech about “peace”.During rehearsals today, Slimane made a surprising change to his song ‘Mon Amour’, where he replaced his a capella section with a speech about “peace”.Footage of the performance shows the French-Algerian singer saying: “When I was a child, I dreamed of music. I dreamed about this dream – to be a singer, to sing about peace.

Manuel Betancourt The world of Pierre Creton’s “A Prince” is lush and verdant. His protagonist is a gardener’s apprentice whose penchant for taming and nurturing the wilderness around him is only matched by the latent eroticism he finds in various older men he comes to be involved with.

EXCLUSIVE: Florent Lamy and Daniel Blanc’s Paris-based talent agency Elevate Management is expanding into sports and digital and is also opening offices in Miami and London.

An entertainment division of leading French union CGT has thrown its weight behind Cannes Film Festival and other French festival workers who are intending to strike and protest next week over pay and the nature of employment contracts.

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Vin Diesel is set to enter production on Riddick: Furya, the anticipated fourth installment of the Riddick franchise, on August 26.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent An organization representing freelance festival workers is calling for a strike during the upcoming Cannes Film Festival. Called Sous les écrans la dèche (Broke Behind the Screens), the org is protesting against a looming labor reform that will see their unemployment indemnities slashed by more than half.

EXCLUSIVE: Production has started in South Africa on Oscar-winning director Gore Verbinski’s new action adventure film Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die, starring Sam Rockwell, Haley Lu Richardson, Michael Peña, Zazie Beetz and Juno Temple. 

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