The Unifrance Rendez-Vous is a moment to sample the best of what’s to come from the French TV sector as 60 distributors launch the shows they hope will become the next international Gallic hit. This year, 200 international buyers from 40 countries are expected in Le Havre. With 700 programs available to screen, even the most diligent buyer can’t see everything, so Deadline selected five projects that will be in the spotlight in Le Havre.
The roster spans a new outing for a much-loved masked crime-fighter, an animated art series, offbeat procedurals and a slice of Parisien high life.
From The Producers Of Call My Agent, Ça c’est Paris Takes The Stage
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Federation arrives in Le Havre with Ça c’est Paris, a show it has coproduced with Michel Feller and Dominique Besnehard’s Mon Voisin, which made the original Call My Agent.
The series follows Tout-Paris, a fictional cabaret renowned for staging wild Parisien nights and situated in the real-life Latin quarter. François Berthille runs the show and resists selling his family business to a supermarket chain. The show follows him as he tries to restore the glory of the Tout-Paris. It also zeroes in on the stories of the people that work at the venue, and notably three of the troupe’s dancers.
Marc Fitoussi is the director and showrunner. A starry cast includes Alex Lutz, Nicolas Maury and Monica Bellucci who plays herself.
Asked why the show will standout in a crowded drama market, Guillaume Pommier, Federation’s Co-Head of international sales, says the star wattage and setting will generate interest. “We have an amazing cast, plus it’s taking place in Paris, in le Paradis Latin. Buyers can’t have Emily in Paris, which is exclusively on Netflix… but they can have Ça c’est Paris.”
Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal are obvious sales targets for prestige French drama, but Pommier notes the allure of the French capital, which has just hosted a stellar Olympics: “Because this series is set in Paris, I expect Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America to be interested as well.”
Like Call My Agent, the series will drop on France 2 domestically and it plays to a broad free TV audience, but Pommier shares news of a potential streamer deal: “The topic and the treatment is more linear TV oriented, but it was also the case with Call My Agent and on this specific series, we are already in discussion with a prestige SVOD service.”
Tom & Lola Plays Into A Light Crime Trend
Tom & Lola is Mediawan’s big launch for the market and speaks both to the perennial popularity of the procedural and to a penchant for what has been dubbed ‘cosy crime’. It hails from Mediawan-backed prodco DEMD, which has pedigree in this genre with its series Tandem.
“It blends beautifully the procedural crime genre with compelling feelgood family elements, making it a very unique series. It also comes at a time when the market is in high demand for light-crime,” says Randall Broman, Head of International Distribution, Scripted Content, at Mediawan Rights.
In terms of where it is expected to fare well, Broman adds: “The light crime genre is gaining traction as audiences seek more relatable and comforting narratives, characterized by a blend of humor and mystery. The markets that immediately come to mind for Tom & Lola are Italy, Spain, Germany and the CEE region, but we’re confident to find outlets for the show also in the U.S., LatAm, Japan and elsewhere.”
For Mediawan, the Rendez-Vous TV market has a strategic role in terms of its sales strategy. “It enables us to initiate qualified conversations in Le Havre, which we can then further develop and potentially conclude at MIPCOM in Cannes,” Broman says.
Art History Gets Animated: The Legends of Paris
Paris is synonymous with fine art and the French film and TV sector is renowned for animation. Both come together in The Legends of Paris: a Tale of the 19th Century Artistic Scene, an animated doc series that takes viewers to the literary and artistic heart of the French capital in the 19th Century. It tells the intertwined stories of iconic figures including Hugo, Balzac and Baudelaire.
Paris-based indie Silex, which made animated doc series The Adventurers of Modern Art, is the producer. It had a 90-strong team working on the series.
Arte has several animated documentaries in its catalog and is handling sales. “Animation brings a significant advantage, particularly in historical documentaries, by vividly bringing events to life,” says Joséphine Létang, Head of International Distribution. “Through storytelling that embraces the codes of fiction, animation enables us to reach viewers who might not typically watch documentaries, but who love compelling stories and remarkable figures.”
The Adventurers of Modern Art sold into 25-plus territories and Arte is hoping for similar sales success with The Legends of Paris. Létang characterizes the Unifrance Rendez-Vous as “both intimate and effective” and an event that kicks off the second part of the year for the distrib.
A Total Eclipse of Le Havre
The Eclipse is a whodunit set in a small rural town of Aubrac, hailing from prodco Carma Films. Manue and Johanna are the female cops investigating mysterious events after a teenager accidentally shoots his girlfriend. The ensuing drama impacts their own families and echoes across generations.
“The powerful image of the eclipse marks a struggle between light and darkness, between what’s hidden and what’s to be revealed,” says Emmanuelle Guilbart, joint-CEO & Founder of APC, which snagged the international rights to the six-parter. “We were seduced by the intergenerational aspect of the story, and especially by the investigating duo: two cops, two women, two very good friends, which is quite unusual in the genre.”
For many sales houses Le Havre is a place to start talking about deals that may close subsequently at Mipcom or later in the year. But The Eclipse is further along having been teased at Series Mania. “We are planning to close most of our deals for the series in Le Havre,” says Guilbart. “France has become the go-to market for international buyers looking to fill up their slots for high quality foreign-language scripted content.”
Zorro Rides Into Market
It’s 1821 and Don Diego de la Vega becomes Mayor of Los Angeles. He has not used his Zorro identity in two decades, but is forced to don the mask once more to save his city and fight injustice. With French star Jean Dujardin playing the Mayor by day and titular hero by night, France Télévisions Distribution hits Le Havre with a new Zorro series. The action-comedy is for France Télévisions and Paramount+ in France, the UK, Italy, Germany and LatAm.
Paramount+, France Télévisions, Bien Sûr Productions and Marc Dujardin’s Le Collectif 64 produce. “At the outset, we had fun imagining our ego-driven Zorro, who wants to be loved and to please people as quickly as possible, answering complicated questions with simple, even simplistic, answers,” explains Marc Dujardin. “In this respect, he’s a populist figure and quite the opposite of [alter ego] Don Diego, who is a bit of a technocrat.”
Noé Debré co-created and wrote the show with Benjamin Charbit. Debré says working with Jean Dujardin was a huge draw.
“With really good TV comedy, there’s often a great actor in the center, the examples are there, Ricky Gervais, Seinfeld or Larry David,” he says. “Jean Dujardin is a fantastic comedy actor and we thought, okay, there’s a great actor, there’s a theme, and there’s a fun subject, we should definitely do it.”
France Télévisions Distribution has sales and will launch the show at Le Havre. “We have a mix here of a very well-known global IP and French producers and brilliant French actors,” says Julia Schulte, FTD’s SVP, International Sales.
“It remains situated, however, in the very classic Los Angeles,” she adds. “We stay in that environment with costumes and with the whole setup, but we also bring Zorro to another contemporary level with the treatment and the humor.”
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