The production of “BigBug” was officially announced

The production of BigBug was officially announced in Paris on the 17th of January, by Reed Hastings, the creator of Netflix, which will finance the project. The film will be produced by ESKWAD and yours truly, and will be part of a collection of European films, one per country, filmed in the country’s language.

My entire team is on the warpath: decoration, sound, images, costumes, editing etc. The cast will be made up of Elsa Zylberstein, Isabelle Nanty, Stéphane de Groodt, Claude Perron,Youssef Hajdi, Claire Chust, François Levantal, Alban Lenoir et deux adolescents : Marysol Fertard et Hélie Thonnat.

It’s a science fiction comedy, in a closed setting, with humans, androids and mechanical robots.

During this project I experienced (all modesty aside) the same thing as Scorsese with The Irishman. I have been toting this script around in France for 4 years, and it has been rejected by all (as were Delicatessen and Amelie in their time). And like Amelie, Brigitte Maccioni of UGC fell in love with it and wanted to produce it. But she wasn’t able to because, obviously, a French comedy with robots doesn’t fit in a nice, tidy box.

And then one day David Kosse from Netflix wrote to me from London asking me if I might have a project…
A resounding “yes” with a big smile came back just 24 hours later!

Since then we have been living a dream. Enthusiastic teams, total freedom, sufficient budget. The fact that BigBug will not be released in theaters is not a problem, because unlike, for example TS Spivet, which was shot in 3D in wide-open American spaces, it is particularly suitable for small screens and TV. And I must admit that the idea of not having to face a cinema release, with the box-office figures coming in, cleaver-like, at 10 in the morning, is rather a relief. Knowing that 138 million subscribers will be able to see the film is extremely exciting!

No, these new platforms are not going to kill cinema, because technologies accumulate and complement each other, they don’t replace each other. After all, cinema has never killed the theater, and there are still black and white films being made…

Filming begins september 2020, for a release in november 2021.

And then, 2 other feature film projects which are seemingly of interest to producers: a series, and for Amelie’s 20 year anniversary, a fake documentary that will be completely crazy and hilarious!

A short film for the Gaillanne Foundation

The Frédéric Gaillanne Foundation, in Isle sur la Sorgue in Provence, France, is the only organisation in France to provide guide dogs for blind children. They do an absolutely remarkable job. I made a short film for the foundation (who I sponsor) explaining how they work. They need funds in order to double their capacity to be able to offer twenty dogs per year instead of ten. This ‘amateur’ film was made by a mini-team of professionals, and everyone in the film is part of the foundation, or are real host families for the dogs. Young Anaïs is really blind and handled her role as a true professional, accompanied by her own dog “Mozart”.
A special thank you to Mathieu Kassovitz, who ventured out on his scooter in the rain to bail us out. If you would consider making a small contribution this Christmas, it would be welcome. And don’t hesitate to share this little film with all your friends…

https://www.fondationfg.org

“Les Cinémas de Caro/Jeunet”

A book about our work together, Caro and I, and our personal movies, has been published by Cernunnos/Dargaud… A sort of extension of the Halle St Pierre exhibit, with photos, drawings and other unpublished documents, including long interviews by Laurent Djan and prefaces by Claudie Ossard and Dominique Pinon.

Caro/Jeunet exhibit in Lyon

The Halle Saint Pierre exhibit will be present until May 18, 2019 at the magnificent Cinema and Miniatures Museum, 60 rue Saint Jean in Lyon.

There will be a few less items than in the original exhibit, like the short films The carousel or The escape, but one additional item: a mini cabinet of curiosities, reproducing objects from the exhibit, tinkered by myself and some of my friends, like a mini new-born Alien, sculpted by Allen Dayton, Amélie’s pig lamp and Kazuhito Kimura’s garden gnome, or the bag and the slippers that Amélie exchanges in Collignon’s house, created by Dominique Roche…

A big round of applause to Dan Ohlman and Laurie Courbier, who took care of the set up.

The Caro-Jeunet Exhibit now to be at the Lyon Cinema and Miniatures Museum

The outstanding Caro-Jeunet exhibit at the Halle Saint Pierre has come to an end after 10 months. Many thanks to Martine Lusardi and her collaborators.
Now it will be opening to the public at the superb Cinema and Miniatures Museum in Lyon, at 60 rue Saint Jean, on October 13, a few days before the Lumière festival where Delicatessen will be screened three times.
Below, an image from the Halle Saint Pierre exhibit. (Photo Elske Koelstra)

Clip Gauvain Sers

Gauvain Sers is a young singer from the Creuse region of France. He wears a cap in beige ribbed velvet. That’s his style. He sings before Renaud and last Saturday at the Bastille, he finished his concert with an unpublished song that paid homage to the famous French singer. It gave me goose bumps! This guy can write.

As he mentions “Amelie” in his song, how could I refuse to make his music video? Aline Bonetto for the set, Thomas Hardmeyer for the lighting, Nathalie Tissier for make-up, a new costume designer, Fabienne Katany, and hairstylist, Cicci. Julien Lecat for the editing and making off, produced by Jerome Denis … and of course Christophe Vassort, my faithful assistant. Alexia Giordano in the role of “Elle” … Jean-Pierre Daroussin and Gérard Darmon as guest stars! A big thanks to them all…

Soon a Caro/Jeunet exhibition?

In any case there is no lack of proposals… So I gathered the countless objects that have appeared throughout our films… Like the poster Caro painted for Delicatessen

pinon

The model for the flea in The City

cite-1

Or the tugboat from the same film…

bateau

A model from Alien…

alien

Or the Machine of Perpetual Motion from TS Spivet

machine mouvement

And dozens of others…