For buyers and sellers of French programming the Rendez-Vous market is a back-to-school moment after the summer break. Having relocated from Biarritz to the port city of Le Havre in Normandy, Northern France, it sees attendees spend several days together, with the gala screenings, lunches, dinners and evening events all part of the main program.
Unifrance, the org dedicated to promoting French TV and film, organizes affairs, which proceed at a different pace to MIPCOM in October. If the Cannes market is focused on jam-packed days of back-to-back 30-minute meetings, the Le Havre shindig is a more relaxed affair and the buyer-seller conversations run for longer. Acquisition execs from over 40 countries will be in town, mostly hailing from Europe.
It is the biggest market of the year for French programming and that sharp focus on Gallic fare is helpful, Cécilia Rossignol EVP, International Sales and Development at Gaumont told Deadline. “Buyers know what they will get at Le Havre, it’s French content – its quality time to discuss French programs.”
For sales outfits like Federation International that have both French and English-language fare, Le Havre is a chance to really home in on the former. Federation will have French dramas including thriller series Log Out, which was in competition at Series Mania. Speaking about where Rendez-Vous fits into the calendar, Federation International’s Co-Head of Distribution, Monica Levy, said: “You eat together, you go to events together, and it’s a way for us to be in contact with our clients, some who maybe we won’t be able to see at MIPCOM.”
She added: “As it’s before MIPCOM, it’s also an opportunity for us to gauge the success of certain programs. We might have comments that mean we go back and change some strategy a little. Calendar wise, it’s really ideal.”
There are many international markets and events that home in on a particular genre, but the Rendez-Vous has always spanned all types of programming from fiction to docs to kids with 51 exhibitors in town this time. Animation specialist Xilam, for example, will be there, pushing the likes of Piggy Builders, Where’s Chicky?, Zig & Sharko and Submarine Jim. “It’s become a tradition at Xilam to attend Unifrance Rendez-Vous as a great way to kick off our market season, Safaa Benazzouz, EVP Distribution, told Deadline.
We checked in with some key distribs to see what they’re getting behind this time.
FTD’s Vendetta
France TV Distribution
“It’s a very important opportunity to connect with our long-standing partners from many European linear broadcasters, whom we enjoy meeting in this more relaxed atmosphere, before the busy rush of MIPCOM,” Julia Schulte, France TV Distribution’s SVP of International Sales told Deadline ahead of making the trip to Le Havre.
France TV Distribution will host one of the galas with a screening of Vendetta, the Corsica-set crime drama produced by Marco Cherqui, producer of Jacques Audiard’s film A Prophet. Cast and crew will be in town as FTD pushes sales.
The distributor will also have the new, third, season of cyber-crime drama Stalk, about a gifted hacker who uses his skills to exact revenge on mean classmates. The previous runs sold into over 120 countries, a big number for French fiction. “It was one of the first digital series we launched internationally: targeting a younger audience than the usual primetime productions broadcast on France TV, with a new narrative style and younger protagonists,” Schulte said. “Season 3 a new adventure for Lux as he enters a more adult world and explores the hot topic of artificial intelligence, making the season even more attractive to broadcasters and streamers, with a shift toward a broader, more mainstream audience.”
Studiocanal Brings A Prophet To Le Havre
Christian Mantuano
Another of the big French distributors, Studiocanal, will head to Le Havre from the Venice Film Festival where its series A Prophet had its world premiere. A reimagining of the iconic Jacques Audiard movie, it is set in a brutal French prison and starring breakout talent Mamadou Sidibé.
“Rendez-Vous in Le Havre is a timely opportunity in the sales cycle — it comes just after summer, in a back-to-business context, and allows Studiocanal, to spotlight our French-language series to a curated group of buyers actively seeking this type of content,” said Chloe Marquet, Studiocanal’s Head of International Sales for Films & TV Series.
The French studio will also have The Sentinels at the market, a high-concept series about a group of super soldiers fighting in an alternate version of WWI. The timing is good with the Esprits Frappeurs and Federation Studios series about to bow on Canal+ in France.
Federation Ramps Up Factual
Federation
Federation International has its own sizable distribution operation and is one of the main players at the Rendez-Vous. Known for its scripted titles, this time it rolls into town with a large number of docs, having folded the catalog of doc distrib Lucky You into its own.
There will be a Rendez-Vous screening event for Nature: The Call for Reconciliation, the latest from filmmaker, journalist and environmental activist Yann Arthus-Bertrand.
“His new films are always a big event and we’ve always already pre-sold it in Germany with the ZDF and it has already aired in France on M6,”said Ilan Sarfati, who heads documentary sales for Federation. “It shows the beauty of the earth, and also raises awareness about the urgency to act and to fight climate change. It’s heavy in some ways, you kind of face the hard truth, but at the same time it’s absolutely visually stunningy.”
Making The Deal For Gaumont
‘The Deal’
Gaumont
The Deal is a coproduction between Switzerland, France, Luxembourg and Belgium and follows people and events as Switzerland hosts last-chance nuclear talks between the US and Iran, with Europe, Russia and China also in attendance. It scooped the Buyers Award at this year’s Series Mania.
The series is multi-language and was for Arte in France and RTS in Switzerland. Gaumont will be looking to score more sales in Le Havre, which Cécilia Rossignol EVP, International Sales and Development, said has always been an important market for the company.
“The main purpose for us since the beginning of Rendez-Vous is getting quality time with buyers and commissioning editor, getting to know what they want and who they are. We can’t always be just doing deals we need to know the people, it’s a human relationship – and this a good place for that. It’s something different, buyers take notes, watch stuff, and you don’t just get twenty minutes with them, you get an hour.”
