In the heart of Paris, in the newly redesigned Les Halles, 40,000 people gathered to watch television this April. For the last seven years, the Séries Mania event is becoming an increasingly important feature of the media landscape, with an ambition to become the Cannes Festival of television.
Attendees watched the first two episodes of 43 newly produced TV series from 17 countries. David Chase, show-runner of The Sopranos, presided over the jury; the actor Bobby Cannavale presented the pilot episode of Vinyl, directed by no less than Martin Scorcese. Cuba Gooding Junior introduced the French public to The People v. O.J. Simpson, soon to be broadcast in Europe.
France, the birthplace of cinema, has recently developed a passion for TV series and has become itself a thriving export industry. In the last ten years, despite the dominance of House of Cards, Mad Men, Game of Thrones and Downton Abbey, France - just like Scandinavia - has started exporting its best TV series and developed an international fan base, hungry for Gallic stories inspired by current affairs, crime, sex, history and politics.
“Since The Sopranos, the US cable channels have created an ever-expanding base of loyal subscribers by offering them sophisticated and grown-up TV series - a strategy that has worked beyond expectations,” says Charles de Rosen, producer of a forthcoming series at Canal+, which currently has close to 40 projects in development. “As a result, every other TV network and broadcaster in the world has aimed to do the same. It has contributed to raise the overall quality of the production, writing, casting and directing everywhere.”
In France, cinema has long been seen as a better reflection of the national mood and culture than TV, but is now being challenged by the small screen. TV series are now seen as mini-movies, conceived and produced with the same care as theatre releases, and this plays perfectly to France’s strong cinematic tradition.
With the arrival of Netflix and Amazon to the market — financiers with considerable clout — newcomers to the TV format such as Gaumont and Haut et Court, usually better known for their award-winning feature films, have embraced the production of psychologically elaborate TV series and joined the fray.
Several have had international success. The crime series Engrengages — or Spiral as it is known on this side of the Channel — showed on BBC4 and Netflix, while the paranormal thriller Les Revenants — The Returned — attracted audiences of two million on Channel 4. The revenues that they generated have triggered a virtuous circle of reinvestment.
The next export could well be Marseille, which stars Gerard Depardieu as the ageing mayor of the southern French city, battling to keep his position against a young and ambitious rival.
Sales and pre-sales of French drama to foreign buyers increased 116 per cent to €68 million (£52 million) in 2014, the last year for which figures are available, and the total of French audiovisual exports reached €210 million. Sales to US broadcasters increased by nearly 170 per cent, making it the second-largest market for French programming.
Major directors, like Scorcese, have been drawn into the TV boom. Cannes Palme d’Or-winner Jane Campion has written and directed New Zealand-set thriller Top of the Lake. Oscar-winner Paolo Sorrentino is directing the forthcoming The Young Pope for HBO. The creative — and economic — freedom offered by the medium is exciting for writers and directors in France. The National French film school, La Fémis, recently created a dedicated department for TV screenwriting and has released series pilots to attract broadcasters.
“Everywhere, but in France in particular, television has again become a world in which one can experiment and explore new narrative styles and new genres. This is what I personally find exciting as a screenwriter,” says Clémence Dargent, a Fémis graduate, now working for Canal+.
