15 ways to become a French film director : 4 to 8.

4.Direct commercials :

Good, lucrative launching pad for a directing -and producing : Charles Gassot started in advertising- career.

Notables :.Veteran filmmakers : Jean-Jacques Annaud, Etienne Chatiliez..Newcomer : L.-P. Couvelaire : « Sueurs » (2002), « Michel Vaillant » (2003).

Hazards : great visual skills + non existent narrative talent + zero empathy with actors = lousy films ; who cares ?

Note : directing commercials will also keep you comfortably afloat while developing feature film projects ; Jean-Paul Rappeneau will concur.

Alternative : direct video clips.

Notable :.Jan Kounen : « Dobermann » (1996), « Blueberry » (2004).

Hazards : see above, plus mindless violence (« Dobermann ») and substance-induced New Age/Old Indian paper-thin spirituality (« Blueberry »).

5.Direct stage plays, possibly high-brow :

Bonus : trade the nightly perils of live theatre for the daily comfort of two takes and more.

Notables :
.Patrice Chéreau : « L’homme blessé » (1983), « La reine Margot » (1994) ; increasingly flirting with the guilty waters of mainstream filmmaking.
.Roger Planchon : « Louis enfant-roi » (1992), « Lautrec » (1998) ; flirting with old age.

6.Become a film journalist, surf New Wave legacy to the director’s chair :

Notables :
.« Cahiers du cinéma » sacred cows : Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, Eric Rohmer...
.« Cahiers du cinéma » next wave : Olivier Assayas : « Irma Vep » (1996), « Les destinées sentimentales » (2000) ; his former colleagues like his films.
.« Studio magazine » editor-in-chief Marc Esposito : « Le coeur des hommes » (2003), « Toute la beauté du monde » (2005) ; he now ventures in sequel territory : « Le coeur des hommes 2 » : evidence of mainstream success or display of « hubris » ?

Hazards : would you trust your savings to a business journalist ? how many crime reporters are called Michael Connelly ? Reading my postings, are you looking forward to my first film ?

7.Build a public relations business, switch it to your talent service :

Luminary & Spin master :Bertrand Tavernier : former film PR man, critic and writer : « Trente ans de cinéma américain » ; « L’horloger de Saint-Paul » (1974), « Que la fête commence » (1975), « Le juge et l’assassin » (1976) ; outstanding self-promoter, great lobbyist, strident advocate of « exception culturelle », raging opponent of US cinema hegemony, unrepentant lover of American B movies ; increasingly obnoxious and self-satisfied, like his films.

8.Transmute small screen fame to big screen gold :

Strategy : become a TV talk or entertainment show regular and win a free coupon to film glory.

Background : French TV is the number 1 financier of French cinema ; free on-air promotion is paramount to box-office success (feature film advertising is prohibited on France major TV channels to protect local fare against the marketing muscle of US blockbusters) : French TV is French cinema’s Big Brother and king-maker.
Hazards : watch French TV...

« Notables » :
.Isabelle Mergault : struggling actress and screenwriter joins the cast of pubcaster France 2 hit entertainment magazine, « On a tout essayé » ; reversal of fortune : now successful director of well-received first film : « Je vous trouve très beau » (2005) ; movie title -I think you are very beautiful- aptly describes her own metamorphosis.
.Laurent Baffie : sporadically funny man ; fool-in-residence to Thierry Ardisson, king of French « faux chic » talkshow vulgarity ; author of hit stage play « Sex, magouilles et culture générale » -sex, stings and humanities- powered by free prime time promotion on Ardisson’s « Tout le monde en parle » ; stage success leads to first directing stint : « Les clés de ma bagnole » (2003) ; high concept film : Laurent Baffie looks for his misplaced car keys.
.Bernard Rapp : good-looking, pleasant news and cultural journalist with pubcasters France 2 then France 3 ; moonlights as film director : « Tiré à part » (1997), « Une affaire de goût » (2000), « Pas si grave » (2003) ; films co-produced by his employer : conflict of interest ? Synergies.

Warning : Do not direct TV series or movies ; successful French TV directors do not graduate to feature film direction, unsuccessful French film directors retire to small screen duties ; ageing actors too : Alain Delon « stars » in Jose Pinheiro’s TV adaptation of Jean-Claude Izzo’s Marseilles-set crime novels.

8.bis. Join Canal + :

Sorry : you have missed the last call.

When Canal + was king, (nearly) all employees were awarded film directing options.

Canal + icons :
.Antoine de Caunes : long time, widely praised co-host of flagship unscrambled show, « Nulle part ailleurs » : « Les morsures de l’aube » (2000), « Monsieur N. » (2003).
.Karl Zero : Dan Rather, David Letterman and Orson Welles wannabe ; believed cured by « Le tronc » (1992) of his « Citizen Kane » delusions ; relapses in 2006 with « Dans la peau de Jacques Chirac » : documentary film, co-directed with Michel Royer, uses his trademark technique of digitally retooled newsreels ; fired by Canal + ; Socialist presidential hopeful Fabius and Chirac hater Sarkozy supposedly offer support.
. « Les Nuls » : possibly Canal + number 1 success story (like for Karl Zero, the « dud » concept in the comedy quartet’s name responds to the + in the channel ID) ; from humble beginnings in pastiche TV news to :
..Chantal Lauby : « Laisse tes mains sur mes hanches » (2003).
..Alain Chabat : « Didier (1997), « Asterix et Obelix : mission Cléopâtre » (2001), « RRRrrr ! ! ! » (2003).
..Dominique Farrugia : « Delphine : 1 Yvan : 0 » (1996), « Trafic d’influence » (1999).
..Bruno Carette : would have loved to direct, but drunk Nile river water and died.
..members of the quartet turned trio are also successful actors, writers, producers. Dominique Farrugia even briefly headed Canal + (after Pay TV giant received brutal financial wake-up call).
..Alain Berbérian : film editor for « Les Nuls » TV gags jumped first on the directing wagon : « La cité de la peur » (1993), with « Les Nuls », then, without them : « Paparazzi » (1998), « Six Pack » (1999), « Le boulet » (co-directed with Frédéric Forestier, 2002)...