THE WRITING WORKSHOP
CINECOMEDIES FIFCL

About the CineComedies Lab

Created in 2018 and sponsored by Pierre Richard, the Lille CineComedies Festival is an event dedicated to comedy cinema in all its forms. This popular and cinephile festival has for mission to make (re)discover the great classics of comedy, but also rare films by great authors. CineComedies also works to promote and support the emergence of new talents through its writing residency (CineComedies Lab) and its Label Coup de Cœur CineComediesawarded throughout the year to comedies that have demonstrated artistic excellence.

After a partnership in 2021, around the first Professional Meetings, the FIFCL and the CineComedies Lab are launching a permanent collaboration in 2022. If the aim of this writing residency is to contribute to the emergence of new talents and to the development of the art of comedy in cinema, what could be more logical than to invite the apprentice-writers to our beautiful city, during the Liège International Comedy Film Festival?

Why a writing residency dedicated to comedy?

Comedy is the most popular genre. In France, it alone accounts for two-thirds of all cinema admissions. Despite its undeniable success, comedy too often suffers from a deficit in the quality of its writing.

The cornerstone of the film, the script is the tool that will trigger the financing and the casting. However, the screenplay remains the poor relation of French cinema where it represents on average only 3% of a film’s budget (compared to 10% in the United States). Comedy is certainly the most demanding genre in terms of writing.

The writing residency

The objective of this residency is to accompany the authors in the delicate phase of the development of their script, to help them solve problems of dramaturgy, rhythm, or to explore the various narrative possibilities. In a spirit of exchange and cross-fertilization, they are supervised by consultants who are themselves screenwriters and are confronted with the difficulties of writing on a daily basis.

They are also trained in the art of the pitch, an essential exercise in convincing professionals to finance a project.

Since 2022, the CineComedies Lab has continued to develop on a European scale. In partnership with the Liège International Comedy Film Festival, the call for projects is open to French and Belgian candidates, as well as those from all French-speaking European territories.

The selected writers will now have three working sessions. The projects are presented at the Liège International Comedy Film Festival, in front of European producers.

23 projects have been developed since the creation of the residency. Several of them have been optioned by producers and are subject to a development agreement.

Contact information Le Lab
Eva Serusier
Email : eva.serusier@cinecomedies.com

Submission of projects by e-mail
lab@festival-cinecomedies.com
PDF max 4 Mb.

Press contact (no projects sent)
Claire Vorger
Tel : +33 6 20 10 40 56
Email : clairevorger@gmail.com