The CineComedies Lab 2022

For the first time, the CineComedies Lab is (also) coming to Liège!

Benoît Mariage (Les Convoyeurs Attendent, L’Autre, Les Rayures du Zèbre…) is sponsoring this edition, between Lille and Liège.

ANGIE & CIE by Vanessa Le Reste
CATARINA by Pierre Amstutz Roch
L’AMOUR A DUNKERQUE by Olivier Levallois
SOLO by Emma Degoutte and Tommy Weber
WAPDOO WAP by Théophile Jonglez

Belgian screenwriter and director Benoît Mariage was the patron of the^4th edition of the CineComedies Lab.

Benoît Mariage started out as a director for Strip-Tease, the famous RTBF magazine. At the same time, he produced and directed a number of documentaries, mainly in Africa. At the age of 36, he shot his first feature film, Le Signaleur, a short that won the Grand Prix de la Semaine de la Critique at Cannes in 1997. His first feature, Les Convoyeurs Attendent (1998), was selected́ at the Directors’ Fortnight and won awards at numerous international festivals. This was followed by L’Autre (2003), Cow-Boy (2008) and Les Rayures du Zèbre (2013). His latest film, Habib, was released in autumn 2022.

How did you perceive the CineComedies Lab before taking part?

I knew very little about him. I knew I’d have to read long synopses and speak at the start of a workshop. It’s not easy: at the Institut des Arts de l’Audiovisuel (IAD), I give workshops lasting a month and a half, where the participants rub shoulders every day. For the CineComedies Lab residency, on the other hand, 5 candidates were waiting for my opinion on their synopses: I had to enter into the intimacy of their projects, be sincere and encourage positive energy. I met them all again in Liège, where they had to pitch to producers.

Comedy is very particular. As an audience member, you may like one genre a little less than another, and my neighbor’s tastes won’t necessarily be my own. And yet, comedy has to make people laugh, otherwise the penalty is immediate, unlike non-comedies, which are more likely to be given the benefit of the doubt. It’s important for the author to have confidence in the laughter he’s trying to provoke. He has to be convinced, just as you are when you tell a joke.

Is the CineComedies Lab useful?

Yes! I met the authors at the beginning of the residency, and saw them again at the end. In between, they had been supported and accompanied by Fadette Drouard. In Liège, I found their energy invigorating and positive. One of the difficulties of writing is solitude, the slightly depressing aspect of being alone in front of your computer without being able to share. With the CineComedies Lab, writers can interact with each other while they’re working, and enjoy the intimacy of friends. I felt they were happy with the experience, and I have no doubt that in the future, they’ll be relying on each other for other projects. I’m curious to see, in a year’s time, which of them will have moved on to production.

Any advice for those who want to start writing a comedy script?

Go for it! It sounds silly, but you have to dare to take the plunge. Read lots of scripts, watch comedies. Watch a film you like, that you feel close to, once. Then watch it again, two or three times, to understand what works, why we like it, why we laugh, to grasp its DNA. Sharpen your powers of observation and observe life, too: you’re never as good as when you’re telling the story of what’s going on around you.

Then start with a short film. Find someone to read it, so you’re not alone. And, once you’re satisfied with your work, find a producer. It’s not easy, but it’s a leap of faith. A bit like the first time you step onto the diving board at the pool…

Yann Marchet (notably) co-founded the Lille CineComedies Festival with Jérémie Imbert, in 2018.

“From the very first edition, we wanted to showcase the diverse talents of the comedy world. The forgotten ones, the big names, the little nuggets”, he recalls. “As we also wanted to be in touch with the present, we added a few previews. Then there’s the future: starting in 2019, we’ve imagined a writing residency for the talents of tomorrow. A setting and time for authors to create their projects. A time to share, too. A good comedy is easier to miss than a drama: we had to put all the chances on their side.”

How did the CineComedies Lab come to Liège?

After the Rencontres professionnelles de 2021, attended by Fadette Drouard, our director of writing, Philippe Reynaert excelled in his matchmaking role by introducing us to the Fab Four of the FIFCL. They quickly agreed to help us give the CineComedies Lab a European dimension… starting with Belgium, to work with people who speak the same language as us! What’s more, in Belgium there’s a tradition of humor that’s strong, particular and singular. The strange thing is that Belgium produces more dramas than comedies, and its comedians come to work in France…

What do you retain from this first collaboration? What do you hope to see in the future?

This first experience enabled us to add another brick to the writing residency: we went from 2 sessions to 3, the third and last consisting, for the participants, of pitching in front of producers at the FIFCL, after spending 3 days in Liège. The projects gained in maturity: some had progressed so far that I hardly recognized them. It was a truly enriching experience, which we intend to continue and consolidate before opening it up to other French-speaking countries. This year, we had a Swiss candidate!

We’re delighted to be working with the FIFCL team, and we’re keen to push the development a little further. Perhaps we could create some “cartes blanches”, or welcome Liège to Lille? Together, we’re going to see how we can improve the residency in the short and medium term, and then we’ll build bridges…

What are the major challenges facing comedy cinema in the years ahead?

What makes a good comedy is first and foremost the quality of the story, and the ability to surprise and stand out from the crowd. It must also be well-written, to sublimate the acting. The problem with most screenplays is that they’re not done well enough, for lack of time. And sometimes they’re not bold enough. Comedy is a transgressive genre that goes against the politically correct. And that seems to be more difficult these days: artists are censoring themselves, instead of being free in their language and countering a certain type of thinking in a funny, light-hearted way.

And in theatres?

I’m convinced that a comedy should be watched together. It’s not an individual art, it’s a moment of sharing. So comedy is a way of attracting audiences back to the theater. Laughing together is the leitmotif of our festival. A comedy scene won’t have the same impact depending on whether you see it alone in your living room or in a room full of spectators.

Vanessa Le Reste began her career as a scripte (continuity) for several feature films and TV series.

Following the advice of filmmakers such as Alain Resnais and Pascal Bonitzer, she then concentrated on writing. She is also a director and producer.

Why did you turn to the CineComedies Lab?

I had a project, developed as a series, that I really liked, but it didn’t come to fruition, as if something was missing. I didn’t have much distance left when I saw the Lab announcement. I thought “what if I made a feature film out of it, or a one-off? I rewrote it, sent it in and was selected.

How did the residency go?

It was like a huge creative boost! While I was working on another series, this interlude helped me to refocus on Angie & Cie, to see what was missing and what was good about my project. Fadette Drouard and Benoît Mariage put things back on track, gave their feedback and shared their expertise. The Lab enabled me to give real shape to this project. Coming from an auteur cinema background, I was feeling a bit alone and helpless in the face of what I refused to see as a “rom com”. This residency was like saying “if you’re going to do it, do it thoroughly”. I did it, I had a lot of fun and I realized that, contrary to what I thought, not all comedy writers are great depressives: the 4 boys I shared this residency with were very funny, coming from very different worlds and styles. We exchanged a lot: the residency also involved reading each other’s projects and giving them constructive feedback.

The week in Belgium, during the FIFCL, was also very productive: when the objective is to pitch in front of professionals, you concentrate on the essentials, reduce and simplify. And the spoken word allows you to express other things, to move faster than writing, in front of representatives of big companies. What’s more, we were magnificently welcomed!

What next?

Since I was working on another project at the same time, I wasn’t able to send it all right after the FIFCL, but Angie & Cie went to various producers I met in Liège. I took advantage of my second project, presented in Paris, to continue talking about it, since I had mastered the pitch! What would be great is for Angie & Cie to be screened at a future FIFCL: it would be a great way of bringing things full circle!

Trainer, scriptwriter and script doctor, Olivier Levallois studied at the Conservatoire Européen d’Ecriture Audiovisuelle in Paris.

He works for various film and TV production companies and has been teaching characterization, comedy writing and script doctoring for the past 10 years.

Why did you turn to the CineComedies Lab?

Through teaching, I’ve questioned and strengthened the tools of comedy to the point of wanting to be a little less of a trainer, and a little more of a scriptwriter. In France, there aren’t many proposals specifically aimed at comedy, with the quality of the Lab. It’s not just a residency: it creates other links, other things, other dynamics… What’s more, it was associated with the Liège International Comedy Film Festival this year! So I applied.

How did the residency go?

The basis of a residency is to offer time, during which you can devote yourself entirely to writing. That in itself is precious. As for me, I spent hours thinking undisturbed, in a heritage site tinged with the history of the miners and conducive to creation.

Initially, we all worked a bit alone, each in our own corner, although it was interesting to see how we viewed each other’s texts. Fadette Drouard’s feedback was very important, especially when it came to the characters: she has a very particular approach and is very demanding about them. As for Benoît Mariage, who spent a whole day with us, he was very involved, very fair in his criticism without being too kind, without sacrificing the intention behind the project either. We were very lucky.

What next?

Liège was the most interesting week of the residency, in many ways. Eight hours a day working on our pitches as much as anyone else’s strengthens the bond. Sharing the same sense of fear and risk, too. The Festival itself was a welcome interlude.

There I met 6 or 7 people interested in “L’amour à Dunkerque”, 2 of whom were very enthusiastic. It seems that yes, my script is on track…

Are you a (young) screenwriter
and would like to find out more?