The writing residency
CineComédies Lab

About the CineComedies Lab

Created in 2018 and sponsored by Pierre Richard, the CineComedies Lens-Liévin Festival is an event dedicated to comedy cinema in all its forms. This popular, cinephile festival is dedicated to discovering or rediscovering the great classics of comedy, as well as rare films by the great auteurs. CineComedies also promotes the emergence of new talent through its writing residency (CineComedies Lab) and its “Label Coup de Cœur CineComedies”, awarded throughout the year to comedies demonstrating the highest artistic standards.

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.

Selected scriptwriters now benefit from 3 work sessions. The projects are presented at the Liège International Comedy Film Festival, in front of European producers.

Since the creation of the residency, 29 projects have been developed. Several of them have been optioned by producers and are subject to a development agreement. The latest was with Belgian director Emilie Sornasse and her film project “Le Temps des conquêtes”, which attracted the interest of producer David Borgeaud (Roue Libre Production).

June 14, 2024: registration closes.

July 9, 2024: Announcement of the selection, i.e. 6 feature film projects selected by a committee of experts.

September 9 to 13, 2024 at Arenberg Creative Mine: First session focusing on the evaluation of each project in order to set up the narrative structure of the scenarios and the character sheets.

October 7 to 10, 2024 at Arenberg Creative Mine: Second work session on the scenario.

October 11, 2024 at École 24, Tourcoing (Lille Métropole): Workshops and professional meetings.

November 3 to 6, 2024 at FIFCL, Liège (Belgium): Third session: preparation for the art of the pitch and presentation of projects to professionals.

Ahmed Hamouda
Tel: +33 7 49 47 07 20
Email : ahmed.hamouda@cinecomedies.com

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

Press contact (no projects sent)
Anne Pourbaix
Tel: +33 6 11 29 59 26
Email : anne@api-rp.com