In-Demand: Québec Creates—Part 2

In this second special Québec Creates report before MIPTV, we’re highlighting a selection of compelling award-winning drama series, a feature documentary, animated kids’ series, family sci-fi fantasy live-action series, a new original format, a unique variety show mixing artist improvisation and humor, as well as a collection of slow TV meditative and relaxing productions from around the globe.

Québec has a unique position in the global television market as the generator of French-and English-language media in North America, with productions that are both distinctive and highly exportable. Among its main assets are the variety and appeal of its dramas, comedies, documentaries, animation, children’s content and entertainment formats. In association with the Société de développement des entreprises culturelles (SODEC), the Québec cultural agency, World Screen is spotlighting this dynamic industry and its presence at MIPTV this year. You can meet with Québec’s leading companies in Cannes at P4.C20.

Overseen by Québec’s Minister of Culture and Communication, SODEC promotes and supports the development of Québec’s cultural industry, at home and abroad. SODEC also coordinates umbrella operations and co-production initiatives at major international markets through the “Québec Creates” banner.

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Commissioner: Télé-Québec
Producer: Blachfilms
Distributor: HG Distribution
Description: (Kids fantasy/sci-fi, S1: 13×30 min., S2: 12×30 min., S3: TK) Five teenagers jump headfirst into a parallel universe with the hopes of finding a treasure with exceptional powers. The only way to find the treasure is to complete eight tasks created by Gamma, a mysterious celestial being who controls this borderless world. The series has sold to Canal+ (France) and TV3 (Spain).
Pitch Perfect: “Five friends find themselves transported into a secret passage to a mysterious world hiding a priceless treasure. Their fears and resourcefulness are those of ‘ordinary’ young people living in an extraordinary context. Together, they thwart all danger that awaits, embarking on a treasure hunt that pushes them to their ultimate limit.” —Henry Gagnon, President
Sales Contacts: Henry Gagnon; Andrea Staerke, Business Development.

Audrey’s Back (Audrey est revenue)

Commissioner: Club illico (Québecor Media)
Producer: Pixcom
Distributor: Beta Film
Description: (Comedy/drama, 10×25 min.) Seventeen-year-old Audrey slips into a coma when she is found unconscious on the road of a small town in the middle of the night. Sixteen years later, the impossible happens: she wakes up.
Pitch Perfect: “Audrey’s Back is a series full of hope about new chances in life, against all odds, and the unsuspected ripple effect it creates for a family. The series is deeply unique in style, tone and spirit. We are so excited that after being a huge success in Québec, Beta is bringing it to all parts of the world!” —Nicola Merola, President & Executive Producer, Pixcom
Sales Contacts: Nicola Merola; Oliver Bachert, EVP, International Sales & Acquisitions, Beta Film.

Dark Soul (Bête Noire)

Commissioner: Séries Plus (Corus)
Producer: Encore Television
Distributor: Encore Television-Distribution
Description: (Drama, 6×45 min.) Jeremy Tremblay walks into his high school with a semi-automatic rifle and shoots multiple students before killing himself.
Pitch Perfect: “A powerful series that follows the quest of a family trying to understand what pushed one of them, a 16-year-old boy, to shoot some of his classmates and take his own life. What triggered this nightmare? This is what the inspectors in charge of the investigation will try to find out.” —Chrystine Girard, Head, International Distribution
Sales Contacts: Chrystine Girard; Dominique Simard, Managing Director.

Dex and the Humanimals (Dex et les Humanimaux)

Commissioner: Radio-Canada
Producers: Epic Storyworlds, Loomi Animation
Distributor: Epic Story Distribution
Description: (Animation, 6×11 min.) Dex, an innocent boy, was raised in a lab by Iris, an evil AI, to be the ultimate weapon to subjugate the population of Chronopolis. When Dex discovers that he may have a family, an epic adventure begins. Dex joins two young rebels who freed him and learns to harness his unique ability to transform into an array of human/animal combinations.
Pitch Perfect: “Dex and the Humanimals is a comedy/adventure series about friendship, loyalty and family. It takes place in a colorful and positive light dystopian universe. It is a serialized show that presents deep and sophisticated stories in a futuristic universe offering an infinite amount of possibilities. Carefully crafted for kids familiar with complex video games, who consume deep content and are not afraid to binge-watch series. It’s for today’s kids!” —Steve Couture, Executive Producer
Sales Contacts: Steve Couture, Ken Faier, Christine Coté.

The Impostors

Commissioner: Bell Media
Producer: Just for Laughs
Distributor: Just for Laughs
Description: (Format, 13×45 min.) A new panel show where celebrity guests share amazing, personal stories. But what is “true” or “too good to be true”?
Pitch Perfect: “In The Impostors, a brand-new panel show that delivers top ratings in Canada, three celebrities answer questions from the host and share never-before-told stories with a live audience. Who is going to be the audience-voted ‘best impostor’?” —Fred Joubaud, Director, Content & Strategic Partnerships
Sales Contacts: Marina Di Pancrazio, Chief Content Revenue Officer; Fred Joubaud.

Motel Paradis

Commissioner: Club illico (Québecor Media)
Producer: Zone3
Distributor: Zone3
Description: (Drama, 6×60 min.) Following a near-death experience, Jen is convinced that her 14-year-old sister did not commit suicide. Determined to solve the mystery surrounding her sister’s disappearance, Jen returns to her hometown, accompanied by a police detective days away from retirement.
Pitch Perfect: “Multi-award-winning filmmaker Sophie Deraspe—whose fifth feature film Antigone was selected as the official Canadian entry for the 2020 Oscars—delivers with Motel Paradis a powerful auteur series. While keeping with the crime drama genre, Deraspe imposes her signature and succeeds in pulling us into an ‘investigation of the human soul.’” —Mélanie Ratté, Senior Director, International Distribution & Business Development
Sales Contact: Mélanie Ratté.

NOMADslow.tv

Producer: NOMAD Industries
Distributor: HG Distribution
Description: (Meditative videos, 80 hrs.) NOMADslow.tv provides a “stream of consciousness,” an endless flow of meditative videos inducing a psychological effect known as “soft fascination.”
Pitch Perfect: “Hypnotizing and transcendent, NOMAD contemplates the beauty of our world, relaxing your mind and restoring your brain. The videos are soothing and uplifting, with poetic perspectives and impressionistic storytelling. The films intertwine to create a cohesive universe spanning beyond the globe and into the imaginary.” —Jason Rodi, Filmmaker
Sales Contact: Jason Rodi.

Punch Club

Commissioners: Z, Noovo, Crave (Bell Media)
Producer: St Laurent TV International
Description: (Comedy, 8×22 min.) Québec’s biggest improv players will go toe-and-toe every week for an epic tournament that has no rules and no mercy. Punch Cluballows players to confront each other in a supercharged competition featuring improvised performances by the best comical talents in the province.
Pitch Perfect: “Improv in street-fighting mode, and the effervescence of a rap show coupled with the excitement of a UFC match.” —Lou Bélanger, Producer
Sales Contacts: Audrey Paquette, Marieme Ndiaye, Lou Bélanger.

Virage (Veer)

Commissioner: Noovo (Bell Media)
Producer: KOTV
Distributor: KO Distribution
Description: (Drama, 8×60 min.) Frédérique, a triple Olympic medalist in speed skating, retires. Faced with this void, she must learn to live without performing. The fall will be brutal.
Pitch Perfect: “A three-time Olympic medalist in speed skating leaves her career and spouse, ending her perfect post-racing plan of family life. Feeling empty, she discovers that life isn’t a race with a controllable outcome. Based on a dozen Olympians’ stories, Veerexamines our society, which values achievement at any cost.” —Barbara Vallant, Head, Sales & Acquisitions, & Marie-Hélène Lebeau-Taschereau, Scriptwriter, Senior Fiction Producer & Associate, KOTV
Sales Contacts: Barbara Vallant; Louis-Philippe Drolet, VP, General Director & Producer.

Who Was the Real Neanderthal?

Commissioners: CBC, Toute l’Histoire, Cineflix Rights
Producer: Ideacom International
Distributor: Cineflix Rights
Description: (Doc., 1×49 min.) Neanderthals have long been thought of as brutish and dim-witted. It’s been impossible to truly grasp who they were and how they lived—until now.
Pitch Perfect: “Traveling back more than 400,000 years to reveal astonishing new discoveries, Who Was the Real Neanderthal? proves our prehistoric cousins were more like us than we ever imagined.” —Josette D. Normandeau, President & Executive Producer, Ideacom International
Sales Contact: Josette D. Normandeau.

Want more information on content from Québec?

Visit the screening rooms for Avanti Groupe, Encore Television-Distribution, Epic Storyworlds, HG Distribution, Ideacom International, Incendo, Just for Laughs, KO Distribution, Magasin Général, Muse Distribution International, NOMAD Industries, Pixcom, Productions ToRoS, PVP Media, St Laurent TV International, Trio Orange and Zone3, as well as SODEC’s Winter/Spring 2022 Showcase, on WorldScreenings.com.