ZDF Enterprises Screens Victor Lessard at MIPTV

Author and screenwriter Martin Michaud, Pixcom’s Nicola Merola and ZDF Enterprises’ Robert Franke presented the Canadian series Victor Lessard at a MIPTV screening.

The presentation ahead of the screening was moderated by Kristin Brzoznowski, the executive editor of World Screen. The series is adapted from Michaud’s best-selling novels about a driven detective.

Merola, president and producer at Pixcom, said he discovered Michaud’s Victor Lessard novels at an airport bookstore in 2013. “When I arrived in France, I bought two more Lessard novels!” Pixcom eventually landed the rights to adapt the Michaud books, with two seasons already produced for TVA in Canada and a third in the works. Michaud serves as screenwriter on the series.

ZDF Enterprises boarded the project after the first two seasons, said Robert Franke, the VP of ZDFE.drama at ZDF Enterprises. “We really fell in love with it.”

On embarking on the series, Michaud said he knew that “transitioning from novels to TV made it such that we had to adapt a few things. It was quite formative for me. The more you have constraints, the more creative you get. These people believed in me from day one and surrounded me with great teams. It’s a real privilege working with them.”

At the heart of the novels and the show is the relationship between the title character and his partner Jacinthe Taillon. “In Canada, people love Victor and Jacinthe as equals,” Michaud said. “It’s a strong partnership. Jacinthe is there to make sure Victor stays on the right path.”

“They are very rich characters,” Merola added.

Franke noted that the characters are “super relatable” on an international level. “We really believe this is something that will travel.”

The setting of Montreal is key to the show. “If you want your story to be universal, it has to be local first,” Michaud said. “Montreal is where I live. Victor goes to the restaurants I know. Even for our viewers and readers in Canada, they relate to that. It’s always interesting when you discover something you don’t know. One of the novelists I like most is the late Henning Mankell—he gave me the impression that I was in Sweden. I tried to replicate that in the novels and in the TV series. There are shots [in places] that even people from Montreal have not seen.”

“We wanted to show the darker side of Montreal,” Merola added.