Nightfare/ Julien Seri
Hello all, this week I offer you an outstanding article in several ways. Firstly because, once again, the 6 degrees of separation have been realized, secondly because I was able to chat with a director that I appreciate since a lot of years and for a finish because I’m going to make you enjoy.
I propose you an interview of Julien Seri for the release of his next film : Nightfare.
For those who don’t know Julien, here is a quick bio :
Julian began by carrying crates for the head of the service video de Clichy and like it was missing a cameraman and he has asked for a helping hand. From there, Julien Seri has made every effort to make it her career. When he was 24 years old, he will ask for Laurent Voulzy and convinces him to carry on next clip…and it works. 24 years later, julien has completed more than 450 pubs (there is no typing error : 450) won awards galore. He already has 50 pubs to its credit, at the age of 26, he was noticed by Luc Besson , who hired him to write and produce Yamakasi…the dream.
But the dream is short, Julien is a landed project in the middle of shooting and replaced by Ariel Zeitoun. I’ll spare you the details, you will be able to find info on the net. A trial is committed, the iron pot against the clay pot in the end Julien wins the trial !
In 2004, Julien directed his first feature (in full): ” the sons of The wind “, then in 2007 “Scorpion” with Clovis Cornillac. For these two films Julien encounter a lot of difficulties, either with a part of the shooting team, either because of retailers gun-shy…
But Julien also directed television movies : ” Legends of blood “, ” luck “ etc…
One could say that Julien is on the rails, that nothing can stop it , but all is not so simple…The film projects after Scorpion are up, cancel at the last moment…So that everything plays against him, that the urge and the energy to fight, are almost reduced to nothing, a friend of producer/ director, Pascal Sid, joined by Paul Mignot, it offers a challenge of a madman. I’ll let you discover more in the interview below.
ITW JULIEN SERI
Tom : Thank you Julien to agree to come in and share your experience with the readers of “commentfaireunfilm” and especially about the output, the 4th of November, your next film Nightfare, which was produced and directed with a more limited and especially outside of the usual production. Then Nightfare what is it ?
Julien : This is my 4th feature film : Luke and Chris, his English friend, ride in a taxi to get home after a night in paris well-watered. They arrived at their destination, they fled without paying for the race. They have fallen into the bad driver… The taxi is going to hunt all night. But is it really the money that he wants ?
Here is the trailer :
Tom : We can say that it makes you want, this is not really the kind of film that is done in France or in any case too little. But before discussing more specifically it is important to remember the why and how…Despite your amazing story :
- director of pub, rewarded
- author/ producer of film and tv
- you direct also a production company…
- You have an enormous network of stars and partners
In short we might say that you have all the cards in hand to mount any project of the cinema except that it is not as simple as that…why ?
Julien : I have no response…except one, that my work is not appreciated. I’ve done 500 pubs, and films that have worked. I’ve made over 3 million entries in several movies (yamakasi, The son of the wind and the scorpion). With my associates, my circle of friends we ask the question…but we can not find an answer, It is tiring. Not 36 000 solutions, not more…or it is not love, or we do not deserve… that is our work is not appreciated…Really need to ask the question to the other, yeah that’s it ” it is up to the others to give the answer “. Everything I do I do it with the heart, with all the energy I can, I give the best…but this is not as simple…be Careful, I don’t Caliméro, far from it ! It is just a finding.
Tom : I was referring above all to the film on which you work for years now : ” Love Run “. The history of the production is amazing and above all revealing that a film can be done or not be done until the last moment. Can you tell us more ?
Julien : Yes I have to work on for years…9 years to be exact. The film is called : ” Love Run “, we had a budget cool 5 million euros
Tom : Yes this is good, but not indecent
Julien : this is Not clear, especially as we were shooting abroad…in china in particular, and then the casting was also international.
Tom : can You tell us more ?
Julien : yeah, so this is no longer relevant. But we had, among other things, Robin Williams…who died on the first day of filming of NightFare. He had to play the mentor to the Hero. It was a comedian and a wonderful man, I had the honour of leading it in an advertising campaign Nintendo for the game Zelda.
Tom : But it’s amazing ! That is what has well been freak out at this point for Love Run ?
Julien : As I just said we had to turn in China. So we had a co-producer of Chinese who came several times in France for us to meet…everything was going well and then 4 or 5 months before the start of the shoot, more of her, more image !
Tom : How it ?
Julien : It no longer answered the phone…impossible to move forward. In short, he has left the ship…we were not able to balance the budget and the film has fallen into the water.
Tom : I imagine the blow that it had to be. Like what, one is never immune to anything.
Julien : What is really annoying is that even today we do not know why he did it ! There was no info. I really fucked up a shot, frankly it was super difficult.
Tom : You amaze me !
Julien : Honestly I had more desire, I wanted to stop
Tom : And Pascal Sid you made a phone call some time later by saying in substance : ” I go on vacation or there would not make a film ? “. A movie mode war, a small budget, number of days restricted, it is turned and after we will see for the diff…
Julien : Yes, that’s it.
Tom : I find this unbelievable, crazy even, and so how long between the first line that you write, and the first day of shooting ?
Julien : 2 months between the first line and the first day of filming ! And 15 months from the date of this first line and the output ! Even now, you saying it, I find it crazy ! But as what is possible.
Tom : And you can give an idea of the budget, the financing for that you understand how you have been able to produce it ?
Julien : You know the business and how it is going to produce a movie…and well it was completely otherwise lol You are on a budget below one million euros, and we shot 20 days.
Tom : I remember you did a crowdfunding campaign on Ullule, there were several levels that allowed you to do more or less of things during the shooting. I believe that you have managed to get 50 000 euros.
Julien : 50 346 euros exactly.
Tom : When you think that the average of the amounts requested is of 4 500 euros , and that on average people put 50 euros…you have managed to unite a lot of the world ! There you have 767 co-producers, which makes an average of 65 euros per person…
Julien : it was far more than that, you are talking about the federation, but there are close to 14 directors, who have supported us, actors, including, among others : Franck Khalfoun (Maniac), Antoine Charreyron (the prodigies), Antoine Blossier, (of any race), Alain Figlarz , Fredric Tellier (SK1), Abel Ferry (vertigo), screenwriter Stephane Cabel (the pact of the wolves), Pitof (Vidock), Chris Nahon (the baison deadly dragon), Mathieu Kassovitz, Florian – Emilio Siri (Nid de guepe, Hostage), Franck Vestiel (Eden Log), Jérôme Salle (Zulu, The odyssey), Xavier Gens ( Frontier), Clovis Cornillac, Fred Cavayé (Mea Culpa, for it), Jan Kounen (Doberman, Coco chanel), Jean-François Richet ( The instinct of death, Blood Father), with Raphael Cohen, the producer of the film, we were thrilled.
Tom : what is it that you remove all of it ?
Julien : In a middle, or everyone is watching or everyone is in competition and there they all decided to support me, support the project, the universe…it is magical. There is still a sense of solidarity in the cinema.
Tom : This is the world of the care bears ?
Julien : No, never in life. It’s just that it means something. It means that for many directors it’s a complicated, complicated to set up a project, go to the end. I’m just saying that the filmmakers who have helped have done so without a second thought, and that a momentum like this is too rare not to be highlighted. There was a solidarity in the business all the same.
Tom : the rest of the money comes from where ? Because with Ullele it is far from the account.
Julien : Yes, it is true, the rest comes fromprivate investments, producers, and me but also of private sector partners.
Tom : the kind ?
Julien : Pascal Sid and Paul Mignot were in charge of went to see prods that, for example, are short, to the pub, special effects, and asked d’to invest money in a feature film, and to be co-producers. For example, rather than put, I do not know me, 5 000 or 20 000 euros in the com, as much as they put in the movie ! In the end they are winning because we are talking about them and they participate in the production and the life of a feature film that, whatever happens, is going to be turned ! You know sometimes all it takes is a pulse to give us the desire to go further. For example, one of the co-producers : Gravity Films directed by Eric Constable, Thomas Lubeau and Rodolphe Stamati launches two films soon.
Other boxes of the prod such as William White in : Cream or Edmon Tao at Eagle Media.
Tom : to go back to Nightfare, how is the preparation of the release of the film the 4 November ?.
Julien : It’s a crazy thing, like what we can make of quality with the few resources we had. Because, in the end, we have made a film for less than a million and a genre film ! That is to say with fighting, digital effects and explosions ! There we said that we walk on the head sometimes when you see certain films at 12-or 14 million euros. So I’m not saying that if we had had a little more it would not have been well, no, with a budget of 1, 5 million more as well, even more than very, very well ! There, wherever the film is projected it is the enthusiasm, the spectators are conquered, the distributors are also. For the moment it has pre-sold the film in more than 20 countries.
For dissemination in the dining room , we hope 80 copies. But, you know, where we go out in the hall, it is amazing ! But if the film had not had this chance, we would be out in VOD. The main thing was that the film exists.
Tom : And promo ?
Julien : For the coupon we will have the chance to have a poster campaign in the subway, after we move, we made the festivals, one is on the net, social networks, in short, where we can go where we wants us.
Tom : And so on ” www.commentfaireunfilm.com ” ;o) It is clear that the adventure that you live, many think they can live it. We will come back here for a little bit, but it is important to support the initiative of this kind of project. Because it is important that all cinemas can exist. Even if you are not a fan of the genre it is important to move in the halls to see Nightfare. Many of the readers of the blog often say to me :
- “you always see the same movies, the same mouths of players, the same comedy, etc… “
There, for once thata guy goes off the beaten track and smashes for a film that stands out from the crowd, it is necessary to go there ! Like, how do you think about the number of entries for that Nightfare to be considered a cardboard box ?
Julien : Ahaha, go for a cardboard box it will say 100 000 entries.
Tom : For the readers, your last film “ Scorpio ” (2007), if I’m not mistaken, nearly 200 000 entries, it has cost 3 million euros and by doing this number of entries + international sales etc.. the film has earned a little money or has done a transaction in white. So if Nightfare, having cost less than a million and 100 000 entries, this is the cardboard ;o)
Moreover, to return on the way to Nightfare, I read somewhere that you had to get out of your comfort zone to make this film because of the lack of money, equipment, etc..
Julien : That is quite true. So I would like to say that the pub allows me to have the gear necessary to shoot, sometimes 4 cameras, but here we only had a camera and extremely limited resources, and the result is there. But you’ll see that some people will continue to say that I do not know will not turn without large means ;o) After it took me to questioning on the way to be able to tell what I wanted to with the means I had.
Tom : On the : it is said, if you start listening to everything that everyone says, it has not finished, I know something about ! A lot of readers of “CommentFAireUnFilm” want to make a long-ways from the edge, take the camera, put their savings, make a loan or turn to hard, what do you think ?
Julien : I would say that this is crazy, but I can’t say to anyone not to do it, it is not my role. All I’m saying is that I have 24 years of career. If I had done Nightfare as the first film-I’d planted, I would not have got the shoulders broad enough.
Tom : because of the budget ?
Julien : No, because it’s a film of instinct, it is through my experience that I was able to hold. But also thanks to my network and the people that surround me and at all levels : teams, hirers, producers, etc…to Make a movie like Nightfare it is the war, must be a lion otherwise you do eat, so, also, surround yourself with lions and lions who know their taf ;o)
Tom : Your team it was all ” old ” ?
Julien : Without them, Nightfare would not have been possible, their involvement, their professionalism, etc…but I’ve also taken people who were in need, not need, people for whom Nightfare also had an interest
Tom : You mean for the make up ? (Send up a technician it is to suggest a second wizard setting the scene, for example, which has a lot of experience, spend 1er assistant. Often the low-budget movies or the early films are the occasion to many technicians to ” mount “).
Julien : Yes, of course, that’s the goal ! It is important that the world found there.
Tom : I understand that after installation you have done retakes (that is to say that they go in shooting because there is a lack of things), or not ?!
Julien : Yes, I have added a week of retakes, not because we had forgotten to shoot the plans but because I realized already filming the movie, the script did not go far enough, it was missing things. So, I went out mounting a month and I was able to take the time to see what had to be deepened or not. It is a luxury huge that I had as a producer and director.
Tom : Since the beginning of the adventure the phone rings a bit more ?
Julien : No , not really. But the movie is not released yet, people are waiting. Few people in the end have seen the movie.
Tom : Except that if tomorrow is the cardboard going to have to take a switchboard ;o)
Julien : It should not burn the steps, for the moment, the cap is the 4 November. There is only happiness, then one benefits. It does not lower the guard, there are still a lot of things to do until the release.
Tom : You have a production box : Daïgoro movies, what you like editorial line ?
Julien : I produce based on my favorites. So I read everything.
Tom : That bed in your box ?
Julien : Me. You know, I read 30 to 40 scenarios of long a year , and I don’t remember much, hardly any in fact. Because what I read I do not like or is not good. Actually I say that I don’t, otherwise I would be overwhelmed, lol, And I don’t have the time or the means to read more. I can’t allow myself to read a film every day. To tell you everything , I apply the test of 30 pages. If I don’t hang on the first 30 pages, I do not continue. Basically I read a script a week. After I produce the short, and the same on an impulse.
Tom : Thank you Julien, a last word ?
Julien : We did it ! The film exists, it exits in the room. With this movie it proves that it is possible to make the film that you want, it is a different cinema, so go and see Nightfare November 4 !
I leave you with the making of waiting for the 4 November :
I’m now going to ask you also to take action. I would like that you share this article across your social networks, by email to your friends. You love going to the movies, the initiatives, then you too participate in the adventure of Nightfare speaking of the film.
I’ll throw in the first room of the cinema on 4 November to go see Nightfare, I’ll take that as a criticism here. Do like me, go see the movie, we will be able to share your thoughts, your desires.
I often say that you need to take action. For this il you just have to click on a button to share and go to see a movie in a theater.
So Go For It !
So much for the article on Nightfare and Julien Seri.
Let me have your comments at the bottom of the article.
Share without counting the blog with your networks and your friends. For sharing the article, simply click on the ” like “button at the top of this article ; (o) as well as on the button of Google+, in short, super easy ;o)
Thank you to those who will make it ;o) and that are already doing that ;o).
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Has next Sunday.
Tom Weil
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