Introduction
The residency will take place for three weeks in the Fall 2021 and will welcome six French writers. The program?will be individualized for each writer and conducted in English, with the guidance of well-known screenwriters and showrunners, script specialists, public speaking coaches, agents, and other professionals in production, distribution, and regulations.?Each resident writer will be paired with a Hollywood mentor with whom he or she will work one-on-one to develop his or her project. Group visits to studios and production companies, as well as?convivial?opportunities for networking will all be on the agenda. By the end of the residency, the projects will be ready to be presented to potential American partners (such as producers, TV studios, and distributors) and one-on-one meetings will be organized for this purpose.
Goals of the residency
- Thanks to the personalized guidance from showrunners, producers, and experienced professionals, the residency? aims?to offer the resident writers the necessary tools to deliver a pilot script that answers to the level of international standards?demanded?and?demonstrates an artistic direction.
- Launch the international careers of the resident writers in introducing them to key?industry?contacts who will be able to advise them both on the creative process and on best business practices.
Program language:
The working language for the entire duration of the residency is English, meaning that all written and spoken material, at every step of the process, must be in English.
The final series can be multilingual, in French, in English, or in any other European language.
Participation fees:
The Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States, the CNC, and the SACD will cover:
- A mobility grant for the travel expenses, lodging, and per diem
- A program of group meetings and individualized guidance from local partners
- The organization of convivial networking opportunities
- The communication surrounding the residents and their projects
Partners:
The Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States, the SACD, the CNC, and the WGA Foundation
Calendar:
April 20 – May 20: Applications open
May 21 – June 30: Selection process
July 10: Selection Announcement
September 27: Orientation at the Maison des Auteurs in Paris
October 11 – 29?: Writer residency in Los Angeles
Application process
Finished?applications?should be?emailed?before May 20th?at midnight French time to:?
series@frenchculture.org
Eligibility criteria for projects:
- Project in English with strong potential for the international market
- Material requested, written in a bilingual format (French-English): Bible + note about the artistic direction of the series + pilot script (20 min minimum)
- Original screenplay (adaptations are not accepted)
- Must be fiction (live-action)
- Must consist of at least six episodes, with no maximum limit of the number of episodes
- The proposed project can be optioned by French producers, without obligation.
- The proposed project can be co-written by more than one writer as a collective work; however, in this case, only one of the project leaders would participate in the residency.
- The project can have previously obtained a grant for writing or development, notably support from the SACD, the Association Beaumarchais, the CNC, or the support of a territorial collective (municipal or regional).
Eligibility criteria for writers:
The application is presented by the writer. The writer must:
- Be the francophone writer-creator, screenwriter, and/or director and member of the SACD for a substantial number of episodes in a single season of a series broadcast on a TV channel or a SVOD platform in France between 2015 and 2021
- Have an excellent level of English
- Be available for the entire duration of the residency from October 11 – 29, 2021
- Have previously received an innovation grant from the CNC (grant for concept, writing, re-writing or co-writing?from?international?coproductions), from?the Beaumarchais association, from the SACD or?have previously participated in?Boulevard des?Séries.
Selection process:
The results of the official selection will be announced by email to the candidates on July 10, 2021.
In the event of selection, a detailed agreement will be signed between the writer of the selected series, the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States, the SACD, and the CNC.
Selection Committee:
The applications will be examined by a selection committee composed of:
- At least two members of the WGA Foundation
- At least two members of the SACD
- At least two members of the CNC
Selection criteria:
The selection committee will take into consideration the following criteria:
- The artistic value of the project
- The experience of the writer
- The international potential for the project
- The originality of the concept in comparison to other series already available on the market
- The commercial appeal of the project in terms of industry demands
- The universal social value of the proposal
The selection committee will aim to have a diversity of topics apparent among the 6 (six) selected projects.
Health context:
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, international mobility between France and the United States could be disturbed during the last quarter of 2021. In the context of this quickly-evolving situation and depending on the decisions made by the French and American authorities, the organizers reserve the right to postpone, cancel, or modify the activities offered to participants.
The organizers are required to inform the participants of any change to the schedule and/or to the format of the residency.
Likewise, participants confronted with personal or professional issues with regards to the pandemic must immediately contact the organizers and inform them of any inability to travel.
Intellectual property:
The candidates must possess all rights to the submitted projects. This indicates that no option, agreement, or contract with a production company, a distributor, or a platform can be signed during the application process and during the entire residency process.
In the event of a copyright dispute, the parties shall proceed to a discussion with an arbitrator to be agreed upon by all parties.
Communication and confidentiality:
All the documents and information provided in the application will be strictly confidential and will not be published for any reason.
Only a one-page presentation of each of the 6 (six) selected projects will be printed in a booklet that will be distributed during the time of the residency for potential partners, such as producers, platforms, or distributors. A list of the 6 (six) selected projects, which will include the title of the project and the name of the writer, may be used for communication purposes and published in the press.
Contacts:?
For any questions regarding this call for applications, you may contact:
Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States – Lucie Carette, Audiovisual?Attachée?and Direction of the Office for Cultural Affairs & the Creative Industries in Los Angeles?lucie.carette@frenchculture.org?
SACD – Valérie-Anne Expert,?Head of?Cultural?Activity?valerie-Anne.expert@sacd.fr?
CNC – Alice Delalande, Head of Fiction Animation?Alice.Delalande@cnc.fr?
