Press invites creators and artisans of the audiovisual industry to tell us about their profession. And also the challenges of television creation in the era of multiscreen and new platforms. Today, we are talking to director Sébastien Gagné.
Editor, screenwriter, TV and web series director, Sébastien Gagné received two Gemini awards for the making of the comedy Let go. Press met the director as he wrapped up the final episodes of the first season of Sleepless night.
Q. We can read in the spotlight on your website page that no matter what screen you’re doing a project for, you’re still making movies. What does this beautiful formula mean in concrete terms?
R. The director must arrive at the start of a project with aesthetic choices that are similar to what we can see in the cinema. It is my hobbyhorse. To achieve high-caliber series, it takes time and resources. However, in television in Quebec, we have very little time and we lack the budget. Everything goes very quickly on a platter! If we arrive super prepared, with a signature, a coherent proposal upstream, the result will be more beautiful on the screen.
Visit Sébastien Gagné’s website
Q. More cinematographic, then. Do you have an example?
R. For example, moving the camera and shooting wider shots, not just shooting close-ups of actors talking. My job in directing is to listen to the script, while interpreting it, in order to bring the text to another level, injecting it with something to differentiate it from other television proposals.
Q. Today, we have never produced so many dramas and varieties on a large scale in Quebec. So much so that the public sometimes has the impression of getting lost in an ocean of content. But it’s a good thing for creators to see the offer keep getting better, isn’t it?
R. Indeed, it gives a lot of work to the creators, to the craftsmen, to the technicians. However, if there is a lot of new content, more productions, the budgetary envelope remains the same. We tear off the same piece of pie. Over time, the quantity risks reducing the quality, and the content becomes diluted in the offer. In addition, there is a serious shortage of manpower on the sets. Everyone is running at the same time under high pressure. Many departments are struggling to find staff. Those who work have crazy hours. There is an imbalance between expectations and means.
Q. It’s Netflix’s fault again…
R. It is rather that we play on two sides: we compare ourselves to the Netflix catalog, but we keep an old business model. For example, Netflix plays with the length of the episodes of its series. The first episode of a season can last 33 minutes, the next 37, the other 42 or 50 minutes. In Quebec, we cannot do that. Each episode is formatted for traditional television, even if a series is launched on another platform. Because television remains the big locomotive of the industry in Quebec. We see it, from one week to the next, with Numeris’ figures. There are several shows watched by 1 million or more viewers. This is exceptional in the world, with the multiplication of the offer and the size of our market.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Director Sébastien Gagné
Q. Certain artisans in the field, such as actress, director and producer Sophie Lorain, believe that we are even witnessing the end of traditional television. Do you agree ?
R. It’s only a matter of time before it ends, I think. Around me, I mainly see people who no longer have cable, who no longer listen to TV, but who subscribe to Amazon, Crave, Club illico, Tou.tv, Disney +, among other services. In my opinion, what saves Quebec television is that there are a lot of unilingual francophone Quebecers who are loyal to traditional television.
Q. Like many filmmakers, you are on the lookout for the best of what is on the market. Which series inspired you when you started out?
R. Periodically, in Quebec, there are turning points with the arrival of daring, innovative television series that surprise viewers. These series change the aesthetics of local television. I am thinking among others of Life, life, Midnight in the evening, Black sequence… In their own way, they brought a new tone, writing, style. More recently, I liked The fault, Miscellaneous facts, This is how I love you …
PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE PRODUCTION
Sleepless night
Q. At 41, would you say that Sleepless night is your most ambitious career project?
R. Absoutely. There are a lot of visual effects, stunts, days of filming (71 days), different eras to reproduce. In all respects, this is my most ambitious series. But I also loved working on The rule of 3, a more left-field web series, by and with Léane Labrèche-Dor and Mickaël Gouin [offerte sur Tou.tv]. Although this series is more bizarre in tone, its purpose also reaches a wider audience. It shows that unusual, different and off the beaten track series can reach a wider audience. And that you shouldn’t be afraid of being daring in television.
Sleepless night is broadcast on ICI Télé Mondays at 9 p.m.