Volumes 1, 2 and 3 of the novel Dune in French have only just arrived in Quebec bookstores. Success international film by Denis Villeneuve blew up sales, to the point where publisher Robert Laffont struggled to keep up with demand, and did so late. And Maria chapdelaine ? This great classic, free of rights, has seen, at the Bibliothèque québécoise publishing house alone, its sales multiply by four, drained by the release of Sébastien Pilote’s film. Is the screen the ideal display for the book? Can it help the Quebec book?
It is a known tune, which touched so much The scarlet maid by Margaret Atwood, It was raining birds by Jocelyne Saucier and The goddess of flies fire by Geneviève Pettersen that good old Arsène Lupine, whose Netflix series blew up book sales. Play a book onscreen – web, TV, or movies – and it’ll almost always be a bookstore hit.
“There is a part of the relationship to art, to fiction in particular, but also to music, which is of the order of the fan,” suggests the sociologist of literature Michel Lacroix. It can lead to absolute scholarship [les geeks] as much as to complacency in the re-reading or the infinite re-viewing of texts, which become series, or albums, or films… ”
The UQAM professor thinks of the Marvel phenomenon: an endless chain of derivative products ranging from comic books Americans to films, with prequels and sequels. A phenomenon that is sometimes snubbed by thinkers. The fact remains, however, that when certain readers like it, specifies Mr. Lacroix, they have “the will to remain ‘locked up’ in the bubble of a specific fictional universe”.
“A good book helps make a good film”
The Society for the Development of Cultural Enterprises (SODEC) has understood this well. Two years ago, she set up her program to support the development of television series based on literary adaptations. “One of the first things we look at when we receive a project is its ability to shine,” says Johanne Larue, director general of cinema and television production.
“When a producer acquires the rights to a literary work, logically, we can say to ourselves that, for outreach, there is already an acquired audience: those who have read the book will want to see the film. This sheds a favorable light on the proposal. There are no points, it is not quantified, but I would say that we notice more than before the added value of these proposals – when we want to adapt a known work, of course. It reassures us about the film’s ability to reach its audience. “
In recent years, SODEC has financed the films Kuessipan, Paul in Quebec, Bare feet in dawn, Sympathy for the devil, The torrent, Tom at the farm, Northern gannets, Borderline and The 7 days of retaliation, for example. “With the development of webseries, more and more directors are now drawing inspiration from literature,” notes Arnaud Foulon, vice-president of editions and operations at Groupe HMH. The various supports now available give more possibilities to reuse this literary repertoire. “
The language of others on screen
Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette is a director and author for Marchand de feuilles editions. She adapted books for the big screen – The goddess of fire flies, for example – and she is currently working on White dog by Romain Gary. It has also been adapted – the web series I would like to be erased. “When it comes to a Quebec literary work, I think there is a touch of greater enthusiasm,” she says when asked about the reactions of analysts of institutional projects.
“I feel that they want above all works that are a little dated, to see what that can give as a contemporary sensibility”, says the one who is currently working with Catherine Léger on a new version of the Kamouraska by Anne Hébert. “Having two 40-year-old feminist women today gives you something invigorated. We don’t have the same look as Claude Jutra. “
With the development of web series, more and more directors are now drawing inspiration from literature. The various media now available give more possibilities to reuse this literary repertoire.
“I don’t know if it’s because I write, but there are still crushes with a story, and often with a language, adds Mr.me Barbeau-Lavalette. I have the impression that adaptation takes us out of ourselves; it’s’fun, in the sense that it broadens our horizons. ”
Adaptation to the screen also broadens the horizons of the book. It is the visibility that it gains that especially motivates publishers to want to sell “option contracts”. These agreements reserve the rights of a book to a director or producer during the pre-development of the project. Then, if the project finds its financing, it goes into production.
The right to be filmed
This job – selling book option contracts to producers or directors – is part of the work of Geneviève Lagacé, head of foreign rights at Groupe HMH. “We are not in an economic logic when we talk about adaptation on the screens,” she said in a telephone interview. It is not so much the money that there is to be gained as the visibility that counts. Our authors are at the heart of all our negotiations. It’s a great joy, a pride to be able to be adapted to the screen, and it gives another life to the work, in addition to retaining our readers. “
However, given the low income authors make from their books, this money can change everything for them. In 2018, the average salary of respondents to a survey by the Union of Writers and Writers of Quebec was $ 9,169 and the median salary – the point where 50% of the sample receives a higher salary and 50% receives a lower salary. – did not exceed $ 3000.
“According to the information available to Telefilm Canada,” explains Mme Lagacé, “the cost of options in the country is generally between $ 5,000 and $ 10,000 for known works and the average cost of an option varies between $ 1,500 and $ 3,000 for a 24-month period”. For most contracts, these amounts are shared 50% between the publisher and the author, sometimes more (up to 70%) for the author.
However, not all projects go into production. Far from there. “Often, it stops at the financing stage, which the producer cannot obtain,” indicates Geneviève Lagacé. Johanne Larue estimates, “very roughly, very modo”, that out of three projects developed by a broadcaster, only one will go into production on average. If the film is made, then the option is lifted and the publisher receives a percentage of the film’s budget, which is around 2%, or a maximum amount, payable on the first day of shooting, depending on the information collected. The duty.
Fair
“I am of the opinion that we should really encourage publishers, producers and directors to discuss and interact with each other,” says Geneviève Lagacé. All the more so, as his boss, Arnaud Foulon, points out, as the forms on the screen have multiplied and webseries are also thirsty for ideas. Networking workshops that SODEC would like to re-establish as soon as sanitary conditions allow.
“There are great collaborations possible, adds Mme Lagacé. The influence is very interesting, and it can open paths that we had not thought of for a book. For fiction, of course, but also for animation with graphic novels or children’s books, for example. I would like more links between the publishing world and the cinema world, in film festivals in particular. “
With Manon Dumais
Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette will be signing at the SLM on November 27 in addition to participating in the Writer’s Confidences series on the same day. She will also be in a literary meeting on the 16th, at the Monet Bookstore.