ComediHa! recognizes the precedence of Just for Laughs in Montreal. If it cannot get its hands on its main competitor, the Quebec company undertakes not to organize a comedy festival next summer in the metropolis to compete with it.
Remember that ComediHa!, which has been rooted in Quebec for 25 years, will organize for the first time a comedy festival in Montreal in July, in the absence of Juste pour laughs, which has placed itself sheltered from its creditors last March.
“This summer’s festival in Montreal is transitional. It’s for one year only, it was agreed this way with the different levels of government. If another company takes over Just for Laughs next year, we will give way,” promised Sylvain Parent-Bédard, president and founder of ComediHa!, in an interview with Duty.
According to information first relayed by the daily The Press, ComediHa!, of which Quebecor is a minority shareholder, is one of the companies that aspire to acquire the Juste pour laughs Group. KOTV, Louis Morissette’s production company, would also be in the running, in partnership with Cirque du Soleil. The same would apply to the Quebec production company Entourage.
By organizing a comedy festival in Montreal this summer, ComediHa! would it have tried to outdo its competitors even before the liquidation process was concluded? In the industry, some are of the opinion that yes, emphasizing that the announcement of ComediHa! may seem rushed. And for good reason: the programming of this event called “ComediHa!” salute Montreal” will only be revealed next week. The festival budget is estimated at 10 million, but Ottawa and Quebec have not yet announced how high their financial participation will be.
“It was not a rushed announcement,” defends Sylvain Parent-Bédard. As soon as we learned that Just for Laughs was in difficulty, we started working on organizing a festival in Montreal because we think it’s important that there be a comedy festival. this summer in the metropolis, which is a hub for our industry. Our commitment has nothing to do with the current sales process. »
The businessman did not wish to comment on the sale of Just for Laughs in the context where a decision is expected very soon. He neither confirmed nor denied the submission of an offer by ComediHa!.
Grumbling about small festivals
Sylvain Parent-Bédard gave interviews to the media on Monday to talk about “Charlevoix does its ComediHa!” », a new free event which will take place at the end of August on the La Malbaie casino site. Different comedy shows will be presented over three weekends. The 25e edition of ComediHa! Fest, in Quebec, will take place from 1er to August 24. “ComediHa!” salute Montréal” will take place from July 18 to 28 at the Quartier des spectacles, replacing Just for Laughs.
Le REFRAIN, a group of around a hundred small festivals, strongly criticized last week the granting of public funds to ComediHa! for organizing this event. These funds should have been used to help already existing festivals, argues REFRAIN.
“I share their opinion that there has been a lack of funding in the festival industry for several years, and particularly since the pandemic,” admitted Sylvain Parent-Bédard on Monday. But I think we need to work together to correct this situation. »
“I understand that [gros et les petits festivals] sometimes have different objectives. Everyone asserts their interests, and that is correct. But in the end, I think we all experience the same realities,” added the president of ComediHa!