Rachid Badouri and Mehdi Bousaidan are currently working on a new comedy detective series in which they will play miserable actors who find themselves caught up in police infiltrations, learned The newspaper. The series will be co-produced by KOTV and Jumelage, Frédéric Pierre’s new production company which promotes diversity.
Rachid Badouri and Mehdi Bousaidan have wanted to do a project together for several years now. In 2018, the two comedians had started working on a film script which ultimately did not come to fruition. “It was a comedy about two guys who wanted to go and do their service in Syria to become extremists, but they ended up north of Sept-Îles,” says Rachid.
During the pandemic, seeing that their dynamic worked very well in lives they were doing on Instagram, Rachid and Mehdi started working on a new TV series project. Louis Morissette, whom Rachid knows well thanks to his show production division KoScène, has arrived in the portrait.
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Incredible situations
Bearing the working title Double-dealingthe series will follow two Quebec actors of Moroccan and Algerian origins (Rachid and Mehdi) who try as best they can to find gambling contracts. To earn money, they decide to collaborate with the police, who hire often actors to simulate hostage taking.
“Because they have talent, they will be offered to infiltrate different criminal groups,” Mehdi said. These will be groups like a sect in northern Quebec, wealthy businessmen or mafiosos. Every time they infiltrate a group, there will be consequences. They will get bogged down in rather incredible situations.
These infiltrations will also be done in secret from the families of the two characters, who will tell them that everything is going well with their acting career. “My character makes his family believe that he is a superstar in Quebec and that he makes films with Roy Dupuis,” says Mehdi.
“They have a double life at work and a double life in their personal life,” says Rachid. It creates snowball effects. They are so in the lie that they begin to believe it.
Montreal reality
In addition to KOTV, the series will be co-produced by Frédéric Pierre’s new box, Jumelage. “A detective comedy, I’ve wanted to do that for a long time,” says the actor and producer, who will also shoot a series next month on a Quebec family of Haitian origin. Lakay Nou.
With his production company, Frédéric Pierre wants to put diversity in key roles, both in front of and behind the camera. “I realized that in the United States when they started having black producers, directors and screenwriters, that’s where it could move.”
“We don’t want to do an ‘ethnic show’, that’s not it at all,” says Rachid. What we want, however, is for it to accurately reflect the Montreal reality. It has to be natural. […] They are two guys with a Quebec accent who are extremely proud of their origins. They have shared the dual culture for years.”
Looking for funding
For the realization of Double-dealing, the producers plan to have a director from racialized communities. So far, three of the season’s 12 episodes have been written by a group of writers.
“The next big step will be to get funding,” says Frédéric Pierre. If we get it, we move forward in production. We hope to do the filming in the next year.” Already, a broadcaster would be interested in the project.
The series will definitely change its name over the next few months, as KOTV finds that Double-dealing sounds too much like the title of his other series, Turn – Double Fault.
“It was supposed to be called The imposters, but there is a tabarnouche who stole the title called Rachid Badouri, laughs Rachid, about his show on Noovo. Mehdi is a little angry with me for that. But no, we will find another title!”