The post-battleDistrict 31 is officially launched. Radio-Canada and TVA have already started the promotional machine to STAT and Indefensiblemore than a month before they hit the airwaves.
Posted at 9:00 a.m.
The two dailies will air simultaneously on Monday, September 12 at 7 p.m. They will occupy the time slot that a certain detective drama left vacant in the spring, after six seasons of overwhelming domination.
The amount of energy — and money — expended by Radio-Canada and TVA to promote these series should come as no surprise.
“The 7 p.m. box is an important box,” says Isabelle Fournier, director, media activation lead, at Cossette Media. “She’s the one that gets the party started. It has belonged to Radio-Canada for years. »
A daily drama on TVA is something we have never seen. The fight looks tight. It’s elbowing, it’s normal.
Isabelle Fournier, Director, Lead Media Activation, at Cossette Media
Last fall, when District 31 (1.8 million viewers) eclipsed daily Tower by Patrick Huard (635,000 viewers), Radio-Canada and TVA drew approximately 2,435,000 Quebecers from 7 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. According to the most recent forecasts, this number should drop by 20% to reach 2 million this year .
Trailer Showdown
” Who will win ? It’s hard to say, says Isabelle Fournier of Cossette Media. One thing is certain, the two series will be part of the top 30 most-watched shows. The trailers I’ve seen are promising. »
Thursday evening, Radio-Canada began broadcasting the first trailer for STAT. Composed of images shot the previous week, this 45-second montage follows the individual character vignettes, which have been looping on ICI Télé since June.
Skilfully constructed, this collage of excerpts suggests a medical series under high tension.
The bereaved viewers of District 31 certainly noticed the presence of a few comedians who had survived the famous neighborhood police station, including Patrick Labbé (late Laurent Cloutier) and Virginie Ranger-Beauregard (Stéphanie Malo). The first is now a psychiatrist, the second, a social worker.
Geneviève Schmidt (memorable Nancy Riopelle) also participates in the project, and everything indicates that she defends another character (a surgeon, this time) with a lot, a lot of attitude.
Signed Marie-Andrée Labbé (Too, Without an appointment), STAT will plunge us into the world of the staff of a Montreal hospital. The plot will be articulated around the character of Emmanuelle St-Cyr (Suzanne Clément), head of emergencies, and the professionals who surround her, including Éric Perron (Stéphane Rousseau), beneficiary attendant, and Pascal St-Cyr (Normand D’Amour), oncologist.
Lou-Pascal Tremblay, Ludivine Reding, Samantha Fins, Anglesh Major, Jean-Nicolas Verreault, Isabelle Blais, Bruno Marcil and Maxime Allard complete the cast. Daniele Methot (District 31, 30 lives, Virginia) directs the episodes.
The promotional campaign carried out on the Internet generates results. More than 19,000 people are subscribed to the show’s official Facebook account, compared to 1,500 for Indefensible.
Speaking ofIndefensible, its second trailer has been rolling for a week. Lasting just over a minute, it offers a frantic foray into the Lapointe-Macdonald law firm, made up of criminal lawyers played by Sébastien Delorme, Anne-Élisabeth Bossé, Michel Laperrière and Nour Belkhiria.
Actors Martin-David Peters, Jean Maheux, Catherine Renaud, Mathieu Baron, Mikhaïl Ahooja, Marilyse Bourke, Marie-Ève Perron, Christian Bégin and Tatiana Zinga Botao will also play roles there, according to information provided by TVA.
Director Stéphane Simard (clash, A grenade with that?) has completed filming 80 episodes. The first 50 are mounted. A team of authors led by Nadine Bismuth (A family bond, Helping Beatrice) signs the texts.
First impression
Launched with fanfare and trumpets, the trailers for STAT and D’Indefensible are “of capital importance”, argue the producers of each series.
PHOTO ERIC MYRE, SUPPLIED BY TVA
Anne-Élisabeth Bossé, Sébastien Delorme, Michel Laperrière and Nour Belkhiria, the criminal lawyers ofIndefensible
“We always say we just have a chance to make a good first impression… and it’s true,” says Izabel Chevrier, producer at Pixcom, box behind Indefensible.
A first trailer, for us, is crucial. It allows viewers to get in touch with the universe of a series. For us, it’s a promise, an invitation: this is what you are invited to.
Izabel Chevrier, producer at Pixcom, box behind Indefensible
“It sets the tone,” says Guillaume Lespérance, president of A Média and co-producer of STAT with Fabienne Larouche and Michel Trudeau (Aetios). “It introduces the environment, it shows our setting, it outlines the main characters… It’s super important. »
Both producers are “extremely pleased” with the support they receive from broadcasters.
“We are privileged, declares Izabel Chevrier. The Quebecor group always goes all out to promote its series. Because we have a special status, because we are their first daily fiction newspaper, we feel that we are very, very important to them. We can feel their enthusiasm. They see the episodes. Their reaction is super positive. They are confident. »
“I have done several large-scale projects with Radio-Canada in recent years,” recalls Guillaume Lespérance, producer of successful shows like Everybody talks about itthe Bye Bye and Discussions with my parents. “Daily life is something out of the ordinary. We definitely feel the support of the broadcaster. I know that District 31 was very important for Radio-Canada. We feel that STAT, it is a project that is just as important. »