Very often, when a Quebec TV series is “sold” abroad, it ends up playing on an obscure third private TV channel, in Poland, at 4 am.
Yeah, yeah, talent from here shines all over the world, it’s fine, it’s coded language to say that an obscure Croatian antenna was trying to fill its grid with foreign productions that don’t cost much, that’s it.
This is not at all what happens with the miniseries Vertigo by Michelle Allen, which has undergone a complete remake intended for the Disney+ platform in India and whose broadcast will start on December 9. Vertigo will be called fall in Southeast Asia, a huge market for audiovisual production.
Shot in Tamil last spring, then dubbed into five languages including Hindi and Marathi, the miniseries fall will consist of seven episodes, while the original material, intended for Séries Plus, covered six hours.
Before continuing, what is Vertigo, already ? you ask. Good question. Relayed in the spring of 2012 by Séries Plus, Vertigo told the story of Daphnée (Fanny Mallette), who fell from the roof of a building and who came out of a coma with her memory at zero. Suicide or disguised murder? This dense family thriller, based on a dubious real estate transaction, also starred Normand Daneau, Monique Spaziani, Marilyn Castonguay, Patrick Hivon, Noémie Godin-Vigneau and Germain Houde.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY SERIES PLUS
Fanny Mallette surrounded by the cast of Vertigo
TVA had taken over this production from Pixcom (Indefensible) on its airwaves in the fall of 2014. Vertigo had won the Gémeaux for best drama series text and best director (Patrice Sauvé) in the fall of 2012. End of appetizer.
Screenwriter Michelle Allen did not ask to proofread or polish the scripts of the seven episodes of fallwhich were co-produced by the Asian division of Banijay, the giant which owns, among other things, the formats of Big Brother, Survivor, Peaky Blinders and BlackMirror. “For me, the original creation happened here. I wrote Vertigo so that the series says something to people here. I couldn’t tell them how to do it, they know their world better, I let them go, ”says Michelle Allen in a telephone interview.
This is the third time a Michelle Allen series has been revived overseas, with local actors and a new look. TF1 has redone Runaway in 2021 as well as For Sara in 2019. “I was very happy to Runaway. I find that they have kept the essence of the character and his quest well, ”adds Michelle Allen.
According to producer Charles Lafortune, at Pixcom, it is by appearing in the various international television markets (Series Mania, MIPTV, Content London) that the series Vertigo has generated interest in India. “India is such a big market, they need a lot of content. And does it pay for us? Not at all. It is a territory that we are exploring,” says Charles Lafortune.
The trailer of fall announces a less dark series than the Quebec version. Indian actress Anjali, who plays mainly in Tamil and Telugu, has been chosen to take over the role created by Fanny Mallette with us.
In English Canada, the last crank was given last week on the adaptation of Plan B bought by the CBC, which will bring together Karine Vanasse, François Arnaud and Patrick J. Adams, alias the prodigy lawyer Mike Ross in Suits. Scheduled broadcast: winter 2023. This is the first season of Plan B with Louis Morissette and Magalie Lépine-Blondeau which was redone in English.
In 2021, the second season of Plan B, the one with Sophie Lorain at Radio-Canada, was also the subject of a Franco-Belgian remake for the TF1 and La une channels. The soap opera 30 lives experienced the same treatment in Brazil and France.
My mothertwo actresses
The last episode of My mother was super intense on Tuesday evening, on TVA. The bipolar mom and eldest daughter hit rock bottom, allowing their performers to shine in some very gritty, hard-to-watch scenes. Really, Marilyn Castonguay and Chantal Fontaine carry this miniseries on their shoulders.
Powdered, packed and lonely, Valérie (Marilyn Castonguay) was crowned at the door of the garden center where she worked in accounting. The young woman in distress also confided that she had an abortion because her own mother Chantal (Chantal Fontaine) slept with her husband Martin (Richard Robitaille). Hello, Serge Boucher, here.
For her part, Chantal was hospitalized in the midst of a crisis of mania. However, we felt more solid at the end of the episode, when she heard, inadvertently, the alcoholic confidences of her daughter.
Only two episodes left My mother to complete all the plots. I love this short and punchy format, which does not stretch over 14 seasons. However, I’m not sure how effective it is to hear Chantal’s thoughts in voiceover. It’s a bit old-fashioned as a process.