COO of Film France, Franck Priot, who is currently in India, talks to dna's Pooja Bhula about the reason for his visit and the future of Indian movies in France
Film France has been in existence since 1895, so why is the organisation now campaigning as a one-stop shop for film shootings and related things?
Some Indian producers are very professional and understand our role as the film commission. But some, who haven't shot films outside India, have a wrong notion that dealing with us will amount to more bureaucracy. They think it will make the process more tedious. So the idea of marketing ourselves as a one-stop shop is to let them know that we're there to make their lives simpler. That said, there's no film commission in the world that can give blanket permits, but we're the closest that any organization comes to a one-stop shop—we give the green signal for visas, aid in location selection and the government also takes our advice regarding tax rebates.
How much revenue does France generate through Indian films?
While the annual revenue that we get from all productions would be €1.5 bn, about €1.3 bn would come from French films, €100 mn American productions; India's share would only be around €3-5mn as of now.
In an interview last year, French film distributor Isabelle Dubar said that France's "market is very art house" for Bollywood. After the success of 'Gangs of Wasseypur' and 'Lunch Box', has the scenario changed?
Something that we've seen over the past two or three years is an increase in the number of Tamil films releases in France. This is because of the number of Tamilians from India and Sri Lanka living here.
Moreover, in the past Indian filmmakers used locations in France, and other countries, merely as backdrops. They had to project the place as per Indians' perception of that country, which obviously worked for the Indian audience, but didn't offer much to us. In 'Queen', the character of Kangana Ranaut is very strong and engages with Paris and Amsterdam in a manner that's very close to reality, which could be a result of Indians travelling more, the effect of the internet etc. Hence, people here can also relate to the movie at different levels in more than one way; whereas earlier, a Bollywood movie's appeal was limited to colours, song and dance. A 'Queen' would do well here not just because it's a Bollywood movie, but because it's a good movie. We are exposed to movies from all over the world—of the 650 movies annually released in France, 250 would be French productions, 200 American and 200 from the rest of the world. 'Lunch Box' was a huge success with 5 lakh admissions.
The effect of such movies, including 'Mary Kom' and 'Dhoom 3', is that more French producers are interested in working with Indian producers. I can't take names, but talks are on. There's a talent base available in India now, to make movies that can travel. And this also changes our job…
How has the commission's job changed? Is it equipped to handle the change?
Earlier, all that Indian producers wanted from us was help with locations and a good deal. But for 'Tamasha', shot in Corsica Island, Imtiaz Ali has weaved the local culture with the character's experiences by showing local dances, music and other aspects. The culture of Corsica is very different from the rest of France because it has varying terrain and has been invaded several times. When make movies in such a manner, directors can need anything: a local actor, musician... And we are well equipped to cater to these because we produce 250 movies a year ourselves. Besides that, we have a network of 40 local commissions across the country to aid the film shoot and our line producers have now worked with Indian producers for about 5 years, so they understand the requirements.
Anything else Indian producers can benefit from?
Yes, while there are French films like Lucy made with a €50-million budget, shot in places like Paris, which can be very expensive and hence deter independent producers from considering France as a shooting location, we also produce at least 20-30 films in France for about Rs. 8 crores (approximately 1.02 mn). The secret of doing this in any place in Europe is to plan well in advance, but Indian producers tend to take decisions relatively at the last minute.
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