French Author Under Fire for Child Abuse; Publisher Pulls His Books

By Greg Evans

By Andreas Wiseman

This s—t is bananas! French tennis player Elliot Benchetrit came under fire for seeking a ball girl’s assistance in peeling his banana.

France has a burgeoning eco-system of virtual reality and augmented reality producers, and is one of Europe’s leading VR/AR hubs. The UniFrance Rendez-Vous with French Cinema in Paris, a showcase of French projects that wraps Monday, included a VR/AR showcase, with recent projects demonstrated by Wide Management VR, VRrOOm and Atlas V.

After Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache (“The Intouchables”), Isabelle Huppert (“Elle”) and Juliette Binoche (“Let the Sunshine In”), it was Olivier Assayas’s turn to receive the French Cinema Award from the film promotion org UniFrance on Jan. 19.

Gaumont has clinched a raft of deals on Eric Lartigau’s Korea-set romantic comedy #iamhere which had its market premiere at the UniFrance Rendez-Vous with French cinema in Paris.

PARIS — U.S. television streaming company Netflix has opened a new Paris office and plans to develop more than 20 original French-language productions in 2020, it said on Friday.

French horror, fantasy and sci-fi movies – in large part generated by a younger generation of directors combining genre and arthouse styles – are a rising force on the international scene. Among the companies riding this genre wave is WTFilms.

For the French industry, the drive to open up additional studio spaces has gone hand-in-hand with the push for green production, because for the most part, they share the same root cause: The international streamers that are causing a surge in audiovisual production tend to have strict criteria when it comes to sustainable development.

Netflix continued to make strides in its European expansion on Thursday, unveiling a swanky multi-floor Paris office and announcing 20 new French shows and movies in the pipeline.

Speaking at an industry round-table at the Paris-based Production Forum on Thursday, Dominique Boutonnat, president of France’s National Film Board (CNC), announced a new plan to update local production studios in order to make them more internationally competitive.

On par with 2018, the overseas box office revenue of French movies reached an estimated €244.4 millions ($272 million) from 40 million admissions in 2019, according to a report unveiled by UniFrance.

David Glasser's 101 Studios has acquired the U.S. rights to director Nicolas Bedos' La Belle Epoque, which bowed in Cannes.The French farce stars Daniel Auteuil, Guillaume Canet, Dora Tillier, Fanny Ardant, and Pierre Arditi and is slated for a spring 2020 domestic theatrical release."We were struck by Nicolas' touching yet sharp-minded take on a romantic comedy and the impeccable performance given by Daniel Auteuil, who continues to be a tenacious force in French cinema.

Dotted by hilltop views and an historic city-center, Angouleme in the Southwest of France has, in recent years, developed into a minor production hub for the Gallic industry. Benefiting from its status as France’s cartoonist and graphic arts capital, the city has become renowned for its animation and post-production infrastructure, boasting more than 30 animation studios and nearly twice as many digital and multimedia outfits.

The milestone 40th adaptation of Sony Pictures Television’s hit business reality show “Shark Tank” is kicking off on Tuesday in France on the commercial network M6.