Yahoo News Eric Rochant Unveils Federation-Backed Maui Entertainment As Disney+ Gears Up To Launch Indie’s Debut Series; ‘The Bureau’ Creator Sets Arte Series With Isabel Coixet
EXCLUSIVE: The Bureau creator Eric Rochant is today formally unveiling his production banner, Maui Entertainment, which has quietly launched with backing from Federation Studios.
In an exclusive interview to announce Maui, Rochant said creative talent “must be at the origin and center” of its projects, with a business model geared towards helping new writers and producers become showrunners. He also revealed he was working on a spy drama and a series with Spanish writer Isabel Coixet.
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“I learned from Todd Kessler, who made Damages and Bloodline, that a good series must come from a writer who can explain why he’s the only one who can make a specific show,” said Rochant.
Maui quietly launched last year up with a Disney+ order, for Tout va Bien (Everything is Fine), but today marks its market launch. We can reveal the series is due to launch on November 15.
The eight-part show is from Camille de Castelnau, who wrote on Rochant’s hit Canal+ series The Bureau, and stars the likes of Virginie Efira, Sara Giraudeau, Nicole Garcia and Aliocha Schneider. Shot in Paris, it revolves around a dysfunctional family faced with the illness of a child. A screenplay for season two is currently underway.
You can watch the trailer here.
Rochant is best known for political thriller series The Bureau, which launched on Canal+ in 2015, with Federation (then Federation Entertainment) co-producing with The Oligarchs Productions. The production is among France’s best selling dramas internationally.
However, Rochant does not plan to produce genre series, saying they are “not what Maui is about.” As such, Maui is in production on a “gripping” spy series financed as a co-production. Details are scarce but Rochant told Deadline: “I’m personally very much attracted to projects that extend beyond France, and so naturally more comfortable with the idea of co-productions, especially as my own projects are not necessarily in French.”
Also on the Maui slate is “modern day” French series Someone Should Ban Sunday Afternoons, set in Paris and created by Spanish film director and Foodie Love writer Coixet for Franco-German network Arte.
Coixet issued us a statement through Federation: “When Eric Rochant called me to work with him, he understood and supported the project I presented to him from the first moment. Someone Should Ban Sunday Afternoons is the story of three young people whose lives intersect in today’s Paris. It is a series full of tenderness and rage, nostalgia and love, discouragement and hope. Almost like life.”
Rochant said “establishing Maui Entertainment with Pascal Breton marked the start of a new adventure – where I can share my expertise with writers to help them on their journey to become great showrunners, whilst nurturing their creativity. For me, this next phase is also about exploring a broad range of even more ambitious projects beyond The Bureau.”
Rochant famously handed creative control of the show’s final season to Jacques Audiard (A Prophet), and his new indie is now focused less on genre titles such as The Bureau and more on creatively-led storytelling. “Creators must be at the origin and center of our projects,” he said.
Breton, founder and President of Federation Studios, said: “Following on from the extraordinary success of our hit series The Bureau created by Eric Rochant, our relationship has gone from strength to strength. Our association also creates a strong basis for Eric to continue producing several series and films, whilst preparing his next ambitious international spy series, and other genres.”
Read our interview with Rochant here…
DEADLINE: What led you and Federation to decide to work together again?
ER: I wanted to get involved in a variety of different projects, some my own and others from creators such as Camille and the like. However, I couldn’t do so with my original set up, so it made perfect sense to approach Pascal Breton, who proposed the ideal partnership, one that gave me the autonomy to branch out, whilst also benefiting from his impressive ability to reach his goals. And with him, I felt I could also do the same.
DEADLINE: Your genre series have been very successful – The Bureau being the main example. How much will those sorts of genre stories make up part of the Maui slate?
Producing genre series as such is not what Maui is about. Creators must be at the origin and center of our projects, the initiative coming from them. We don’t commission. Actually, our only request is for sincerity and creativity.
DEADLINE: So people will be surprised by the programs Maui makes?
Yes. This process with writers leads to ongoing surprise, and more than one project will be off what might be the expected track.
DEADLINE: French drama production is really starting to boom globally. Why is this happening now?
Whatever happens in the U.S. also happens in Europe, especially France — the only difference being, its usually ten years later. When I proposed The Bureau to Canal+ nine years ago, it was the first time they’d been offered a writing and production setup with a writer’s room and a showrunner that provided all the right conditions to produce one season a year. Of course, this was only what was already going on stateside. Since then, and with the arrival of new streamers, this has evolved and become the norm.
DEADLINE: There is an international co-production on your slate. What can you say about that and co-production more generally as a means of financing shows?
I’m personally very much attracted to projects that extend beyond France, and so naturally more comfortable with the idea of co-productions, especially as my own projects are not necessarily in French.
DEADLINE: Working with the likes of Isabel Coixet shows your level of ambition. How important will established talent be to the business?
As I was saying, the creators — I’m not a fan of the word ‘talent’ — are at the heart of our productions. I learned from Todd Kessler, who made Damages and Bloodline, that a good series must come from a writer who can explain why he’s the only one who can make a specific show — the one to create, write and see it through to completion. We produce pure writers, not mercenaries.
DEADLINE: You talk about using Maui to help writers become ‘great showrunners’. How will you achieve this?
My experience working on Mafiosa, and especially The Bureau, enables me to help screenwriters like Camille de Castelnau to become showrunners, which means supervising their creation from the start to finish. As a writer myself, I know what writers need and don’t need.
DEADLINE: Will Maui work with other drama producers in the Federation stable?
No, even though there is an interesting synergy between all of Federation’s affiliates. That’s the point of a federation.
DEADLINE: You famously handed the final season of The Bureau to Jacques Audiard and stepped away. How did that decision work out?
It was a unique creative experience. I was able to be part of Jacques’ artistic process, to see how he worked and how he created. It was extremely enriching. It was interesting to see that Jacques hadn’t completed writing before shooting. In fact, it was quite the opposite — the continuation of his writing only took on full meaning during filming. I found this fascinating, and a completely different approach.
DEADLINE: Are there plans to expand The Bureau into spin-offs or bring back the main show?
I’m not involved in anything that’s going on around and beyond The Bureau. I created the original and brought it to fruition. I want to continue creating new projects. I don’t have the desire or heart to stretch an idea beyond its own natural limits for production purposes.
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