Deputy CEO of France Televisions and programs, Takis Candilis lifted the veil on cultural innovations and the return of several programs after May 11, when the French, confined, have never spent so much time in front of their television.
Is France Télévisions ready for the deconfinement that could take place on May 11?
TAKIS CANDILIS. Yes. We are ready, and we will be ready no matter what, even if we do not yet know all the details. The world of culture has been hit hard, culture is one of the fundamental pillars of public service and this crisis is pushing us to innovate.
That is to say ?
We need to understand, to recover from the bond, to be amazed. This is why during the confinement, we broadcast confined concerts, the “One World together”, plays… This will continue: we privatized the Théâtre du Châtelet from mid-June to shoot shows .
Which ?
We will receive plays there which will be broadcast on France Télévisions all summer, from the end of June. But also an evening of classical music with the cellist Gautier Capuçon for the benefit of the Hôpital de Paris-Hôpitaux de France foundation. And to support the festivals, we will broadcast a “special Avignon” night on July 4 on France 5. We will also receive the play “Le Jeu des ombres” at the Villeurbanne theater, a great piano concert at the end of July at La Roque d'Anthéron , and we will dedicate a night dedicated to the Orange Chorégies on August 1st.
What do you plan for the Fête de la musique?
It will take place, with a prime time evening on France 2, without audience, on the theme of support for artists and festivals. We will shoot it in a large Parisian performance hall.
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And for the Molières ceremony?
It will be held at the end of June from the Théâtre du Châtelet, with all the theater prize winners. Bruno Solo and other personalities will animate it.
When do you resume filming your cultural programs?
From May 16 and 17, Laurent Delahousse's “8:30 pm Saturday” and “8:30 pm Sunday” will return and will be exclusively devoted to culture. On May 21, there will be "Le Grand Échiquier". "La Grande librairie" on France 5 resumes in the studio, we are going to shoot 8 unreleased numbers. As for "La Petite librairie", created during this confinement, François Busnel will continue it all summer by hosting authors. “Passage des Arts” will start filming on May 18 for a broadcast from the 25 each evening on France 5 with Claire Chazal.
The French have followed a lot of the big cinema films in the afternoon on France 2. Are you going to continue?
Yes, but on France 3, from May 11, and for the whole summer, with great classics, "The Human Beast", "Golden Helmet". These will be exclusively French films, to show our support for distributors. During the Cannes Film Festival, we will broadcast for the first time nuggets of cinema from the 1990s, of which we will have acquired the rights, by streaming on our France.tv platform thanks to the agreement that we signed with the “ Fortnight of directors ”.
Is this period a financial pit for France Télévisions?
We have invested an additional 20 million euros in creation, bringing the effort to 440 million euros per year. Many sports events have been canceled, so we reinvest expenses that could not be made. You have to help creation, and it costs what it has to cost!
When will viewers find their soap operas "Plus belle la vie" or "Un si grand soleil"?
We have just sealed a charter to resume filming with their producers, which imposes an organization that respects health rules. The soap operas will be the first to return to the air, I hope in September. For films and series, it will be done a little later, the time to settle insurance problems ...
Do you negotiate directly with insurance companies to integrate the pandemic criterion?
It is the producers who are negotiating, and this is the main obstacle to lifting today to allow filming to restart. We are by their side, we work with trade union organizations. Anything that cannot be filmed during the summer will be carried over to the first half of 2021. But our viewers will have new programs for the start of the new school year, thanks to the series and fictions filmed several months ago: "Ten percent", the series history "La Garçonne", "Laetitia", unpublished works by "Capitaine Marleau"
When will the magazines come back?
On May 11, "it starts today" by Faustine Bollaert in the afternoon on France 2 and "Je t'aime, etc." By Daphné Bürki will find the antenna with new numbers. “Affaire concluded” resumes filming the week of the 11th, with items for sale and auctioneers on the shelf. Those who come to present an object will be outside. The fixed line is simple: no more than three people on set, the others in videoconference by Skype. We must be exemplary.
And the games?
We hope to start on May 11 the recording of Nagui's “Don't forget the lyrics” on France 2, for a broadcast the same evening. Everything will depend on the government's announcements Thursday, May 7 ... But we will return to new as we go along.
When will “Télématin” come back?
Normally, May 25, live. Laurent Bignolas was one of the first confined.
Can Fort Boyard play take place?
We are going to shoot it this summer! We work with production. Applicants will wear masks. We will use several boats instead of one to reach the fort. We have specially created confined games that allow us to respect barrier gestures and distance.
France 4, which has proven its usefulness with its educational programs during confinement, must disappear on August 9. Did she save her skin?
I do not know. We have been preparing for its closure for a year. Delphine Ernotte proposed a continuation plan to the government on April 17. We are ready to respond to both alternatives.
Your return to school is postponed to January. What will you replace "We are not lying"?
We still have a few numbers to run in confined mode. I'm waiting for projects, notably from Laurent Ruquier, who also carries “Children of TV”, “Big Heads” and other prime time shows. Beyond the continuation of ONPC, I obviously wish that Laurent remains on France 2.
No transfer window in sight then?
With everything that has just happened to us ... We are focusing on our public service missions! I think we have marked our difference in the eyes of the French. We stay on track!