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The success, the money, the conflicts and the secrets behind the scenes: the creator of the hit "10 percent" in an exclusive interview

Dominic Banhar, creator and producer of "10 Percent", explains how Netflix made the series an international phenomenon, finds out what's happening with the fifth season, resents the Turkish remake and finds out what he thinks of American agents, his co-creator, politicians and Netanyahu.

Special interview

Tags

• 10 percent

• Sigourney Weaver

• Netflix

Avner Shavit

Wednesday, 03 February 2021, 00:31

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Trailer for the "Ten Percent" series (Netflix)

The French industry has struggled to fit into the current golden age of television, but recently it is also joining the celebration.

"Lupine" topped Netflix's international viewing charts for several weeks, and "10 Percent," which so far had a dedicated but rather limited audience around the world, significantly expanded its circle with the rise of its fourth season two weeks ago.

She is now more popular than ever, and it would not be an exaggeration to include her for the first time in the "series that everyone is talking about" category - probably with us.

To the success of many mothers and fathers, and the first of them is Dominic Benhar - a producer, actor and veteran acting agent, who a little over a decade and a half ago devised the concept of the series, dealing with the deeds of a Parisian agency, each episode hosting a star or star in the role.

"I worked for the largest agency in France for twenty years, and I helped a lot of actresses break through - Juliette Binoche, for example," he says in a special zoom interview.

"At one point, I told myself that I had amassed a lot of stories worth telling. One of the greatest films of all time is Jean Renoir 'The Rules of the Game,' which has two types of characters: the rich bourgeoisie; and the people who stand in the kitchen and do the work for them. Like these people in the kitchen. It's a black job, but we're dying for it, and it's just a pity we are not properly valued, so I finally wanted to tell our story. At that time, 'Desperate Housewives' was at its peak and revolutionized, and I told myself I would write a version Its French, with agents and an agency at the center. "

Like "Rehearsals," Banhar's project was perceived as too elitist, and therefore had difficulty taking off.

"The channel managers told us that the series would only interest the educated Parisians," recalls the producer, who beyond creating the series, provided the ideas for the first plot lines and stayed on a producer standard all the way through.

"They have warned that it will not be interested in 'real France' and therefore has no real possibility."

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"We are the people who do the black work in the kitchen."

From "10 Percent" (Photo: PR, Netflix)

Luckily, according to Banhar, he had alongside him Cedric Clapisch, one of the most successful directors in France and the one responsible for blockbusters like "European Pudding," for example.

"His films were successful all over the world, so as soon as he joined me, it reassured the French Broadcasting Authority. They started believing we would bring an audience."

Indeed, at an early stage the series won high ratings in France.

"The reviews were great and the ratings were excellent from the start, and then Netflix bought us and made us an international phenomenon," he says.

"We knew the series was good, we thought it would work - but no one believed it would explode like that."

This is such a French series, so Parisian, how can it be that it is so loved by the British and Americans?

"Maybe precisely because it's so French. It's a bit reminiscent of Truffaut and Chevrolet films, it has a French cinema scent from the 1970s, and in short - it has French charm."

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Not a diplomat.

Dominic Benahar (Photo: GettyImages, Pascal La Segarten)

"You know who are not normative human beings? Politicians. They are the most narcissistic people there is."

Like many of his people, Benahar speaks without the slightest hint of diplomacy, and happily releases the slits of his tongue.

So, for example, when I ask about the difference between French and American agents.

"When you talk to an American agent, the only question he asks you is 'how much are you going to pay my actor,'" he says.

"We, the French, understand that money is not everything. When I was an agent and producer of James Bond asked to sign Sophie Marceau, I did not ask at all what the payment was. The same goes for Natalie Bay when she appeared in Spielberg's 'Catch Me If You Can'.

What was important to me was that they make the films and flourish professionally.

"" For the fourth season, we were looking to host an American star.

We turned to Sharon Stone's agent, and he asked, 'How much money will she get out of it, "without even asking for the script," says the Frenchman.

"Eventually, we came to Sigourney Weaver. She is a wonderful woman, and very European. She understands that money is not everything, and she agrees to be hosted without special requirements. She was given exactly the same conditions by the French actresses, without the Hollywood etiquette."

Is there a difference between American and French players?

"The Americans are very professional. The French? How to say, we're more Latin. Look, the French actors come to the filming on time and remember the text, everything's fine, but when you have to do PR and marketing? Sometimes they disappear. Let them take an example from Sigourney Weaver. She happily enlisted to be interviewed for every tree. Refresh without doing favors. "

In general, actors are human beings like everyone else or have a special personality?

"They are human beings like us, but they have a problem - they have remained in adolescence. It is very important to them that they be loved. They want to be revered forever. They are human beings, but they love themselves very much.

" You know who are not normative human beings?

Politicians.

I worked in the 2007 presidential election campaign of Segolan Royal, which is a very bad memory.

She is the most narcissistic woman I have ever met, and in general, politicians are the people who are most in love with themselves. "

"The American players are very professional. The French? We are more Latin."

From "10 Percent" (Photo: PR, Netflix)

Among the stars hosted in the series, there are internationally acclaimed actresses like Isabel Hopper and Charlotte Gansburg, but also more commercial actresses who are mostly known in France, for example Mimi Matti.

Why?

"Honestly, some of the people involved in the action opposed the inclusion of the more popular actresses. They wanted us to focus on quality movie stars, but it was not true to reality because agents work with actresses of all kinds and it was important to me to show it."

Was there an actress who wanted to host a series but did not agree?

"Yes, Catherine Deneuve."

The agents and agency are embodied by excellent actors, who were not known in France until the series.

Why did you not cast stars in advance?

"Because we knew that each episode would host stars, so we wanted to make a clear separation between them and the agents, so that there would be an unfamiliar face to the French audience. For the lead role, Andrea, three actresses reached the finish line, and in the end Clapfish was the decisive one in favor of Kami Cotton. ".

Andrea is a lesbian, and this is the first time there is such a heroine on French television.

"True, but it's not necessarily from my political consciousness but simply because it's based on an agent I know, and she's a lesbian herself. By the way, the Turks did a remake of the series, in which the lesbian agent is not a lesbian, and the gay agent is not gay. I do not know what happens in the series. This one, but it is probably very far from us and I do not know what made them want to adapt it. "

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She was fairly anonymous until she was cast.

Kami Koten, who plays Andrea in "10 Percent" (Photo: PR, Netflix)

The series has also been adapted in Quebec, and the producer says that it will soon have a British version as well.

"Besides, Chinese processing is also on the way, and recently I was also spoken to from Serbia."

I also understood that Gal Ochowski bought the rights to an Israeli remake, but nothing came of it.

"Really? You know more than I do. The thing is: when they did a series adaptation in Quebec, it did not succeed, because the audience is originally watching. In territories where there is Netflix, I think people just watch the French series, so I do not know what the point of a remake is."

What do you think of "Emily in Paris" which was a big hit on Netflix?

"It's a bit of a cartoon. These series look like 'Irma La Dos,' Billy Wilder's classic 1960s movie, only Paris has changed a bit since ...".

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Dominic Benhar with Lillian Rover, who plays Arlet in "10 Percent" (Photo: GettyImages, Bertrand Petroff)

"10 Percent" best describes the intrigues and power games and ego behind the scenes of the agency, and it turns out that there are some in reality as well.

Benahar initially worked with Fanny Herero, a screenwriter who quickly became the show's runner - that is, the one who holds the strongest position in her work.

The producer did not like it, and the conflict between them led at the end of the third season to the departure of Harro, who is doing very well on her own and has already signed a contract with Netflix for a new series.

"She knows what I're thinking about her, she's talented, but she's mostly a politician, and I did not like the way she elbowed her way up," he says.

"In the future, I'm not prepared to have show runners in my series."

Her departure endangered the fourth season?

"Yes, the risk was real because we had to find new screenwriters. I had doubts about the fourth season because I told myself we might have exhausted all possible issues, but I felt it was impossible to stop."

And a lot of people are now wondering what about season five.

"I think we'll do something in an hour and a half - you can call it a movie, a TV movie or a special. Anyway, it's going to take place in New York and also illustrate the difference between the American and French agents. Then, we might as well do a fifth season."

Good news for fans.

From "10 Percent" (Photo: PR, Netflix)

You produced "Barbara's Village," which premiered here at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque in the two weeks it was open between the various closures, making it the first and last film to come out here since The Corona.

"Really? What do you say. Between us, this film is not a masterpiece. In the 1990s it was still possible to make such films. Today? It may be suitable for television, but not for cinema."

Is there an Israeli actress you appreciate?

"I loved the actress who died ... the one who looked like Maria Callas."

Ronit Alkabetz.

"Yes, I loved it very much. Beyond that, I think Israeli cinema has less and less resonance in France. There was a time when we would see many more Israeli films, not today."

At least we're being talked about in the news.

"Yes, I must tell you that Netanyahu is crazy. Your prime minister is just crazy."

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