At the time of the balance sheet, 35 feature films or series (live action, documentary or animation) will have joined the Wallimage line-up this year: a record number of which we are all the more proud as it is not synonymous with “sprinkling”! With a few exceptions (always duly motivated) when we consider that a project deserves our support, we grant the producer the amount he has asked for. We are not the kind of people who choose works that require little money and artificially multiply the regional impact ratios. We work to support the sector. Not to generate statistics!
At Wallimage, we think that an average ratio of 450% of reinvestment in the region (450,000 euros spent by the producer for 100,000 euros invested) is a good match with the objectives of an economic fund. Beyond that, it is most often a windfall effect, spectacular no doubt, but which only deceives the uninitiated, inattentive to the structuring reality of the induced effects. More than ever, our goal, in a structure that is now permanent, is to help producers who are better and better structured to bring more and more ambitious projects to Wallonia, with the effect of investing largely in the regional audiovisual industry that has been slowly built up, thanks in large part to the targeted and thoughtful interventions of Wallimage.
The 8 new projects!
In the feature film category, two projects were selected for this final session. They are both part of the “genre cinema” that Wallimage is specialized in and will be filmed in English in the hope of capturing the attention of a very large audience fond of thrills.
Co-produced in Belgium by Versus, La Chambre is the second film by Frenchman Christian Volckman, author of Renaissance in 2006, an artistic and technological feat in motion capture, which revealed the talent of a singular filmmaker. The rising star of Flemish cinema, Kevin Janssens, and Olga Kurylenko(Quantum of solace, Oblivion) will be the main actors of this intimate thriller shot mainly in Wallonia… even if it is supposed to take place in North America (like Mandy). Many technicians from our region will participate in the project, which will call upon TSF and Macadam Car for the filming location, Mille et Une Saveurs for the catering, and especially Mikros Liège for the special effects, numerous and capital.
Equally unsettling, Vivarium is an Irish thriller brought to us by Frakas. We also find here a Kubrickian ambition for a fantastic film that leans more towards uchrony than pure terror. Although… McKenzie Davis is going to see a lot. Among the structural expenses in Wallonia, we note the hiring of many technicians, VFX at Mikros and twelve days of shooting in the studio, probably in the brand new 2000 m2 that TV Factory is installing in La Louvière.
Much lighter and funnier, Champion is a new RTBF series that will be broadcast in the spring, just before the Russian World Cup. A proximity justified by the theme of the work: the loser Souliman, an ex-international soccer player who has not been a star for a long time, tries to make a comeback as desperate as it is cumbersome. Mourade Zeguendi will be the star of these ten crazy episodes produced by Kings of Comedy and Nexus, which has located part of the shooting in Wallonia. Thomas François, the main writer and director is from Wallonia. Listen once, Genval les Dames and TSF are involved in this little round ball special.
From session to session, animation remains at the center of Wallimage’s concerns.
PANIC AT THE AGRICULTURAL FAIR
To close out this 2017 year, the Board chose to co-fund two very different projects. First of all, Wallimage will once again be a partner of Panique ! the company of Vincent Tavier who brings us the 3rd episode of 26 minutes of the saga Panique au Village. After La Bûche de Noël and La Rentrée des classes, Cowboy and Indian hope to go to… La Foire agricole, their own Tomorrow Land. But the journey, one suspects, will be much more complicated than expected. Still in the hands of Patar and Aubier, this new episode will form with its two elders a trilogy that will be released in theaters as a feature film, like The Big Bad Fox. An excellent opportunity for the fine team to also test markets that have been spared from Panicmania, such as Scandinavia.
The other 100% anime file that joins the line-up of Wallimage is a feature film that was brought to us by Belvision and that will be co-produced with France and Germany. Among our German cousins, Yakari is indeed an unprecedented popular phenomenon, since the character is more popular there than Asterix and Lucky Luke. The commercial ambitions of the film are therefore important and the fact that Dreamwall will be able to demonstrate its value in terms of pure animation is a challenge that the Carolo company intends to take up with flying colors.
There will also be animation in Le Chemin des femmes, a documentary based on texts by Marianne Sluzny. The director Tristan Bourlard shows that the reconstruction of Belgium in 1918 was largely based on courageous women who took advantage of the situation to conquer legitimate rights that had been denied them until then. The very moving animation sequences that make up about half of the project led by Image Creation will be produced in a new Wasabi studio in Genval. The sound will be entrusted to Dame Blanche and the music to Michel Duprez.
It is in the form of a series that Butterfish (which has just moved to Waterloo) will make us discover the Castles of Belgium. The first seven manors are all Walloon, not necessarily well known by the locals and even less by foreigners. Seven sites that passionate owners try to maintain in excellent condition against all odds. This journey through our jewels will also benefit from meticulous 3D reconstructions made at Dreamwall. This is a Walloon project that could also bring to us new producers who want to shoot period films in exceptional sites… and in ideal conditions.
The latest project co-financed by Wallimage for this session is a series of hilarious vignettes that sketch with delight the male-female relationship, 21st century style. Season 1 having been a resounding success on the net, NRJ12 has decided to broadcast season 2 which will be co-produced by Belvision. All shooting will take place at Keywall and the special effects will be done by Dreamwall according to a recipe that worked wonderfully on a previous project, The Cell, signed by the same French producer. In fact (this is the title of this program) will be broadcast on TV in 2018. In France, but probably in other countries. Including Belgium?
In 2018, Wallimage will organize four funding sessions. The complete agenda is available here under the calendar tab
