Although they manage to cross the Atlantic more frequently than before, our series continue to have a hard time penetrating a much closer market: the United States.
The road our productions must take to cross the Canada-US border and be adapted into English is long, winding and strewn with obstacles. And when they garner enough interest to make it through the early stages, they rarely achieve the ultimate goal of landing on the air.
In recent decades, a handful of original Quebec formats have almost achieved the feat. In 2019, FOX ordered a pilot (prototype episode that gives the broadcaster a better idea of the project) of Adam and Eve, Claude Meunier’s unloved sentimental comedy, unplugged by Radio-Canada after just one season in 2012, in which Sophie Cadieux and Pierre-François Legendre played a couple at three different ages. The American broadcaster “loved the concept,” but the adaptation never made it into its schedule, says Monic Lamoureux, co-president of Avanti Group.
“We weren’t chosen, but we lived the experience to the end,” she relativizes.
In the early 2010s, HBO planned to adapt Patrick Huard’s popular Taxi 0-22 with James Gandolfini at the wheel. Since nothing came of it, CBS then took over, and John Leguizamo even shot a pilot. But after several delays due to casting problems, the project fell into oblivion.
In the heart of the 1990s, Marcel Béliveau’s hidden camera show Surprise sur prize, which was sold all over the planet, suffered the same fate.
A Quebec series can be proud of having inspired an American remake: Les Pêcheurs de Martin Petit. Landed on Netflix in October 2020, The Cabin differed significantly from the Quebec original broadcast on Radio-Canada from 2013 to 2017. Led by Bert Kreischer, The Cabin offered improvised conversations with the Floridian comedian, whereas initially each Fishermen scene was scripted.
Martin Petit admits that he would never have been able to materialize this project if he had refused to allow his initial concept to be altered. “Four, five years earlier, we went to all the stations showing a scripted version that respected the original with Jason Alexander from Seinfeld. I didn’t want to go around again, with the same pitch. »
Martin Petit knows how much the sale and adaptation of Fishermen in the United States is a tour de force, especially since in 2013, Steven Spielberg’s Dreamworks company took over Starbuck in the cinema, according to his screenplay co-written with Ken Scott.
American chauvinism would explain – at least in part – the reason why Hollywood exports a lot and imports little, and therefore why Quebec productions are struggling to do well in the land of Uncle Sam.
“They are exporters of culture; not importers,” adds Nicola Merola, president of Pixcom (Indefensible, Alerts).
A quick look at the foreign fiction series they have adapted over the past few years is enough to confirm this claim. Result: they are few in number and, above all, largely a minority compared to the original productions that they send into the universe. Some of their most recent adaptations include The Good Doctor (based on a South Korean format), House of Cards (UK), The Office (UK) and Homeland (Israel).
Like Martin Petit, Quebec producers who wish to export their formats to the United States must be particularly open to compromise. And not just any.
Managing director and partner at KOTV, the box behind Plan B, Zénith and Entre deux draps, three titles that have crossed the borders of Quebec without however (for the moment) conquering the American market, Louis-Philippe Drolet talks about demanding demands.
Some production companies refuse to compromise, such as Avanti Groupe with Un gars, une fille. In the mid-2000s, the company had sold the format created by Guy A. Lepage in the United States, but when it realized that the adaptation was mainly used to promote commercial products, something it had expressly excluded in negotiations, a conflict arose. An injunction later, the broadcast on TBS ceased.
“They had distorted the product,” says Monic Lamoureux. We did not want to let go of a pale copy on the air. »
Today, Un gar, une fille (Love Bugs, in English) has 31 adaptations around the world. And from year to year, others come to inflate this number. This is why Monic Lamoureux does not intend to accept just any request when an American producer shows a hint of interest.
Sold in 148 countries and territories, LOL is also one of Quebec’s global hits that never really managed to conquer the United States. ComediHa’s silent sitcom! has certainly been shown for a few years on Estrella TV, but since it is a small Spanish-language channel, far from ABC, NBC and other major broadcasters, the news has never spread.
“With the United States, negotiations are never easy, because they are in a position of strength,” said Alexandre Avon, Vice President – International Distribution of Amuz Distribution, a division of ComediHa! (LOL, About Antoine).
“They know that selling in the United States opens all doors,” adds Michel St-Cyr, executive producer at Groupe Fair-Play (Rvolution, 100 geniuses). When a big American channel comes on board, the rest of the world automatically follows. This is why in negotiations, they ask for a lot of things. »
