A major creative force in France and Europe, Canal+ is a global reference for original content production with its three labels: Création Originale, i.e. “Original Creation” (Versailles; Spiral; The Bureau, etc.), Création Décalée, i.e. “Quirky Creation” (Calls; Crac Crac; Scotch; Cuisine Extra Forte; Rendez-vous avec Kevin Razy; and coming soon, Kings), and Création Documentaire, i.e. “Documentary Creation” (Just Kids; Omar Sy, 40 ans; and Combattants).
The agency BETC (Havas) recently produced a short film showcasing Canal+’s creative process, CANAL+ crée. This film gives an insight into the mind of one of the Canal+ creators, for a first-hand look at how series are produced.
Launched in 2007, the “Création originale” label represents the channel’s ambitions in the booming series segment. The Bureau (original French title: Le Bureau des Légendes), one of its most iconic series, returns this Monday on Canal+ with the first two of the ten episodes, whereas season 4 will be broadcast in its entirety on myCANAL, along with all of the episodes from the previous seasons.
Premium channel subscribers received a special and exclusive invitation to a “binge-watching” evening last Friday at a cinema in Paris (see picture), featuring a premiere of nine of the season’s ten episodes.
Création originale has been met with great success in France and abroad (as an example, The Bureau has been sold in more than 90 countries) and this explains why Canal+ intends to increase its series output from six to eight, and ultimately to produce ten per year.
Création originale is developing in different environments. For 2018-2019, alongside Guyane, Hippocrates and The Bureau, Canal+ is working on a new season of Spiral, as well as on Vernon Subutex (starring Romain Duris, adapted from the books by Virginie Despentes). Work is also underway on a mini-series based on The War of the Worlds and a series adapted from the novel Savages by Sabri Louatah. Canal+ has 30 to 40 projects in the pipeline.
