24/04/2013 - Encounter with Mathieu Robinet, one of the managers of the Parisian company Révérence and Producer on the Move 2013 for the European Film Promotion

Encounter with Mathieu Robinet, one of the managers of the Parisian company Révérence and Producer on the Move 2013 for the European Film Promotion.

Cineuropa: How did your career develop in the cinema industry? 
Mathieu Robinet: I started my career in London, with Future Films, in financing and executive production. Then I returned to France, firstly to MK2 in the Business Affairs department, before launching the international sales company Overlook with Le Fabrique de Films. Then I became a consultant for international sales companies, in particular Funny Balloons for which I handled, amongst other films, Mammuth [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Gustave Kervern, Benoî…
film profile] and Benda Bilili [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]. Two years ago, I joined Bac Films as a vendor and buyer (Despues de Lucia, The Deep, etc). In parallel, I have been developing a production activity within Révérence with my associate, Julien Ralento. We produced our first feature film, Amour et Turbulences [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (coproduced by Manchester Films and Thelma Films), which was released in France at the beginning of April.

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Why did you get into production?
Because it fascinates me. I love all aspects of the cinema industry and I wanted to work with filmmakers. Since the beginning of the year, I have taken on new responsibilities because I took over the general management of Bac Films, though I am not abandoning my production activity with Révérence. Julien Ralento and I have therefore distributed the tasks evenly. The most important thing is that the two activities do not devour each other, that they are perfectly separate and handled intelligently, with some productions by Révérence distributed by Bac and others that do not necessarily have to be. 

What types of movies do you want to produce with Révérence?
We are not tied to any particular genre, but rather influenced by the stories, encounters, and sometimes the commercial potential that we can find. Amour et Turbulences is a popular romantic comedy, but we are now working on an author film, En mon absence by Cyril Gelblat, whose filming should begin next autumn with Guillaume Gouix and Karole Rocher in the cast. We are also developing a movie about a burglary, and two comedies... But for more commercial projects, we “package”: we do not necessarily work with directors who are also writers, and we develop screenplays which are not automatically connected to a particular director.

Is it easy being a young producer in France?
It is a relatively difficult time. With Bac, I try to adopt a generational approach to distribution and I meet many young producers with whom I want to work. For them, as for Révérence's productions, obtaining financing for their films is very difficult. Today, we see many projects with huge question-marks hanging over them, even though they are of good quality, with casts which would usually ensure that they obtain the necessary funding. As for Révérence, Amour et turbulences was made rather rapidly, but we had ups and downs, and without the support of Universal (the film’s distributor in France), it probably would never have happened. We want to produce a film a year, but we then hope to move on to two a year. We are also developing a short films activity to encourage young talents. Amongst our projects, two out of three are first or second feature films.

What are you expecting from the encounter organized in Cannes by the European Film Promotion?
I am very interested by the idea of coproducing films which are not French. So I will go to Cannes to meet young European producers on the rise, and try to find projects in which I could participate.