22/09/2026 - Producers and broadcasters from France and Quebec argued that international finance can give ambitious series greater scale – but only when cross-border elements grow organically from the story

l-r: Carlos Soldevila and Juliane Choinière during the panel (© TIFF)

The tension between financing and authenticity was at the core of the TIFF: The Market Perspectives session “Focus on French-Language Series Co-productions”, held on 15 September. The discussion, moderated by Louise Lantagne, president and CEO of SODEC, brought together a panel of broadcasters and producers from France and Quebec : producer Marie-Claude Poulin (Sphere Media), executive producer Carlos Soldevila (Trio Orange), Juliane Choinière, head of scripted content at Crave/Bell Media, and Morad Koufane, director of international fiction and young adults’ content at France Télévisions.

The first case study presented was dedicated to Alice, a French-Belgian-Canadian series about the film pioneer Alice Guy which had its world premiere at the TIFF, in the Primetime strand. Poulin explained that the project originated in France, but that its English-language sections created a natural opening for a shoot in Quebec, with Canadian director Guillaume Lonergan handling that portion. The collaboration was therefore creative before it was financial.

Financing French-language drama internationally remains difficult. The discussion stressed that smaller francophone territories can only contribute with amounts proportionate to their markets, and that pre-sales become harder when a project is predominantly in French. Even in the streaming era, subtitles have not entirely removed that barrier, particularly in the United States. Completed programmes may travel more easily – and can be dubbed – but filling financing gaps before production remains a tougher endeavour.

The series Empathie took a strikingly different route. Producer Carlos Soldevila recounted how he carried the project around France and its festivals for roughly four years, and was repeatedly met by refusals. On paper, the premise (an alcoholic psychiatrist works with patients within the psychiatric care unit of a prison) turned out to be a difficult sell, despite the humour and lightness embedded in the series.

This dynamic changed once buyers could see the finished work and its reception. Its screening at Séries Mania and the strong audience response generated there helped turn the series into an international success story. After the first season’s breakthrough, Canal+ came aboard for season two, with the partners collaborating more closely on production and content. The panel also pointed to the series’ 10 million views on Canal+ and the 14 Gémeaux it recently won as evidence that a markedly local series can cross borders without diluting itself. Soldevila admitted that while he had expected the show to find critical success, he “never thought we were going to be popular”.

The talk then moved from financing to the stories themselves. Panellists repeatedly distinguished having authentically universal elements already present in the script from merely inserting international elements into it later. They argued that a French, Belgian or Quebec character should exist because the story naturally requires them rather than because a financing partner needs representation on screen. One maxim offered by Choinière was: “Think global, script local.” For her, being “organic” means that international characters and elements emerge naturally from the story instead of being forced into it to satisfy the mechanics of a co-production.

A failed attempt to internationalise the Quebec classic C.R.A.Z.Y. by making one of its central characters French was cited as a warning: a specificity which can initially appear as a limit for a project may ultimately be precisely what makes it travel. Poulin argued that what allowed successful Quebec or French productions to cross borders was indeed “the authenticity of the story”.

The international-fiction strategy of France Télévisions underlines the other side of the equation. Koufane said that when receiving a project, his first question always is: “What is its international potential?” Projects are assessed partly on whether they can resonate with foreign broadcasters or not, but each potential partner needs a credible way into the story. The panel recalled how Kabul, a predominantly French narrative, expanded to include German and Italian strands when new partners from these countries joined, but without reaching the point where adding further national storylines would have overloaded the series.

This balancing act may become more important as domestic financing tightens. The appetite for co-production is growing because broadcasters and platforms are looking for additional funding. However, the final message was clear: having more partners can, indeed, give a series greater ambition, but it is not a licence to turn it into a patchwork. Broadcasters, as much as producers and writers, have a responsibility to protect the project’s coherence.