François Lardenois and Nathan Franck of Studio 14 Films (founded in 2021 and notably responsible for the series Represent) and Olivier Wotling (the former film director at the CNC and in Arte France’s Fiction division) of Mintee Productions (responsible for the series Rivages and Cimetière indien, among other works) have joined forces for the series project Dejima (6 x 52'), which was selected for the Co-Pro Pitching Sessions in the Lille-based Series Mania Forum (read our article), where we met with the three producers.

Cineuropa: How did the Dejima project come about?
Olivier Wotling: Very soon after leaving Arte, two and a half years ago, I met Mehdi Ouahab, who created the series. He presented me with a variety of projects, knowing that I wanted something with international scope. One of those projects was Dejima, which has really novelistic undertones and conveys a beautiful message about the openness of peoples and individuals.         

François Lardenois: When Olivier sounded us out, he already had a dossier of sorts in place. Nathan and I make lots of typically French series, but we’re also looking to explore new horizons. And Japan is a fascinating region, on many levels. The story that Mehdi introduced us to, involving that artificial island opposite Nagasaki, proved an amazing playground, with potential for a really novelistic depiction and story, combining a love story with a relentless hunt.

What exactly is Dejima about?
OW: It’s set in Japan in 1828, in the bay of Nagasaki, when Japan has been totally off limits to foreigners for two centuries. There’s only one possible entry point: a small island called Dejima, that’s connected to Nagasaki by a small, guarded, stone bridge, which is closed off every evening and re-opened each morning for European traders to work in Nagasaki by day. The story will see a French doctor, who’s based on the island of Dejima and who treats European seamen, meeting the daughter of a powerful Nagasaki clan who are responsible for the town’s safety. Following a plot and a misunderstanding, they find themselves hunted by the local shogun and threatened with death for various reasons. They join forces and take flight across Japan, but they each have their own aims: he’s trying to leave Japan whereas she’s determined to stay, save herself and fight to bring some kind of modernity to her country. And the story of their love, an impossible and forbidden love, complicates the task each of them has set for themselves.

What stage are you at with the writing and partner search?
Nathan Franck: Mehdi has already written a pretty substantial dossier, which is around 25 pages long, with a well-fleshed-out synopsis of the first episode, a few pages on narrative arcs and, obviously, introductions to the characters.

FL: Olivier had initiated early-stage discussions with partners in Japan, such as NHK, Ax-On and Nippon TV, and there was real interest in the project. Obviously, given that we weren’t at a very advanced stage, it was hard to firm anything up. So we’re going to capitalise on the Series Mania pitching sessions to get these discussions back off the ground and open up as many avenues as possible with Japanese partners, because that’s still the cornerstone for the project’s structure. But we’re also open to European or western partners, especially when it comes to finding broadcasters who’d be interested in embarking on this particular adventure, including ahead of time. We haven’t reached out to French broadcasters in any official way yet, but it’s part of our plan, once we’re in a slightly stronger position, potentially with Japanese partners already on board, since, on the international side, we’re getting signs of interest from Fremantle, who partner with Olivier’s firm.

What would your ideal timeline look like? Do you already have a cast in mind?
OW: In terms of filming, it would be the spring of 2028. The cast will be a crucial factor for us. Given that the series is very Japanese (although the dialogue will mostly be in English) and there won’t be many western characters, despite the main character being French, in an ideal world we’d find a poster boy to lead the cast, and to win over French broadcasters too.              

FL: The Taboo series starring Tom Hardy is our reference point in this respect, when we’re talking about finding a lead actor who can help speed up certain discussions with broadcasters.

What other projects are Studio 14 Films currently working on?
NF: We’ll be shooting the series Les Disparus des Argonnes for France Télévisions until the end of March, which HBO Max have pre-purchased. It’s a loose adaptation of a news item from the ‘80s, the Mourmelon affair, revolving around a succession of young soldiers who went missing from a military camp. The series was created by Safy Nebbou (who’s directing it) and Julie Peyr (based on her novel of the same name). It follows the stymied investigation led by the mother of the first soldier who disappeared, who’s trying to work out what’s happened to her son. Next summer, we’ll be shooting a series for Disney+ with Malik Bentalha, which is based on his life. And we’re waiting for the green light on two HBO projects and one Netflix project, with a view to beginning filming in the summer.

What about Mintee Productions?
OW: My alter ego in the company, producer Floriane Cortes, is presenting a series called Paolo (directed and co-written by Sébastien Marnier) in Series Mania’s international competition. I’m mostly working on projects in development, but I’ve also got a series entering into production in the summer, for Arte France, who’ll be revealing further details on 25 March in the Series Mania Forum.