Montpellier audiovisual production is asserting itself with Marnie Production. From rewriting the script to post-production, the studio supports the authors and participates in the growth of cinema in the South.
A stone’s throw from Clemenceau, hide the Marnie Production studios. On site, it’s a small world of cinema that unfolds out of sight. This is where the idea for a film begins until its final touches before it is shown in front of an audience.
This ambitious project was born in the heads of three friends. Among them, David Thiers who is today at the head of Marnie. After studying cinema, he found himself in Paris as head editor at Canal +. But very quickly, the desire to set up his production company tickled him. And why not in the South and more precisely in Montpellier. In 2014, the company was born and very quickly set up in front of the Gambardella gymnasium. The start of a long adventure.
A “complete” producer
“In the collective unconscious, we imagine a producer as a paunchy guy in a suit, cigar in his mouth and lots of wads of cash. We’re not big, we don’t smoke cigars and we’re looking for financing.” David Thiers announces bluntly and with a laugh.
So to summarize his job and especially what he wants to do with it, he describes it rather as a collaboration with a necessary feeling beforehand.“Here a director arrives with a script and we can support him until his film is released.”
And in fact all the stages of “making” a film are possible at Marnie. That’s a bit of a specificity. With the choice of a sort of “all inclusive” or “à la carte” depending on your needs (like Aurel).“We have created several areas that complement each other. Delegated production, equipment rental with Cinéloc and post-production with Studio Phare.” Afterwards directors are not obliged to take the complete package. Some only come to rent an editing studio, others to be supported in production…
Aurel: “A question of loyalty and practicality”
The director, press cartoonist and comic strip author, Aurel received the Cesar for best animated film for Josep in 2021. He is currently working in Marnie’s studios on a new feature film project.
Why did you choose to work in the Marnie Production studios for your new feature film project?
For this new project, we decided, with my producers, who are also from Montpellier, to continue working with the same partners as on Josep. Notably Alice (Baldo, Editor’s note). Especially since it went really well. It’s a question of loyalty… But that’s not all.
C’est-à -dire ?
I live and work in Montpellier so it’s still good to have technical, reliable, trustworthy partners close to home, with whom we get along well, with whom things are fluid. This may absolutely be the case with other people elsewhere in other cities, but this is practical.
What is the role of Marnie Production?
For the moment, we have rented an editing studio from them to work on an animatic, an animated storyboard. We are at the editing stage which, in animation, is a step upstream of production, since we must not create images that we would not keep. Unlike real-life shooting where we shoot a lot and edit to keep only the main images, in animation, we do this editing work upstream to be sure to only produce what will be useful.
Can we find out a little more about the new project?
It’s a Cévennes Western which takes place at the end of the 19th century in the Cévennes of Ardèche. It’s a western, so there are good guys and bad guys. It’s the story of a Mexican who finds himself, we don’t really know why, in Ardèche and who is going to be taken in and cared for by two sisters who live in the forest with a bunch of children. They are in the grip of a local notable. As a cowboy, we rely a lot on him to arbitrate the situation. For the rest, we will have to wait 2028…
For those less informed, Marnie Production works in the same way as a publishing house in the literary sector: delegated production allows you to concentrate on rewriting the script and finding financing, Cineloc allows you to obtain equipment for filming and Studio Phare (with Alice Baldo) brings together post production, everything that happens after filming, from rushes to editing to color grading. Finally, at Marnie, we support the author’s creative path from start to finish. “We offer almost global coverage for creating a film.”
Plutôt engagé
David Thiers still wants to emphasize that at Marnie, values are important. “When we carry out a project, there is a form of commitment.” And specifically: “But be careful, we don’t make partisan films. We need an author’s vision to be able to work.”
And in the catalog in production, we can observe several short films and documentaries. “Notably that of Nathan Le Graciet, a little gem in preparation.” To which must be added post-production.“We also take care of the calibration of the cartoon Pil’s adventures broadcast on France TV, we also worked for the film The Whale réalisé par Sylvère Petit avec Sergi López.”
Montpellier, new Eldorado of cinema
When Marnie Production set up in Montpellier, there were not many film shoots in the region. Everything was focused on Paris. But with the arrival of daily and police series, “Montpellier has become the new Eldorado of cinema. There is truly emulation, an ecosystem that holds together, for our greatest happiness.”
And for a good decade, Marnie has started to gain stature, to make a name for herself in the industry, thanks to her complementary skills, her seriousness and her good atmosphere.
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