Sep 18, 2018

Exclusive Premiere of the Beautiful Teaser for the French TV Special "Mama Makes It Rain"

One of the more beautiful projects announced at last week's Cartoon Forum is "Mama Makes It Rain," a half-hour TV holiday special from creator Hugo De Faucompret and French production company Lydac Films.

An exclusive teaser premiere of the project can be seen today on Cartoon Brew:

De Faucompret's quirky story follows 8-year-old Jeanne, who, because her mother is battling depression, spends Christmas at her grandmother's house in the country Jeanne is spending Christmas at her grandmother's house in the countryside because her mother is struggling with depression. There, Jeanne meets new friends and a strange bum called Clo-Clo. Clo-Clo is a real chef, just like Jeanne's mother, although he stinks. As Jeanne learns to open up to others, she realizes that she might be able to save her mother.

We spoke with producers Ivan Zuber and Antoine Liétout of Laïdak Films about the genesis of this fascinating project and how it has evolved over the past few years in development.

Cartoon Brew: Where did the initial idea for Mama is Raining come from? I had always wanted to develop a project with Hugo (de Focomplet). He had storyboarded our short film "Waterloo & Trafalgar" (which, incidentally, he ended up co-directing, and which is now in the late stages of development), but back in 2016 we were still looking for the right film for Hugo to direct.

Around that time, France Télévisions launched a call for projects on the theme of "modern female heroines" for children. This theme was important to us, but we did not feel that we wanted to strategically launch a project on it just because the channel was looking for a strong female character. As male producers, we were undecided as to whether we could produce a film (perhaps with a male director) that focused on that theme without harming feminism.

Then Hugo called us and told us that the idea he had matched the story of little Jeanne who had to vacation with her grandmother while her mother was being treated for depression. We realized that he was able to write a strong, independent female character as "normal" as she should be. Jeanne's character was the central driving force of the story, but the film was not self-conscious about it.

Hugo accomplished this by using his signature poetry and humor and by treating Jeanne as a character rather than a girl. He changed our minds and we decided to submit the project to France Télévision. Although it passed the first round, it did not make it to the three finalists.

Since then, we continued to develop the project, convinced that the originality of this TV special offered a unique opportunity to give voice to a sensitive and meaningful comedy-adventure for children. And that is precisely what made the film so significant outside the context of the call for projects.

Can you talk about the visual style of the project and how it was developed-

Zuber and Rietu: Hugo developed "Mum is Pouring Rain" alone, both narratively and visually, from the beginning!

Zuber and Lietu. He is now beginning to develop the story with the help of other screenwriters, but we are maintaining the initial style that he and we are looking for in this film.

Visually, we want to use hand-drawn backgrounds, like in the teaser. We first drew the lines with a pencil, then applied color, and then added a layer of charcoal shadows to bring depth to the image.

For the character designs, we also wanted to keep the delicate pencil-like lines and give the film a subtle, warm feel.

This entire creative process gives the work a warm, authentic style without compromising the workflow. We were fortunate to work with a director who has collaborated on many projects with his collective Souviens Ten-zan. He understands our production needs very well, which is especially important for our debut 26' TV special.

What are the thematic and creative features of this project? We believe that animated films can be bland entertainment. However, we feel that people are too afraid to use everyday topics in stories for children.

"Mama Makes It Rain" is a comedy-adventure for young children and their families that also contains real-life drama. The story is certainly unique in that it tells a taboo-free story about a child with a depressed mother and is lighthearted and funny.

Hugo has a real talent for taking really important subjects and portraying them with a remarkable sense of humor. He makes sure that they are an important component of the story, yet cohabitate with adventure, laughter, and poetry. It is very important to him to stay close to his target audience, to make films that children can relate to, and to allow them to feel the complex aspects of the story without getting to a conclusion that is too heavy for them. A concern raised by several partners during the early development stages was that Jeanne might take some responsibility for her mother's medical condition. This was never our intention, and we made sure that nothing in the narrative would imply such a thing.

In short, we believe that the originality of this project lies in the proper balance between important themes and mere entertainment. Of course, that is a bit of an over-the-top theory. Because at the end of the day, what most people will remember about "Mama It's Raining" is the adventure, the delicious personalities of the characters, and of course the absolute beauty of the images.

Is the project self-contained as a half-hour special or is it designed to unfold as a larger story -

Zuber and Lietout: After the Cartoon Forum, several people asked me if "Mama It's Raining" I was asked if the story could be developed as a full-length feature, and I imagined the first story as a 30-minute TV special. We believe that this format is the perfect length to tell a beautiful story to children and allow the story to unfold well.

Additionally, "Mama It's Raining" was written as a Christmas special, a wonderful format to share a wonderful moment with a family waiting for the snow to fall.

However, while "Mama is Raining" is self-contained as a half-hour special, we think it could work wonderfully in theaters if paired with two other specials related to the family story.

What kind of support are you looking for at this stage of the project? The project is in the development stage and we are looking for the right broadcaster to work hand in hand with us on the script.

Our presentation of the project at the Cartoon Forum last week was a big step forward in that regard. France Television has shown renewed interest in the project, which has evolved significantly since we last presented it. Another powerful French broadcaster also showed strong interest. We are confident that further discussions will help us all to better assess where the film is headed. We believe the story has universal appeal, as evidenced by the early support from our international distribution partner Dandelooo. Therefore, we are looking for international partners. A broadcaster in Belgium, Germany, or somewhere else would give Jeanne the opportunity to travel further than the French countryside.

International projects are Lydak's forte, and although "Mama It's Raining" is his most French project, he believes it was made for children around the world.