The Hérault is a particularly fertile land for filming. Since TF1 and France Télévisions set up their cameras in the department six years ago to box their daily soap operas, the local audiovisual ecosystem has continued to grow. In the Hérault, which has become a privileged destination for French and foreign productions, the filming of series and films of all kinds is always full.
And that’s probably nothing compared to what’s going on in the area. Real estate developers GGL and Spag are building, near Montpellier, Pics Studio, a center of cinematographic creation of a scale rare in France: in Saint-Gély-du-Fesc, Pérols, and Fabrègues, three sites, which will come out of land from 2024, will offer more than 16,000 m2 of film studios, but also decoration workshops, dressing rooms, post-production areas, editing rooms, equipment rental companies and specialized schools. “The idea is that once the production companies move into Pics Studio, they have everything at their fingertips, it’s more efficient”, explains to 20 minutes Alain Guiraudon, founder of the GGL group and president of the future Hérault studio.
France at the end of the world film industry
The two groups have invested around 200 million euros to create this audiovisual juggernaut. And if they bet so much, it is likely that the enthusiasm is strong around this new project. “To satisfy the order of content at the global level, it would take 2,000 studios, in the world, and there are only 1,000, explains Sébastien Giraud, the director of operations of Pics Studio. In France, there are a few studios, but still too few compared to our German or English neighbours. There must be 50,000 m2 of sets in France, compared to around 700,000 in England. »
We are therefore very stuffed. In 2019, the CNC (National Center for Cinema and the Moving Image) had pointed out the enormous delay in the seventh art industry in France. The construction of Pics Studio will make it possible to correct, a little, this considerable gap. Because France is attractive for producers. The natural settings are endless. Tax credits for filming on French soil are high. And finally, the platforms have the obligation to re-spend, on the territory, a part of their turnover, in the creation of new contents. “The producers are ready to shoot here, the tax credits are attractive, we have formidable know-how, but everywhere in France… We lack studios to accommodate them,” continues Sébastien Giraud.
Netflix and others soon in Hérault?
There is therefore a good chance that Netflix, Disney, Apple, Amazon and others will knock on the door of Pics Studio. For the time being, the team is keeping the contacts it has had with several audiovisual monsters secret. We learn, simply, that “Americans” came recently to visit the sites, and that they left absolutely delighted. It must be said that, more than elsewhere in France, the Hérault seduces. The sun is omnipresent, the scenery sensational, the technical and artistic workforce is very important. And communities are well-honed in hosting film shoots. Some, even, like the Occitanie region, willingly put their hands in the wallet to seduce producers.
Pics Studio is one of the winners of the call for projects La grande fabrique de l’image, unveiled by Rima Abdul Malek, the Minister of Culture, on May 19, at the Cannes Film Festival. A label, aimed at rewarding projects that are committed to boosting the film industry in France, four years after the alarming report of the CNC.