Need to know: Brussels-based Hélicotronc was set up in 2002 by producer Anthony Rey after he left film school. An early breakthrough came when 2004 short The Great Wind by Valérie Liénardy was selected for Cannes Critics’ Week, before the outfit produced its first feature, Vincent Lannoo’s Ordinary Man in 2005. More recently, Madly In Life (Une Vie Démente) by Ann Sirot and Raphaël Balboni secured a first feature film Magritte award for Hélicotronc. Now the company has its new project Dalva in Critics’ Week, having convinced major players such as mk2 Films, Diaphana, Arte France and Canal+ to partner on Emmanuelle Nicot’s film. Having joined as a production assistant in 2008. Julie Esparbes and Rey are now the two producers at the helm of Hélicotronc. While the emphasis is on arthouse films, the company also produces TV drama, enjoying a notable success with 2016 crime series The Break (La Treve). Hélicotronc has frequently co-produced with France but is looking to spread its net wider. Notable co-production successes include Leyla Bouzid’s As I Open My Eyes (2015), which won the Europa Cinemas Label Award in Venice.
Key personnel: Anthony Rey, producer and founder; Julie Esparbes, producer.
Incoming: TV drama Good People, the latest series from the team behind The Break, is backed by RTBF and Arte and airs later this year. Hélicotronc is now shooting dark comedy drama Chiennes De Vies, Xavier Seron’s second feature. Filming begins later this summer on The Love Past Syndrome from Ann Sirot and Raphaël Balboni, a co-production with Tripode Productions.
Julie Esparbes says: “It is important once a film is at a certain stage to open the collaboration [up for co-production] because it always brings something extra — a fresh view.”
Contact julie@helicotronc.com
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