the essential
On the occasion of the release of the feature film “Olympe, a woman in the Revolution”, the spotlight is on the woman who sells the Gers destination to directors and producers.
“Olympe, a woman in the Revolution, that’s it, for me.” At Ciné 32, on Josiane Bled’s computer screen, a table of several lines up hundreds of cells. The entire adventure of filming the fiction, which will be previewed at Ciné 32 on Sunday, September 29 (7:30 p.m.), is written there. And Josiane Bled has her place there. In charge of the filming reception office for Gers, Hautes-Pyrénées, Ariège and Haute-Garonne, except Toulouse, she is the one who strives to attract directors, big or small, to Gers.
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His work doesn’t stop at the set. Once the production is hung, he has to provide accommodation for the teams, technical service providers, places to eat, and even announcements for the extras… A free service for the teams. “My position is funded by the Region and the Department. The arrival of these shoots generates economic benefits for local businesses.”
The scout’s eye
Attracting filming is not so simple: all regions are in competition in the hunt for filming. “I remember the case of Les Vieux Fourneaux… The comic strip from which the film is based takes place in Tarn-et-Garonne, and we managed to get both filming locations!”
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To decide on the director and even more so the producer, who finances the film, Josiane Bled works well in advance of the film with a location scout. This specialist comes to visit the proposed sites, to check that they correspond to the film. “I have a database of nearly 1,000 sites in the Gers, and more than 3,000 in the four departments I look after. And when the production goes down, or the director, the set designer, it’s a good sign!”
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The sites are sometimes proposed by individuals, who register online. “The other solution is slower. When I hear about a special place, or a town hall contacts me, for a special place, I take my car and go there.” Even when she is out walking, Josiane bled cannot help but spot potential sites. “There is the Bank of France, the old Carlier clinic…”
The Olympe case
Olympe is a special case. For this TV movie, Julie Gayet, both director and actress, wanted to shoot everything in Gers. Finding historical settings proved impossible. “With the location scout, we looked as close as possible to Lectoure, and we found a gem: the private castle of Saint-Léonard, whose underground passages were perfectly suited to the prison scenes!”
It was then necessary to move the filming to Gramont, before going to Villefranche-de-Rouergue, a very well-preserved site for period films, and finally Toulouse, in the Château de la Reynerie. In the end, the Gers hosted 2 days of filming. Others will follow soon. “That’s what’s great: the requests are never the same! I’m asked for urbex, luxury mountain restaurants… The downside is that I often miss the film because I’m looking for the sets!”
