A few days after the death of Julien Poulin, there is practically no way to watch the cult series Midnight, evening in which he plays one of the leading roles. No platform has offered it for almost a year, which is not a unique case. Several notable Quebec works are absent from online listening services.
Published at 9:00 a.m.
Unless you rent Midnight, evening on DVD in a library, there is therefore practically no legal way at present to watch this television series, which was acclaimed when it arrived on the air on - in 2005.
“We are looking for a possible way to offer it again to viewers,” Zone3, the company that produced Midnight, evening. Since the announcement of the death of Julien Poulin, Zone 3 notes that there is a reinvigorated interest on the part of the public for this series produced by Podz.
“We receive a lot of feedback. We were asked for extracts. So for us, there is no doubt that there is an interest in everything Julien has done,” added Dominique Veillet, vice-president of development, creation and production of fiction at Zone3.
Budget limited
The three seasons of Midnight, evening were available on the paid side of Tou. TV between 2020 and 2022. Then, - decided not to renew the rights to this series which also starred Claude Legault, Julie Perreault and Louis Champagne. It was subsequently offered on Prime Video under a one-year agreement. Last March, it expired, and Midnight, evening it is is now found on no platform.
“All platforms have difficult choices to make. We have a limited budget and we cannot renew all the series that are part of our catalog. Especially since from year to year, there are new series added. The catalog is getting bigger and bigger and the choices are more and more heartbreaking,” explains Christiane Asselin, senior director of ICI Tou. TV.
PHOTO IVANOH DEMERS, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Julien Poulin on the film set of Midnight, eveningin 2005
- does not intend to seek to reobtain the broadcasting rights to Midnight, evening to be able to offer it again on Tou. TV. The public broadcaster does not believe that the death of Julien Poulin will generate sufficient renewed interest in the series.
“When an artist dies, people especially want to see old interviews he gave. But people don’t worry about series or films with an actor who has just died,” says Christiane Asselin.
Other content featuring Julien Poulin is part of the current ICI Tou.tv catalog, recalls -. The platform notably offers the film Arsenault & Fils by Rafaël Ouellet, which was the actor’s last appearance on the big screen. The public broadcaster also put online on Monday some interviews that Julien Poulin had given in the past, notably with Christiane Charette.
Wider problem
Midnight, evening is not a unique case. Several films and series from here cannot be found on the platforms. However, listening services are in fact now the only options available to the public to catch up on audiovisual content since the virtual disappearance of DVD.
It was less complicated before, finding an old film or an old series. We often just needed to go to the video store.
Dominique Veillet, vice-president of development, creation and production of fiction at Zone3
The Minister of Culture, Mathieu Lacombe, deplored this situation last April. Access to the catalog of Quebec works is one of the issues being addressed by a committee set up last spring by the minister on the future of film and television production in Quebec.
It is not uncommon to see old Quebec series being uploaded in their entirety to YouTube by Internet users. “It’s illegal. The actors, musicians and all other artists who worked on these series are not paid for viewings. Worse, it’s YouTube that reaps all the profits,” regrets Dominique Veillet.
