His company is out in force at the Annecy InternationalAnimationFilm Festival this year.
Kinology is handing international sales.
Dyens founded Sacrebleu Productions in 1999.
‘Sirocco and the Kingdom of Air Streams’Sacrebleu
Deadlinetalked to Dyens about Sacrebleus journey to date and its future animation slate.
DEADLINE:How did you break into film?
RON DYENS:The starting point is that I love art.
Sirocco And The Kingdom Of The WindsSacrebleu
There are a lot of artists in my family, and I studied plastic arts.
I also wrote and painted too.
One day a producer suggested I turn a play Id written into a short film.
I knew nothing about cinema, so I learned on the job.
These first shorts were live action, but it all began there.
DEADLINE:How did you move into animation?
It was around the time that Annecy was growing too.
Something that was important for me from the beginning was the focus on the writing.
That wasnt very common at the time.
DEADLINE:Having started out as a filmmaker, you moved into producing.
What do you like about producing?
DYENS:My approach is more American than French.
I see myself as an artistic producer.
I venture to add value though a focus on the writing and dramaturgy.
I see myself as being at the service of the auteur and the story.
Through my work with short films, I understand the challenge of creating a work that stands out.
There are around 3,000 short films produced in France each year and just 20 go on to circulate worldwide.
DEADLINE:What is the magic ingredient that makes a work standout?
DYENS:I have an arborescent way of thinking.
Then I wait and see how the director reacts.
I want to understand whether the director really understands their subject and characters.
I dig and its not always comfortable.
If a director is willing to dig deeper thats a good sign.
I can be very demanding and this has lost me directors in the past.
Animation is a long journey.
Its a bit like a marriage.
The filmmaker is the mother, the one who suffers.
I am the one holding their hand.
DEADLINE:How did you get involved inSirocco And The Kingdom Of Air Streams?
DYENS:Its a bit of an unusual trajectory.
I saw a trailer at Cartoon Movie.
There was already a producer attached.
To use the marriage metaphor again, you gotta spend some time together before you tie the knot.
It worked out well and one of the short films was nominated at the Cesars (Midnights Garden).
Screenwriter Alain Guignol wrote the screenplay from his images, rather than the other way around.
DEADLINE:What were the starting elements?
It all came together in a kind of ping pong match fashion with me acting as the umpire.
DEADLINE:Do you have plans for a sequel or other spin-off products like a graphic novel?
DYENS:There are a lot of ideas.
Dyens:Weve just started production and well show some new images.
Its a film co-produced between Latvia, France and Belgium.
We found the most money in France and were doing nearly all the work in a studio in Marseille.
Its a very exciting project.
There are high expectations for the film.
Theres no dialogue, its unclassifiable and very spiritual.
It makes me think of the work of Carl Theodor Dreyer.
DEADLINE:How did you get involved in the film?
DYENS:After I sawAway, I told Gints Zilbalodis I wanted to be involved in his next film.
He sent me the elements for this new film and I immediately signed up.
Gints was also keen to work with a team.
He made his first film all alone at the age of 24 but no-one really does that in animation.
Hes pleased to have found people who want to work with him on this.
DEADLINE:Youre presenting another project calledBird Kingdomby Wesley Rodrigues at Annecy.
Can you give a few more details?
DYENS:Its a co-production with Brazil.
Its a magnificent project.
For me, its a mix of Sam Peckinpah, Kleber Mendonca, Alejandro Jodorowsky.
Its a very violent film about the Brazilian Far West told through birds.
It follows in the regions great tradition of magic realism.
Its about the interconnection between humans and their environment.
The key characters are able to transform into animals and then come back as human beings.
Theres a lot of mythology around this.
DYENS:When there were one or two features a year, it was easier to finance.
Its very difficult to make something that stands out.
The Americans are strong in that.
They always think on a worldwide basis rather than just domestically.
DEADLINE:Where do you produce the animation?
Do you ever outsource work to places like India?
DYENS:We venture to do everything in France, even if it ends up being more costly.
We have a lot of good schools here and the standard of the work is very high.
It also depends on where we have co-production partners.
OnSirocco, some of the work was also done in Belgium.
Its going to enable us to enter into a parallel universe and give us exactly what we want.
Were presenting a VR project at Annecy this year [The Pond].
We think VR is going to become more and more important as it becomes associated with A.I.
to create worlds catering to peoples desires and ideas of pleasure.
The power of AI will substitute us.
DEADLINE:Is this Sacrebleus first VR project?
DYENS:Yes, most certainly.
With the platforms theres more porosity, interpenetration between different cultures.
Another factor is that were seeing more animations aimed at adolescents and adults [in Europe].
This is nothing new in Asia, where everyone reads Manga from childhood to adulthood.
You see Japanese businessmen reading Manga on the train.
The Japanese are really strong in producing young adult content linked to childhood questions.
They understand how to make these transition films.
DEADLINE:Do you think people can see your mark on the animation features you produce?
DYENS:There is now is a certain expectation about films by Sacrebleu.
People expect a certain level of quality when they see our label.
Its taken a long time to get to this point.
