Available on Disney+, “Week-End Family” is the platform’s first original French creation. Éric Judor and director Sophie Reine reveal behind the scenes.
“I have always been the most irresponsible character in my films. Usually, the kid is me.“Usually, Éric Judor is often hesitant about the idea of filming with children. But with Week-End Family, he came across “geniuses, mini Ramzy”.
In this first French creation of Disney +, the actor embodies the father of a mega blended family, punctuated by his three daughters and his three ex-wives. The series, created by Baptiste Filleul, follows their adventures during each weekend.
“I read the first episode and I found it very well written, especially the lines of the children”, recalls Éric Judor. It is the director Pierre-François Martin-Laval – nicknamed Pef – who calls on him. “Already, it was the first major argument because it was he who staged my show with Ramzy 26 years ago”, explains the actor. He canned the first four episodes, Sophie Reine directed the other four.
Known for her work as an editor, the filmmaker is also the author of the film Cigarettes and Hot Chocolate, released in 2016. It is thanks to this first feature film that the Disney team came to find her. “Each one arrived with their personal challenge and requirements.she explains. Éric was the texts and I the frames. Disney chose us for who we are, and I liked that. We are not frustrated, we are free.”
On set, the pace is frantic. For Family weekend, the rule was to shoot nine usable minutes a day. “We had to hurrysays the director. We were shooting with two cameras and in total, we had five weeks to do the four episodes..” The series was not shot in chronological order, but according to the sets. All footage from the apartment was put together on set. “Everything was crossed, so a scene from the first episode could be shot last”, reveals Sophie Reine.
Disney+
The other challenge is managing to juggle the children’s work schedules. According to the director, they could rotate between “three and five hours a day”. For the young Roxane Barazzuol, it was three hours. “It’s an unbelievable puzzle“, says the filmmaker. When the young actresses weren’t there, the team shot scenes between adults or shot reverse shots without them.
During filming, the dynamic between the actors was jovial and authentic, just like on screen. “We had a real freedom and it gives something very alive, something quite true. That’s what I liked about this exercise.says Sophie Reine. Eric gives a lot. It’s frustrating to have had to leave so much in the edit”.
For the director, the message Family weekend Is simple : “As long as people talk to each other, as long as there is benevolence, no matter the type of family, we get by. I share that vision. In our story, the adults, regardless of their past, have decided to make peace and choose to keep good ties. It’s work on yourself.”
Interview by Thomas Desroches in Paris.
Family Weekend is available on Disney+.