Villa Bastide, l’Engarran, maison Lazzari… how TV and cinema house their heroes “in places that resemble them” in Occitania

Le château de l’Engarran est, dans “Monte Cristo”, la demeure de famille de Morcerf, qui trahit Edmond Dantès. Midi Libre – JEAN-MICHEL MART

Specialized agencies offer a catalog of varied offers, and scouts track down the property that fits the characters. One of them, Yannick Soscia, also the director of “Un si grand soleil”, explains.

“Castle dating from the year 1000, remodeled in 1460, partly rebuilt in 1960, 30 minutes from Rodez”. Surface area, environment, photos, the fortress of Muret le Château is revealed piece by piece, on one of the most serious sites for renting film set locations, or advertising: the Agence 20 000 lieux announces “more than 3 000 references".

There is even the Vélodrome stadium in Marseille! And here, a house in Saint-Pargoire, a bar-restaurant in Collioure, an estate in Conques-sur-Orbiel, an architect's house in Calstelnau-le-Lez… residencies for fiction, films, TV films, series in an Occitania that accumulates more than 3,000 days of filming per year, from daily events like “Tomorrow Belongs to Us”, “Un si grand soleil”, “Ici tout commence”… to the blockbuster “The Count of Monte Cristo”, a summer blockbuster filmed in particular at the Château de l’Engarran in Lavérune, at the Château d’Aubiry in the Pyrénées-Orientales, at the Notre Dame de l’Assomption church in Villeneuvette.

Finding the house or apartment that fits a fictional character is far from trivial. In “Un si grand soleil”, the “Villa Bastide” is as famous as the eponymous family that lives there. In “real life”, the contemporary home is owned by a couple of architects, Nathalie and Richard Teissier, in Castelnau-le-Lez.

“Looking as close as possible to what I want to tell”

On the rival channel TF1, DNA, “Tomorrow belongs to us”, also houses its heroes in “real” houses and apartments”: Victoire and Georges' “shared flat” is in the Quartier haut de Sète, the “Maison Lazzari” is set up in the Domaine Saint-Hilaire de Montagnac, and the Delcourts live on the banks of the Thau lagoon, in the Eaux blanches area, also in Sète.

“I prefer to start from an unknown place rather than go through an agency, which takes you where it wants. It's good for a photo shoot, an advertisement, but we're not always looking for the modern, all-white house furnished in Roche-Bobois, or the dream house in Hauts de Fontanelles, in Saint-Clément-de-Rivière. We're often on a basic set,” indicates Yannick Soscia, stage manager and “location scout” for “Un si grand soleil”, with thirty years of experience.

Yannick Soscia, stage manager and location scout for “Un si grand soleil”: “I go door to door.” DR

The production of "Un si grand soleil" recruited him five years ago. He "wasn't from here", and that's not a handicap: "In this job, you have to stay curious", explains the location scout, who strives to "fix the characters in places that resemble them and that correspond to all social classes", "without touching the sets too much, because what we like is a patina". From there to saying that fictional heroes resemble everyday heroes…

"One day, someone rings my doorbell…"

To "search as closely as possible" for what he "wants to tell", Yannick Soscia goes "almost door to door" and is “constantly on the lookout”. The practice is common. “One day, someone rings my doorbell, the person tells me they are looking for a filming location, and that my house could be suitable”, remembers G., in Assas (Hérault).

Weeks later, it will host an episode of the series Tandem.

“I rented my house for the series Tandem 1000 euros per day”

How much? The subject is taboo. “Between 500 euros per day and 1500 euros, but everything is negotiated depending on the shooting time”, Yannick Soscia quickly says, who wonders about “the crazy figures that are circulating, I don't know where they come from, we're far from it”.

G. lives in a beautiful contemporary house on a wooded plot with a swimming pool, in Assas.

Two years ago, a team from the series Tandem moved in with him for three days, negotiated 1000 euros per day, by contract, and insurance in case of damage. About sixty people, technicians, actors and extras, take over the place, the canteen is set up under a tent, in the garden. The living room is the makeup room. Only the owner's room is privatized.

A short minute filmed in the final episode comes out of it, and very good memories for G.: “I got on well with the stage manager, I took the croissants to the makeup artists, and Astrid Veillon was charming. It's an interesting experience,” recalls the Hérault native.

“I go for a walk, I leave a letter in the mailbox, with the reference to France Télévision, it's rare that people don't call back”, testifies Yannick Soscia, who also receives proposals from those who want to see their property in the cinema or on TV. For him, Occitanie is an incredible breeding ground, from the "pavilion to the seaside, from the Cévenol to the urban… I also work for Laurent Delahousse's 1:15 p.m., we found here Haussmannian Paris and 1960s Algiers for the documentary on Jacques Vergès !"

On the set of “Meurtres à Nîmes”, last winter, in the arenas. Midi Libre – Mikael Anisset

Quai Herber, in Sète, the filming of “Un si grand soleil”. Midi Libre – VINCENT ANDORRA

“The Count of Monte Cristo”, filmed at the Château de l'Engarran, in Lavérune, has just passed the six million admissions mark. The castle, a wine estate, is open to visitors all summer. Midi Libre – JEAN-MICHEL MART

"You need a minimum of square meters to join a team, and a minimum of accessibility. The apartment on the fourth floor without an elevator, it doesn't work". "The owner too manic" either. While the interiors and exteriors will be restored to their original state, they can be turned upside down for the duration of a film. Never as much as you might imagine: “We avoid refurnishing a place, the ideal is to only change a photo frame. But if Luc Besson wants to repaint a wall pink…“

I subscribe to read the rest