The media got the scoop on French director Gilles Lellouche’s upcoming film about friends in a mid-life crisis who join a men’s synchronized swim team but certain students at Grenoble Alps University (UGA) did even better. They were on set. Notes a school spokesperson, “The visibility offered by a feature-length film appealed to UGA. We also obtained special access for our film students and others worked as extras.”
Center Stage
“So long as it doesn’t interfere with classes,” UGA is open to other films. Some universities have even pitched production companies or shared a stand at the Ile-de-France Location Expo. French universities represent “18 million square meters” and “30% of public buildings,” some of which are very prestigious. For Alexane Riou, assistant to the president of the University of Paris X Nanterre, it’s a way to “take advantage of lecture halls and other spaces when they aren’t being used.”
“Many companies contact us regarding our historic buildings. We soon realized many other spaces might interest them too,” comments Franck Paquiet, University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne communications director. The school even created a promotional website in 2017. Stéphane Villain, campus life director at Paris Diderot University, adds that universities can offer crews “halls, parking lots, libraries and athletic facilities” and save them the hassle of “working with multiple partners.”
Behind the Scenes
Film shoots mean additional funding. Villain says, “If you add together all our rental contracts from films to advertising, conferences and business seminars, that’s €100,000 per year. That may seem low compared to the university’s €300 million budget but once you deduct fixed expenses like salaries and maintenance, there are only a few areas where you can implement a new policy and expect gains. Rentals can be a valuable variable.”
French schools “clearly have the resources” to serve as sets, just like schools across the Atlantic, notes Johanne Ferry-Dély, communications director at the French Conference of University Presidents (CPU). She adds, “It’s about bringing higher education institutions into the collective culture and imagination.”
