Crave and France’s Canal+ partner on "Empathie"

Crave and Canal+ announced their partnership to co-produce the second season of the award-winning Crave original series, "Empathie". The first season of the series debuts under the Création Originale Canal+ label on Canal+ and streams on the Canal+ app, Sept. 1. The series has seen success in Canada since launching on Crave in April, becoming the best Crave Original series this year, across all languages. International distribution in French-speaking territories is handled by Trio Orange International, while Beta Group handles other territories.

In March, "Empathie" won the prestigious Audience Award at the Séries Mania festival in Lille, France. “Building on the phenomenal success of "Empathie" on Crave, we are proud to present this remarkable work to a new audience. Our partnership with Canal+ illustrates Bell Media’s focus on making great original series that resonate at home and abroad. Congratulations to the teams at Trio Orange and Bell Media, and hats off to Florence and Guillaume for their inspiring vision,” said Suzane Landry, Vice-President, Content Development, Programming and News, Bell Media.

“This is the first time that Canal+ is partnering with Crave to bring an original series to French audiences. Collaborating on such a profound series is a promising start to what we hope is a long and wonderful relationship with both Crave and Florence Longpré,” said Olivier Bibas, Head of Création Originale, the fiction label at Canal+.

“Putting ourselves in someone else’s shoes, understanding them, and sharing their feelings is the greatest journey we can take from the couches in our living rooms,” said Florence Longpré about "Empathie".

“Working with Florence Longpré is a rare opportunity. She infuses every scene with deep humanity, and that’s what audiences respond to. We hope that this story clicks just as much with audiences in France,” said Julia Ferreira Langlois and Annie Sirois, Partners and Producers, Fiction at Trio Orange.

"Empathie" is a drama series that explores the depths of mental illness and tells the story of Suzanne (Florence Longpré), a criminologist-turned-psychiatrist who goes to work at the Institut psychiatrique Mont-Royal. There, she befriends Mortimer, an intriguing security officer, and meets a variety of patients with compelling stories. Produced by Trio Orange in collaboration with Bell Media, "Empathie" is written by Florence Longpré and directed by Guillaume Lonergan. The entire series is available on Crave, and a second season is in development with Crave and Canal+. The series is produced with the participation of the Production Tax credit SODEC, the Canada Media Fund, Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit, SODEC Québec, the TELUS Fund, the Quebecor Fund, and the Independent Production Fund Cogeco.