Marc Helwig
Miramax TV and European studio Mediawan are co-developing a French-language series adaptation of Miramax's Academy Award-nominated box office hit "Chocolat." Released by Miramax in 2000, "Chocolat" is based on the books by Joanne Harris and was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture. The film, directed by Lasse Hallstrom and starring Juliette Binoche, Johnny Depp, and Judi Dench, grossed more than $152m at the global box office.
Miramax TV and Atlantique Productions, a Mediawan company based in France, will reinvent the modern and charming fairytale, drawing from the film and additional novels written by Harris, which provide a new reservoir of material. The series will be shot in French and takes place in a small town in modern-day France, where a woman and her daughter settle down, disrupting the fragile social balance of the community. Their biggest challenge will be to convince the town’s folks to embrace the change they are bringing into town, like a breath of fresh air.
“Joan Harris’ richly textured comic fable is a timeless and uplifting crowd-pleaser. This marks yet another fantastic project from our extensive IP and film library that we are able to utilize in our continued efforts to build television content for a global audience. We found the perfect partner in Mediawan to bring this truly international production to TV screens around the world”, said Marc Helwig, Miramax’s Global Head of Television.
“We are very excited to be working on Chocolat and to be able to bring it to an international audience with an innovative French take. This story tackles universal dilemmas, that of a hard-working single mother who wishes to do good in this world and bring a little magic into it. We thank Bill, Marc, and Miramax TV for bringing us this inspiring material”, said Elisabeth d’Arvieu, COO of Mediawan Pictures, and Nathalie Perus, Managing Director of Atlantique Productions, a Mediawan company.
The project continues Miramax´s recently energized strategy of building television content from its extensive IP and film library. Miramax's Global Head of Television Marc Helwig and Vice President of Television Development Mirsada Abdool Raman will lead the creative efforts for Miramax, with Mediawan Pictures’s COO Elisabeth d’Arvieu and Atlantique Productions General Director Nathalie Perus leading for Mediawan. Studio heads Bill Block and Pierre-Antoine Capton will executive produce as well.