Quebec’s unique and deeply rooted star system is dominated by its adored film and television actors. Among the perennial favorites are tough and funny Michel Cote and Marc Messier, the evocative and daring Pascale Montpetit and Pascale Bussieres, the dazzling and dramatic Macha Grenon and Sophie Lorrain, the zany and highly talented Benoit Briere and Claude Meunier, and the tried-and-true Dorothee Berryman, Raymond Cloutier, Angele Coutu, Remy Girard and Rita Lafontaine.

The screenwriters

In screenwriting, top talent on the French tv drama side in the new season includes Luc Dionne, author of the critically acclaimed crime drama Omerta; veteran writer Guy Fournier, author of the top-rated historical drama L’Ombre de L’Epervier; the very successful Rejean Tremblay, who returns with Reseaux; and Joanne Arseneau, who scripted Tag, a new primetime street gang drama for Radio-Canada, and Nazareth USA, a French-track suspense feature from director Richard Ciupka.

Other primetime drama writers winning wide acclaim this season are:

– Michel D’Astous and Anne Boyer, writers of Le Retour, a tva drama series in its second season with an average network audience of 1.6 million. The series stars two of Quebec’s very best and most-loved actors, Angele Coutu and the legendary Rita Lafontaine.

– Fabienne Larouche, screenwriter of the popular daily Radio-Canada teleroman Virginie. ‘Virginie has people hooked,’ says a competing broadcaster. ‘Fabienne is one of the really good Quebec authors. She has that tv touch.’

Larouche’s credits include Scoop and the medical drama Urgence.

The primetime actors

In a tightly concentrated tv market like Quebec, one of the key performance standards for an actor is the ability to reinvent oneself from one primetime character to the next, season after season.

Following are thumbnail sketches of some of this season’s primetime drama and teleroman headliners:

– Isabel Richer made a breakthrough on the police drama Jasmine and has since won two leading roles in major series, tva’s Lobby and src’s L’Ombre de l’Epervier, which is returning in 1999. The chemistry between L’Ombre leads Richer and Luc Picard is tres hot, ‘and viewers just love that,’ says a broadcaster.

– Luc Picard, the image of the classical Quebec male lead, starred in Omerta and L’Ombre de L’Epervier. A scene featuring the actor’s bare backside stirred extensive interest in the fanzines. ‘We saw his little bum,’ says an interested party.

– Brigitte Paquette turned in a great performance playing a challenging role of a crime boss’ daughter who falls in love tragically with a cop. ‘She’s a standout as the aggressive, bitchy mother’ of one of the young models in the top-rated tva fashion drama Diva, says a local talent agent.

– Benoit Briere won the Gemeaux for best dramatic actor for his moving portrayal of the legendary Olivier Guimond in the miniseries Cher Olivier.

A talented stage actor, Briere stars in Juliette Pomerleau and continues his unparalleled work as Monsieur b., the zany and multi-character spokesman for Bell Canada.

– Brigitte Boucher is one of the new talents in Quebec tv drama. She stars as the large-sized lady Juliette in Juliette Pomerleau. ‘Watch out for her,’ says a broadcaster. ‘She has a French-from-France accent but she’s from Quebec. She’s unbelievable. People will fall in love with her.’

– Michele-Barbara Pelletier is a young, new talent featured in L’Ombre de L’Epervier. Pelletier has done feature films and has a leading role in Ces Enfants d’Ailleurs.

– Sophie Lorrain was voted most popular tv personality at last year’s MetroStar Awards. ‘People love her because she’s simple,’ says a broadcast exec. ‘She is popular because she is accessible. Actually, she’s very shy.’

Lorrain starred in Urgence and Omerta, and at least one major Quebec tv network is actively seeking a new vehicle for this talented actress.

– Vincent Bolduc grew up on tv playing kids’ parts. At 19 or 20, Bolduc has a role in the Guy Fournier teleroman Ent’Cadieux and his first leading role in Ces Enfants d’Ailleurs ii.

– Five-year-old Julie-Pierr Nadeau ‘is amazing and has become the star for the preschool set in French Canada,’ says a prominent kids’ tv producer.

Nadeau’s show, La Boite a Lunch, is seen on src and beat out Teletubbies at this month’s Prix Jeunesse International Awards, the Oscars of children’s tv.

– Macha Grenon is one of Quebec’s most charming actors. Grenon has a surprising new role in the drama series Juliette Pomerleau and turned in stunning performances in the cbc miniseries The Sleep Room and Ces Enfants d’Ailleurs. ‘She has a sweet personality,’ says one network exec. ‘She’s beautiful and people like that.’

– Veteran actor Remy Girard does it all – big-budget drama, teleromans, quiz shows, even tv commercials – ‘and he is good in everything,’ says a broadcaster. Girard was featured in Cher Olivier and this season appears in Ces Enfants d’Ailleurs ii.

The directors

Directors associated with some of the more important French-language drama series this season include the tres versatile Georges Mihalka on Omerta iii, and Robert Menard on Le Polock, a story of Polish immigrants and their struggle in the new land.

Two of the hottest director talents on Quebec tv this season are:

– Andre Melancon won the Academy Gemeaux award for best dramatic writer and director for Cher Olivier. The producers of Ces Enfants d’Ailleurs publicly announced how thrilled they were when Melancon’s feature film project was turned down, opening the door for his participation in the series.

‘One of the things about Andre Melancon is how much the talent love him,’ says a producer.

– Louis Saia hit the proverbial home run in directorial terms cowriting and directing his first feature Les Boys, which went on to set the all-time ($6 million) record at the Quebec box office. This spring Saia was funded to direct a sequel.

As for tv, tva is very pleased to have Saia on board as writer/director on Histoire des Filles, a new 22 half-hour primetime sitcom.