0:00:10.389,0:00:14.133
It was logical for him to go first.[br]So ladies and gentlemen, please

0:00:14.133,0:00:15.932
welcome Damien Maric !

0:00:29.389,0:00:30.135
Good evening.

0:00:30.527,0:00:34.263
The first time I read a Stephen King's[br]book, I was 12.

0:00:34.732,0:00:36.834
It was a collection of short stories[br]entitled "Night Shift".

0:00:37.178,0:00:40.485
And inside this collection, there was[br]a story I especially liked

0:00:40.491,0:00:41.799
because it was extremely touching.

0:00:42.634,0:00:45.029
And I swore I would do something with it,[br]to make an adaptation.

0:00:46.069,0:00:49.809
But the adult world did the opposite[br]of what I was expecting, meaning they kept on

0:00:49.809,0:00:52.532
saying things like "it will be too expensive."[br]"It costs one million dollars."

0:00:52.834,0:00:55.848
"You are too far." "You are not american."[br]"You won't make it."

0:00:56.095,0:01:00.533
So I partly believed what adults told me[br]and I left the idea in the back of my mind

0:01:00.718,0:01:03.668
but I wanted to carry on and[br]trust in life.

0:01:03.951,0:01:07.970
Back then on Wednesday afternoons,[br]I played football with friends and

0:01:08.122,0:01:10.764
I was the last one to be selected to[br]form teams. You know, you select someone, then

0:01:10.764,0:01:12.428
another one.[br]I was the last one to be selected

0:01:12.428,0:01:13.697
because I always missed the ball.

0:01:14.254,0:01:17.876
So being tired to live this situation,[br]I decided to swap my place with

0:01:17.876,0:01:20.804
a friend who couldn't afford[br]going to a sports club.

0:01:21.763,0:01:25.725
So I told him "you are now[br]Damien Maric and what I'm going to do

0:01:25.745,0:01:29.173
is getting off one station earlier before[br]going to the studios of AB Productions"

0:01:29.686,0:01:33.744
which produced at that time the Club Dorothée,[br]Helen and the boys, etc.

0:01:33.992,0:01:37.865
So I made it through the security check just[br]nodding when people asked if I was

0:01:37.970,0:01:40.813
the son of Aude Messéan. I don't know who[br]was this woman but in any case, I said "yes".

0:01:41.800,0:01:46.398
So I made it through the security check and[br]basically, I stayed there to discover this hidden TV

0:01:46.398,0:01:49.279
world with its whole behind the scenes life which[br]I really dreamed about.

0:01:50.061,0:01:55.282
And I got closer to a floor manager who would[br]work for a famous TV channel a few years later

0:01:55.425,0:01:59.533
since I was 16 years old this time.[br]And I got on well with him so I thought

0:01:59.533,0:02:00.325
"I will follow him."

0:02:00.493,0:02:02.570
But this time, to make it through the security[br]check given I was a bit older,

0:02:02.570,0:02:04.821
I put on a suit and said that I was[br]a trainee and I hadn't any pass.

0:02:05.490,0:02:07.864
They gave me a pass so that I was able[br]to make it.

0:02:09.234,0:02:12.540
So I was at the Guignols de l'Info[br]show and I met a film director

0:02:12.656,0:02:14.943
named Eric Lartigau who recently[br]made The Bélier Family.

0:02:15.744,0:02:18.890
And I told him "well I'd like to do[br]this job, to work this way."

0:02:19.095,0:02:22.712
And he answers "you know Damien, do something.[br]Create something. Make a short-movie,

0:02:22.712,0:02:23.294
anything."

0:02:23.860,0:02:27.449
So I made a short-film and once finished,[br]I sent it to forty French production

0:02:27.449,0:02:30.841
companies. And among these forty French production[br]companies, after three months spent calling them

0:02:30.848,0:02:34.297
every Wednesday and every Friday at the same time,[br]nobody had watched it.

0:02:35.301,0:02:38.150
So I was devastated because I thought[br]"well, I have made a movie and nobody

0:02:38.150,0:02:38.766
has watched it."

0:02:39.351,0:02:42.294
One day I was playing the GoldenEye game[br]on the Nintendo 64.

0:02:43.042,0:02:44.946
I think some of you have understood me.

0:02:45.598,0:02:49.464
So I have spent nights playing this game[br]with a friend and once he told me "listen Damien,

0:02:49.464,0:02:50.510
you should sent it to the United States."

0:02:51.364,0:02:53.326
And there was a TV guide in front of me[br]so I thought "I'm going to read it.

0:02:53.718,0:02:57.465
The way of contacting Brad Pitt or Johnny[br]Depp was noted on a page. That's often written

0:02:57.465,0:02:59.949
in TV guides. And the names of their agents were[br]given. I said to myself "I am going to do it."

0:02:59.972,0:03:03.903
I sent a videotape. Needless to say that[br]was expensive. Furthermore, in[br]

0:03:03.942,0:03:07.695
an American format. With also a letter saying[br]"please, show it to the studios

0:03:07.878,0:03:09.523
and see what happens."

0:03:09.942,0:03:13.832
A few months later, I received[br]form letters from the Paramount and Disney

0:03:13.832,0:03:17.857
which said "we watched your movie but we[br]don't hire anybody."

0:03:18.550,0:03:21.442
But one letter was different from[br]the others, the Twentieth Century Fox's

0:03:21.665,0:03:25.263
with a handwritten note at the bottom : "If you[br]ever go nearby, just come and see us."

0:03:26.470,0:03:31.609
Three weeks later, all my savings[br](I worked in a restaurant) were spent

0:03:31.644,0:03:37.820
in a round-trip plane ticket and[br]most importantly a small flat in Torrance.

0:03:37.820,0:03:40.850
I arrive to the Twentieth Century Fox[br]with this letter in my hand and I say

0:03:40.850,0:03:44.368
"I got a appointment with Ms Becky White"[br]I pass the security, I arrive in front of

0:03:44.368,0:03:47.599
this woman who worked at the Human [br]Ressources department and I say :

0:03:47.599,0:03:50.197
"Well, here I am, I'm ready.[br]What do a direct ?"

0:03:50.197,0:03:53.105
The girl looks at me saying:[br]"But who are you ?"

0:03:53.105,0:03:56.186
I show her the letter. She says:[br]"Are you here on holidays ?"

0:03:56.186,0:04:00.957
I answer :"No, not at all. I'm here to work.[br]I'm ready to direct one Simpsons episode,[br]

0:04:00.957,0:04:03.703
whatever you want."[br]And the issue was

0:04:03.703,0:04:07.450
that my speech started to wither because[br]you need to know that my english skills

0:04:07.450,0:04:10.661
were bounded to "game over", "player one",[br]"player two"...

0:04:10.661,0:04:15.217
Hopefully, one guy who worked with her[br]was learning french

0:04:15.217,0:04:18.991
So he started to translate everything

0:04:18.991,0:04:23.314
And she said: "Even if we wanted you[br]as an intern, you would have to go back

0:04:23.314,0:04:28.307
to the ambassy in France to get a visa."[br]And that impossible.

0:04:28.307,0:04:30.768
"I can't do anything for you, you have to go."

0:04:30.768,0:04:34.186
But I knew that if I left this office,[br]all those coincidences, everything which

0:04:34.186,0:04:35.661
occured before would just end.

0:04:35.661,0:04:37.863
So I said to myself "Nah, i need to stay.[br]I'm sorry, I can't leave.

0:04:37.863,0:04:40.603
I've flown 9 000 km, find me a job.[br]I'm ready."

0:04:40.603,0:04:43.758
At that moment, the telephone rang,[br]she picked up. She said "yes, yes."

0:04:43.758,0:04:47.835
She looks at me, she gots an idea and, hangs up.[br]She said to me "Go take a flight ticket to Vancouver.

0:04:47.835,0:04:49.290
You're gonna go to X-Files."

0:04:49.290,0:04:55.433
So I find myself on the X-Files set,[br]extremely happy, in the 3rd team so

0:04:55.433,0:04:59.199
the main actors were not there often.[br]We are with the second-rates.

0:04:59.199,0:05:01.595
But still, I was in the 3rd team,[br]I was happy

0:05:01.595,0:05:04.049
Except that very quickly, they found out[br]that my english wasn't good because,

0:05:04.049,0:05:08.407
when the guy told me "bring me the script"[br]I looked what his finger was pointing at.

0:05:08.407,0:05:12.821
I brought something back, that wasn't it.[br]And there is a sentence I remembered:

0:05:12.821,0:05:15.246
they showed me a chair and told me[br]"Watch and learn."

0:05:15.246,0:05:16.630
It lasted 3 months.

0:05:16.630,0:05:19.929
So, 3 months of "Watch and learn",[br]I was kind of fed up because I really wanted

0:05:19.929,0:05:22.152
to help, I really wanted to do it.

0:05:22.152,0:05:25.893
So, while I was flying to L.A to bring some[br]videotapes, I went back to see Becky White

0:05:25.893,0:05:27.968
and I said to her: "Give me [br]something to direct".

0:05:27.968,0:05:31.063
She answered: "Listen, that's not possible".[br]At this moment, I said "I quit"

0:05:31.063,0:05:34.184
An intern who quit, that[br]was something new.

0:05:34.184,0:05:39.323
I leave the Fox studio and I hear:[br]"Damien ? What are you doing here ?"

0:05:39.323,0:05:43.244
That was a middle school friend with whom[br]I took the general certificate

0:05:43.244,0:05:43.842
secondary education.

0:05:44.212,0:05:47.782
So, I explain all the story. I say:[br]"Listen, I was at the Fox and I just quit.

0:05:47.782,0:05:49.045
I'm in a mess now"

0:05:50.005,0:05:54.730
He says: "Ok Damien. I got a friend of mine[br]who instals informatic networks at Warner,

0:05:54.730,0:05:57.016
Universal. We might find you something."

0:05:57.016,0:06:00.812
I meet Marc thanks to whom I got a job at [br]Warner. And there, I was put in the mailing room.

0:06:00.812,0:06:04.428
The mailing room. Picture yourself a room[br]with a lot of little boxes where you put

0:06:04.428,0:06:08.003
the mail inside. And you think that ends,[br]but as soon as you finish

0:06:08.003,0:06:10.576
there is a moutain of mails which arrived[br]and just do that all day long.

0:06:10.576,0:06:12.046
You don't think.

0:06:12.046,0:06:15.305
Which leads some people to quit after[br]only a few days because at some point,

0:06:15.305,0:06:17.909
because you don't think, because you always[br]do the same movement and it never stops

0:06:17.909,0:06:19.042
It drives you crazy.

0:06:19.042,0:06:21.874
I knew that if i stopped here, [br]it would have been hell.

0:06:21.874,0:06:24.158
So I kept it up

0:06:24.158,0:06:28.155
Some months later, a guy told me:[br]"Come, you will be a producer assistant"

0:06:28.155,0:06:30.703
I was extremely glad. Except that[br]this producer

0:06:30.703,0:06:34.340
was extremely harsh, crazy maybe.[br]And she made my life hell

0:06:34.340,0:06:37.219
I don't know if you have ever seen the[br]movie "Swimming with Sharks", with Kevin Spacey,

0:06:37.219,0:06:40.981
I leaved the same thing. She called me [br]at 3 a.m to pick some documents at the office

0:06:40.981,0:06:44.722
She made me come back during weekends.[br]She humiliated me in front of everybody.

0:06:44.722,0:06:47.783
It was extremely hard. but in my head,[br]I was thinking: "You can do it, you can do it".

0:06:47.783,0:06:50.530
Because all of this doesn't happen for[br]anything. So I kept it up.

0:06:50.530,0:06:55.294
And one day, she had one meeting in a huge[br]meeting room. There was a big meeting

0:06:55.294,0:06:59.536
because one show was falling in audience[br]and she told me: "Don't give me any call"

0:06:59.536,0:07:03.070
Obviously, the first one was a guy who told[br]me: "Damien, you need to hand me over,

0:07:03.070,0:07:04.114
I need to speak to her"

0:07:04.114,0:07:06.549
I knew that if gave her the call, she would[br]yelled at me. And if I didn't, she would

0:07:06.549,0:07:09.314
yelled at me. So I told myself :[br]"well, I'm gonna go in." I went inside

0:07:09.314,0:07:12.332
the meeting room. And there I half-[br]opened the door and saw the Warner head chief

0:07:12.332,0:07:16.308
saying: "It's not possible, the show is[br]falling. We did some ads, telemarkerketing

0:07:16.308,0:07:21.880
Nothing works." And I don't know why, I jump[br]into the office and said "I got an idea.

0:07:21.880,0:07:25.335
We can put invites on pieces of paper for[br]tourists who come to Venice Beach.

0:07:25.335,0:07:28.877
We give it to them and you'll see[br]you will have people to the show, it's [br]gonna be great."

0:07:28.877,0:07:32.526
The guy looks at me, I feel the [br]stare of the girl behind me.

0:07:32.526,0:07:35.995
The guy says: "How much will it [br]cost me this crap ?"

0:07:35.995,0:07:38.511
I answer: "Just some paper, I will [br]give it myself"

0:07:38.511,0:07:43.322
We did the operation. I go to Venice Beach[br]and give the papers for the TV show.

0:07:43.322,0:07:45.564
Well, it's still up today.[br]When you'll go to Venice Beach, you'll see

0:07:45.564,0:07:49.920
small papers. Well, that was the story.[br]So the next day, the show is full.

0:07:49.920,0:07:53.074
Only strangers and tourist who came to[br]see show a that they didn't even

0:07:53.074,0:07:54.277
know how it goes.

0:07:54.277,0:07:56.790
So the guy is delighted and tells me:[br]"Damien, that's great ! What do you want

0:07:56.790,0:08:00.250
to do ?" "I want to be on TV set,[br]I really want to work" I say

0:08:00.250,0:08:03.388
So he tells me "Well, the show[br]you just filled called "Veronica's Closet"

0:08:03.388,0:08:05.111
you can work on it"

0:08:05.111,0:08:08.095
So I was kind of the second second [br]assistant of an assistant.

0:08:08.095,0:08:13.468
And at that point, I was...[br]I loved to stay the night, in the corner,

0:08:13.468,0:08:18.222
you know, to see the fake set. Well, not like[br]here but you got the sound. I loved that

0:08:18.222,0:08:21.740
I was wondering if some water was in the[br]sink, see the plastic fruits

0:08:21.740,0:08:26.728
And I loved that fake set.

0:08:26.728,0:08:32.171
And one day I stayed a little longer[br]than planned and I hear like a party

0:08:32.171,0:08:33.476
on the other stage.

0:08:33.476,0:08:37.913
So I open the door, I come in and[br]I see a jail set. I see it's a birthday

0:08:37.913,0:08:40.299
Turns out it's Stephen King's[br]birthday

0:08:40.299,0:08:42.835
who is on the set.

0:08:42.835,0:08:46.059
So I run into him. I said: "Hello Stephen,[br]it's Damien."

0:08:46.059,0:08:55.126
I say: "Well, there is one story in [br]Night Shift, I would like to adapt it

0:08:55.126,0:08:57.804
because I find it very moving[br]and powerfull"

0:08:57.804,0:09:01.683
And he looks at me and says: "you have[br]a funny accent."

0:09:02.093,0:09:04.820
So I looked at him, he looked at me,[br]I looked at him.

0:09:04.820,0:09:06.050
"Yeah, I'm french"

0:09:06.050,0:09:09.355
And he tells me: "do you know how[br]much cost author's right for one story ?"

0:09:09.355,0:09:12.481
I say: "Well,... I don't know"[br]I take my wallet and he says: "It costs

0:09:12.481,0:09:16.668
1dollar. And you see the girl over there,[br]Marsha DeFilippo ? You go to her and say

0:09:16.668,0:09:19.437
that you want to adapt this story, [br]you will have the rights."

0:09:19.437,0:09:22.370
Short time later, I got a contract. I [br]signed the rights for a Stephen King story

0:09:22.370,0:09:25.804
I took a flight to France two days after,[br]no needs for me to stay here.

0:09:25.804,0:09:31.242
I came back to France, and short time[br]later, in March 2001, I received a letter

0:09:31.242,0:09:34.673
from Franck Darabont, the director of[br]"Green Line","The Shawshank Redemption,

0:09:34.673,0:09:41.457
"The Mist", "The Walking Dead" too, who gave[br]me the copyright, which I didn't have yet

0:09:41.457,0:09:44.088
And I could shoot the movie

0:09:44.088,0:09:48.585
For whose who have a small bag,[br]you will see inside a copy of these rights

0:09:48.585,0:09:52.295
I put inside, a photocopy of these right[br]I got from Franck Darabont.

0:09:52.295,0:09:56.190
what I memorize from this story, it's[br]that, despite world's noise, despite

0:09:56.190,0:09:59.338
people telling you that's impossible, [br]that's possible etc, there is something

0:09:59.338,0:10:02.915
way stronger, way more powerful:[br]it's the silence of the soul and this

0:10:02.915,0:10:07.176
little voice inside who whispers "follow[br]this path and life will

0:10:07.176,0:10:08.466
make sure it happen"

0:10:08.466,0:10:10.723
Thank you very much.