La Veillée #1 : Damien Maric

It was logical for him to go first.
So ladies and gentlemen, please

welcome Damien Maric !

Good evening.

The first time I read a Stephen King's
book, I was 12.

It was a collection of short stories
entitled "Night Shift".

And inside this collection, there was
a story I especially liked

because it was extremely touching.

And I swore I would do something with it,
to make an adaptation.

But the adult world did the opposite
of what I was expecting, meaning they kept on

saying things like "it will be too expensive."
"It costs one million dollars."

"You are too far." "You are not american."
"You won't make it."

So I partly believed what adults told me
and I left the idea in the back of my mind

but I wanted to carry on and
trust in life.

Back then on Wednesday afternoons,
I played football with friends and

I was the last one to be selected to
form teams. You know, you select someone, then

another one.
I was the last one to be selected

because I always missed the ball.

So being tired to live this situation,
I decided to swap my place with

a friend who couldn't afford
going to a sports club.

So I told him "you are now
Damien Maric and what I'm going to do

is getting off one station earlier before
going to the studios of AB Productions"

which produced at that time the Club Dorothée,
Helen and the boys, etc.

So I made it through the security check just
nodding when people asked if I was

the son of Aude Messéan. I don't know who
was this woman but in any case, I said "yes".

So I made it through the security check and
basically, I stayed there to discover this hidden TV

world with its whole behind the scenes life which
I really dreamed about.

And I got closer to a floor manager who would
work for a famous TV channel a few years later

since I was 16 years old this time.
And I got on well with him so I thought

"I will follow him."

But this time, to make it through the security
check given I was a bit older,

I put on a suit and said that I was
a trainee and I hadn't any pass.

They gave me a pass so that I was able
to make it.

So I was at the Guignols de l'Info
show and I met a film director

named Eric Lartigau who recently
made The Bélier Family.

And I told him "well I'd like to do
this job, to work this way."

And he answers "you know Damien, do something.
Create something. Make a short-movie,

anything."

So I made a short-film and once finished,
I sent it to forty French production

companies. And among these forty French production
companies, after three months spent calling them

every Wednesday and every Friday at the same time,
nobody had watched it.

So I was devastated because I thought
"well, I have made a movie and nobody

has watched it."

One day I was playing the GoldenEye game
on the Nintendo 64.

I think some of you have understood me.

So I have spent nights playing this game
with a friend and once he told me "listen Damien,

you should sent it to the United States."

And there was a TV guide in front of me
so I thought "I'm going to read it.

The way of contacting Brad Pitt or Johnny
Depp was noted on a page. That's often written

in TV guides. And the names of their agents were
given. I said to myself "I am going to do it."

I sent a videotape. Needless to say that
was expensive. Furthermore, in

an American format. With also a letter saying
"please, show it to the studios

and see what happens."

A few months later, I received
form letters from the Paramount and Disney

which said "we watched your movie but we
don't hire anybody."

But one letter was different from
the others, the Twentieth Century Fox's

with a handwritten note at the bottom : "If you
ever go nearby, just come and see us."

Three weeks later, all my savings
(I worked in a restaurant) were spent

in a round-trip plane ticket and
most importantly a small flat in Torrance.

I arrive to the Twentieth Century Fox
with this letter in my hand and I say

"I got a appointment with Ms Becky White"
I pass the security, I arrive in front of

this woman who worked at the Human
Ressources department and I say :

"Well, here I am, I'm ready.
What do a direct ?"

The girl looks at me saying:
"But who are you ?"

I show her the letter. She says:
"Are you here on holidays ?"

I answer :"No, not at all. I'm here to work.
I'm ready to direct one Simpsons episode,

whatever you want."
And the issue was

that my speech started to wither because
you need to know that my english skills

were bounded to "game over", "player one",
"player two"...

Hopefully, one guy who worked with her
was learning french

So he started to translate everything

And she said: "Even if we wanted you
as an intern, you would have to go back

to the ambassy in France to get a visa."
And that impossible.

"I can't do anything for you, you have to go."

But I knew that if I left this office,
all those coincidences, everything which

occured before would just end.

So I said to myself "Nah, i need to stay.
I'm sorry, I can't leave.

I've flown 9 000 km, find me a job.
I'm ready."

At that moment, the telephone rang,
she picked up. She said "yes, yes."

She looks at me, she gots an idea and, hangs up.
She said to me "Go take a flight ticket to Vancouver.

You're gonna go to X-Files."

So I find myself on the X-Files set,
extremely happy, in the 3rd team so

the main actors were not there often.
We are with the second-rates.

But still, I was in the 3rd team,
I was happy

Except that very quickly, they found out
that my english wasn't good because,

when the guy told me "bring me the script"
I looked what his finger was pointing at.

I brought something back, that wasn't it.
And there is a sentence I remembered:

they showed me a chair and told me
"Watch and learn."

It lasted 3 months.

So, 3 months of "Watch and learn",
I was kind of fed up because I really wanted

to help, I really wanted to do it.

So, while I was flying to L.A to bring some
videotapes, I went back to see Becky White

and I said to her: "Give me
something to direct".

She answered: "Listen, that's not possible".
At this moment, I said "I quit"

An intern who quit, that
was something new.

I leave the Fox studio and I hear:
"Damien ? What are you doing here ?"

That was a middle school friend with whom
I took the general certificate

secondary education.

So, I explain all the story. I say:
"Listen, I was at the Fox and I just quit.

I'm in a mess now"

He says: "Ok Damien. I got a friend of mine
who instals informatic networks at Warner,

Universal. We might find you something."

I meet Marc thanks to whom I got a job at
Warner. And there, I was put in the mailing room.

The mailing room. Picture yourself a room
with a lot of little boxes where you put

the mail inside. And you think that ends,
but as soon as you finish

there is a moutain of mails which arrived
and just do that all day long.

You don't think.

Which leads some people to quit after
only a few days because at some point,

because you don't think, because you always
do the same movement and it never stops

It drives you crazy.

I knew that if i stopped here,
it would have been hell.

So I kept it up

Some months later, a guy told me:
"Come, you will be a producer assistant"

I was extremely glad. Except that
this producer

was extremely harsh, crazy maybe.
And she made my life hell

I don't know if you have ever seen the
movie "Swimming with Sharks", with Kevin Spacey,

I leaved the same thing. She called me
at 3 a.m to pick some documents at the office

She made me come back during weekends.
She humiliated me in front of everybody.

It was extremely hard. but in my head,
I was thinking: "You can do it, you can do it".

Because all of this doesn't happen for
anything. So I kept it up.

And one day, she had one meeting in a huge
meeting room. There was a big meeting

because one show was falling in audience
and she told me: "Don't give me any call"

Obviously, the first one was a guy who told
me: "Damien, you need to hand me over,

I need to speak to her"

I knew that if gave her the call, she would
yelled at me. And if I didn't, she would

yelled at me. So I told myself :
"well, I'm gonna go in." I went inside

the meeting room. And there I half-
opened the door and saw the Warner head chief

saying: "It's not possible, the show is
falling. We did some ads, telemarkerketing

Nothing works." And I don't know why, I jump
into the office and said "I got an idea.

We can put invites on pieces of paper for
tourists who come to Venice Beach.

We give it to them and you'll see
you will have people to the show, it's
gonna be great."

The guy looks at me, I feel the
stare of the girl behind me.

The guy says: "How much will it
cost me this crap ?"

I answer: "Just some paper, I will
give it myself"

We did the operation. I go to Venice Beach
and give the papers for the TV show.

Well, it's still up today.
When you'll go to Venice Beach, you'll see

small papers. Well, that was the story.
So the next day, the show is full.

Only strangers and tourist who came to
see show a that they didn't even

know how it goes.

So the guy is delighted and tells me:
"Damien, that's great ! What do you want

to do ?" "I want to be on TV set,
I really want to work" I say

So he tells me "Well, the show
you just filled called "Veronica's Closet"

you can work on it"

So I was kind of the second second
assistant of an assistant.

And at that point, I was...
I loved to stay the night, in the corner,

you know, to see the fake set. Well, not like
here but you got the sound. I loved that

I was wondering if some water was in the
sink, see the plastic fruits

And I loved that fake set.

And one day I stayed a little longer
than planned and I hear like a party

on the other stage.

So I open the door, I come in and
I see a jail set. I see it's a birthday

Turns out it's Stephen King's
birthday

who is on the set.

So I run into him. I said: "Hello Stephen,
it's Damien."

I say: "Well, there is one story in
Night Shift, I would like to adapt it

because I find it very moving
and powerfull"

And he looks at me and says: "you have
a funny accent."

So I looked at him, he looked at me,
I looked at him.

"Yeah, I'm french"

And he tells me: "do you know how
much cost author's right for one story ?"

I say: "Well,... I don't know"
I take my wallet and he says: "It costs

1dollar. And you see the girl over there,
Marsha DeFilippo ? You go to her and say

that you want to adapt this story,
you will have the rights."

Short time later, I got a contract. I
signed the rights for a Stephen King story

I took a flight to France two days after,
no needs for me to stay here.

I came back to France, and short time
later, in March 2001, I received a letter

from Franck Darabont, the director of
"Green Line","The Shawshank Redemption,

"The Mist", "The Walking Dead" too, who gave
me the copyright, which I didn't have yet

And I could shoot the movie

For whose who have a small bag,
you will see inside a copy of these rights

I put inside, a photocopy of these right
I got from Franck Darabont.

what I memorize from this story, it's
that, despite world's noise, despite

people telling you that's impossible,
that's possible etc, there is something

way stronger, way more powerful:
it's the silence of the soul and this

little voice inside who whispers "follow
this path and life will

make sure it happen"

Thank you very much.