ASK, a French agency that represents movie stars. In the offices of an opulent building on the rue du Louvres, there’s the hustle and bustle of an anthill. Actress F. has an existential crisis and refuses to make a film just before the shooting begins. Actor B. is torn by self-doubt and is considering quitting. J. and D. play a passionate couple but can’t stand each other in life. Gabriel, Matthias, Andréa and Arlette console, cajole, listen to and sometimes shake up their capricious, tortured clients. After all, they’re stars!
Ten per cent is the fee that an agent receives from the money paid to his clients. But while the business side of the film industry is not neglected, it’s the deeply human side of the script that makes this series such a success. The 4 main characters are brillant : Gabriel, shy and so nice, Mathias, the shark, Andréa, both icy and volcanic, Arlette, a fine listener, but a little out of touch. They are surrounded by secondary characters who are just as well written and acted. Each episode spotlights a French star (playing him or herself). Over the course of episodes and seasons, the life of the agency and its characters is built up, deconstructed and reinvented.
Accompanied by a pretty, melancholy, bittersweet music, the series shows the intense moments of those who live for the cinema, but also the heartaches, the little worries of everyday life. Cinema creates a world of fiction that may seem futile, but it only makes sense if it echoes what makes each of us tick.
4 seasons, 24 episodes (50 mn), 2015-2020, France 2, currently on Netflix.
A British version / reboot is available on Amazon Prime
With :
Camille Cottin : Andréa / Thibault de Montalembert : Mathias / Grégory Montel : Gabriel / Liliane Rovère : Arlette / Fanny Sidney : Camille / Laure Calamy : Noémie / Nicolas Maury : Hervé / Stéfi Celma : Sofia / Ophélia Kolb : Colette / Assaâd Bouab : Hicham