Remy Bazerque - Interview series vol. 17 | #112
On his directing and writing career, culture shocks and more
Hello, this is Celeste. I have been writing poems since 2017 and my low-fantasy crime novel Project Dylan since 2022. Letters for Creatives is the place where I share my thoughts on writing, creativity, resources for creatives, and interview creators and authors.
Remy Bazerque is an award-winning French writer and director in film, animation and commercials.
[His] work has been screened at international festivals like Flickerfest, Raindance, and the London Film Festival. I've been supported by institutions like the BFI, Film London, and Creative England, and I've earned a Vimeo Staff Pick and a win at the Firefox Flicks competition during the 65th Cannes Film Festival.
Being in the exposure of three cultures has given him its advantages and disadvantages. We talked about how his background affects his work when it is in English, the influences that his directing work has on his novel and vice versa, and so much more.
What are you working on right now?
On the film front, I wrote a pilot for a comedy, and I am going through the kind of querying that you often see in the publishing industry. So I am applying to things, waiting for responses, etc.
I have a script for a feature film that I am working on and off, something personal. As a director, I am also attached to an animation series for adults, something similar to South Park, but it is at the pilot stage now.
As for the novel, it has been about two years since I started working on it. I wrote two full manuscripts, only to realise that I was not happy with both of them. So I started over. This will be my third time right now.
That is a lot of work! Have you ever procrastinated on a project because of hitting roadblocks, as in when you had to start over? How do you usually deal with these roadblocks?
I need to write every day, for a range of reasons. So usually when I hit a roadblock I tend to obsess over it rather than procrastinate. Although it usually doesn't wield much better results. One of the reasons I have a bunch of projects is to precisely have a means of switching to another if one gets blocked, or if one needs a pause. I have my newsletter too.
That is reasonable. I have used the same method to choose if I write my newsletter or novel. It has been quite useful for my creative process too. Where can we find your work online and offline?
You can find my stuff both on my website at www.remybazerque.net or on my Substack. I don't think the offline applies as much here because it is all film stuff essentially and there is always a trace online. When my films are screening in film festivals, you can see them there. But that is not a daily occurrence.
How has being French affects the way you write stories in English? What is the most difficult part of it all?
I think for the novel, it has been more of a psychological block.
When I write for film, I always have the actors in a way as a last proof. They often rephrase the lines anyway to an extent. So when I set myself to write a novel, I simply wasn't sure whether I could do it. In that sense, Substack has been great, it really has helped me a lot to feel more relaxed about this.
On the process itself, I write in English, but it happens here and there that I need to translate a word from French into English to get the exact meaning.
I would think it probably makes the process slower, and there is probably more to edit as well. I wouldn't say it's the most difficult part. I love English and I often think in English. It was more of a psychological wall to get through.
I see. Sometimes I would have to put in a weak verb before I can find a better one. I have a bunch of brackets with my notes in the manuscript. I am procrastinating to find the right words, to say the least. I need to flash out the full manuscript before it takes fives years to finish one.
Does having a Russian wife ever affect how you write or think about stories and directing films, as she brings her cultural influences into your relationship?
I suppose indirectly it does, since she is always one of the first people to read something from me. Subconsciously, her upbringing would bring that influence.
As for world-building, I am already sufficiently culturally confused. I don't need another culture on top of it.
Do you think that the way you direct films influences the way you write scripts and/or novels?
Most certainly, I am a visual storyteller first and foremost. I spent a large portion of my life thinking images.
When I write, I definitely need to visualise things a lot. I have to see how it plays out concretely and I am keen for this visual aspect to present on the page.
I like the idea of a mood, of a visual mood board for a book to make sure to give everything a certain palette, like when we do in film. But I find it a lot less instinctive, I am learning every day when it comes to writing prose.
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How do you usually make it easy for you to visualise things? I have written pages and pages of back story and development as I write. I have also have a little mood board for mine too. The most difficult part is figuring out the timeline and outline.
Images come naturally in my head. But for instance when I make character sheets, there is always some sort of mood board. Sometimes when I am uninspired with a description, I toy around with AI 'art' generation. I play around with images, try different references until I find something usually unexpected that gets my creative juice going.
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