“Cult” is “Loft Story” like we’ve never seen it before

This is the event series for this fall. The first season of Worshipdedicated to the “Loft Story” phenomenon, goes online this Friday on Prime Video. In six episodes, it goes behind the scenes of the production of the show which caused a wave of controversy in France when the reality show landed, with a bang, on M6 in the spring of 2001.

The project was born more than ten years ago. The trigger was the release of The Social Network by David Fincher in 2010. “This film tells the genesis of an entrepreneurial adventure, the birth of Facebook, in the form of a thriller. We found it great and we sought to develop an idea on a French subject that had a societal impact as strong as this social network, tells 20 Minutes Nicolas Slomka, one of the two creators of Worship. We documented ourselves on “Loft Story”, we read a bit of everything that had been written on the subject and we realized that, behind the cameras, there had been a story full of twists and turns and material for discussion. make a series of it. »

But, at the time, when he canvassed potential broadcasters in the company of his sidekick Matthieu Rumani, the people he spoke to were cautious. “TV talking about TV scared the channels. They feared, I think, of being seen as giving lessons to TF1 and M6. » The two showrunners took their time patiently and, a few years later, redeveloped their project with two producers, Clara Levy and Giorgia Poivre. The arrival of Alexia Laroche-Joubert, credited as producer, was decisive for the release of the series on Prime Video.

“Alexia Laroche-Joubert told us that she had done much worse”

“The fact that she is with us gave us legitimacy since it is her story that we are telling,” underlines Nicolas Slomka. His story, or almost. In fiction, she is renamed Isabelle, the screenwriters having taken certain liberties with her biography. “For example, at the time, she was in a relationship and not single like in our series, her parents were not opposed to the “Loft”… We had to maintain a distance,” underlines Matthieu Rumani.

Alexia Laroche-Joubert, who gave birth to “Loft Story” then to various other reality TV formats such as “Star Academy” or “La Ferme celebrities”, has established herself in two decades as one of the most popular figures influential in the French audiovisual landscape. Known for her strength of character, she did not impose anything. “After reading the script, she told us it was great but she had done much worse. So she encouraged us to let go, to go for it. It was a phenomenal boost,” says Matthieu Rumani.

She notably told the two showrunners in detail about the “emotional tsunami” she felt when Paris Match made its cover on Loana’s daughter. The emblematic candidate of the first “Loft” had hidden her motherhood from the production, which was only to select single people without children. While the show was being broadcast, the weekly published family photos and revealed all this part of her life that the young woman wanted to keep private.

Female roles “well written, with several facets and depth”

“It was the only time when Alexia Laroche-Joubert considered resigning, and it was perhaps the only time in her life when she considered changing careers. She felt a responsibility towards this child who had not asked anyone for anything, continues Nicolas Slomka. We said to ourselves that it was worth addressing this responsibility of production towards the candidates and those around them. » Thus, the entire episode 5, devoted to this story, to the ruse of the journalist from Paris Match and the storm that hit Loana and the production, did not initially exist. It was able to see the light of day thanks to the producer’s story.

Alexia Laroche-Joubert had her say on the casting. And in particular on the one who would play Isabelle, his double on screen. She validated Anaïde Rozam. “That she trusted me brought me a certain serenity,” confides the actress who, absolutely wanting to get the role, went so far as to take the tests with the hairstyle she was wearing at the time. “We are in 2001, she is a woman who operates in a difficult and very masculine environment that is television. She is determined, without filter,” summarizes the actress, emphasizing that “well-written female roles with so many facets and depth” are still rare.

Besides Isabelle/Alexia, the series highlights another heroine: Loana. Their trajectories are parallel: both must, in their own way, confront adversity and sexist prejudices to ultimately prevail. For the “Loft” candidate, the use of a pseudonym was useless. “Regarding Loana, there is only a small margin of fiction,” says Matthieu Rumani. We met her, we worked with her and she confided to us things that she had never confided before. » This is why in the credits Loana is mentioned as a consultant on the scenario.

The swimming pool, “the tipping point”

“I believe that we have been fairly fair with the characters we portray and that we are not betraying anyone,” believes Nicolas Slomka more broadly. Seen as a whole, “Cult” offers a retrospective look at the explosion “Loft Story” where the numerous dirty tricks and twists and turns give a breathtaking rhythm to the story. For those who followed the show twenty-three years ago, watching it doubles as a tasty read that tickles both nostalgia and memorable memories.

It is also no coincidence that the first episode opens with the so-called “swimming pool” sequence showing Loana frolicking and flirting extensively with another candidate, Jean-Edouard. “This scene is, still today, the strongest in French reality TV. This is the tipping point, which made “Loft Story” go from the status of a program with very average audiences to a social phenomenon which has lastingly transformed the French landscape. Today, reality TV is everywhere,” notes Matthieu Rumani. Nicolas Slomka sets off: “She has infiltrated political life. Self-presentation has permeated social networks, it goes beyond the television screen. »

Worship shows the birth certificate of a “new television”, summarizes Anaïde Rozam who was not 5 years old at the time. “Before the “Loft”, we gave the floor to intellectuals, to the elites and there, for the first time, we were dealing with a modern, impertinent, unfiltered program, which gives the floor to around ten young people representing the youth of the era. It was new for the candidates, but also for the producers. There was risk taking. » It is for all these reasons that telling the story of The Loft as a series is a well-inspired idea.