Jamie Bamber on how art is still respected in France

[@ScottZiegler]

I agree, and am so thankful there are still things like the Fringe festival in Edinburgh that democratize the arts in such a wonderful fashion; such a wonderful variety of shows to be seen, and so very affordable compared to London or Broadway.

[@jahbuddha]

i think that the following precisions on the french "stipend" are in order. There's no money freely given you can only claim back a percentage of what you've already paid in. The french "intermittent du spectacle" system was set up by film technicians in 1936 to provide a minimum income during downtimes. In 1965 the system was taken into government control, which lead to a special section of the state social security being set up. Since 1969 the system now includes technicians and artists from the live & recorded music industry, dance, theatre and also includes actors. . You have to have paid into this special insurance scheme a minimum of 507 hours paid work during 1 year. So you pay your normal social security plus the special scheme, in effect paying double the social security of any other worker. It also means that those who don't manage to work 507 can't claim the money back and so those contributions go into the the system and helps the system to run. The French government, pushed by the production companies lobby, want to abolish it and have had a long campaign of fake information saying that the scheme is losing money and is a drain on the general social security system but in fact as artist/technician can't touch the general S.S and the special scheme is in profit, it's the artists and techs that are propping up the general system of social security. The French cultural sector brings into the national economy 6 times more money than the entire automobile industry and yet the government is making it very very difficult for us in the cultural sector. After COVID in 2020 25% of technicians left the industry because the imposed rest made them realise how hard the industry had become in recent years. Despite the lack of available technicians wages haven't risen by any significant amount so those techs aren't being replaced. Since the huge pick up of the backlog caused by the lockdown of 2020/21 I've seen quite a few colleagues go through burn outs. I've been close myself and often feel that I've had enough.

[@eliegattegno5103]

"In 1965 the system was taken into government control" 1967, Ordonnances Jeanneney, the beginnig of "paritarisme".

[@eliegattegno5103]

This conversation is wayyyyy too french...

[@puccaland]

​@@eliegattegno5103 You tried.

[@thibaudarbesdupuy1842]

Hmm where did you get the info that the scheme is in profit? Not what I see from la cour des comptes

[@dominoetcie7464]

It is just as hard and challenging to get to work and be recognised for it but if you do find opportunities, you can live from your passion. The "intermittent du spectacle" status is hard to achieve because you have to do a great number of hours. Many many people give up on the first or the second year because they didn't find enough hours while applying to hundreds of job offers. And this is true for 100% of professionals : writers, light and sound engeneers, extras, directors, and so on. Even finding an internship is tough, even ones where you basically work for free. I would say that the true great aspects in France is that writers are treated as authors, directors too which means that they get paid quite significantly and they still own rights over their work. Working in the industry is basically fighting over and over without thinking of : will I be able to get the money from the State ? If you think that way, you are most likely to give up sooner than you think.

[@eonetim]

So, so right. And well done for saying it ✊

[@mikekaraoke]

I agree with what some of Jamie said, however regarding theatre pricing in the UK not same as Broadway you can get super great deals like me and my gf went and saw the London Revival of: Starlight Express for £40 each and good seats near the tracks.... Which has now been extended for another year due to popular demand. As for France being really small-France is 1.5 bigger than Germany in size not population! Would you please come and do some theatre in UK West End +/or UK Tour in 2025 maybe????

[@arnaud.lancelot]

Having been in London, the theaters in London are way better than in Paris.

[@CROM-on1bz]

Patronage of culture is an old French tradition. If Francis I had not supported Leonardo da Vinci, the Mona Lisa would not be in the Louvre Museum.

[@CaptainDangeax]

Not Francis one, François Premier

[@crepinhauser5274]

@@CaptainDangeax It's Francis in English, give him a rest, it's like it's we can say Lancastre instead of Lancaster.

[@Lostouille]

except we never said Lancastre for the Lancaster

[@crepinhauser5274]

@@Lostouille You may never have said it, I heard historians do it, it's a generational thing I guess, also it's a possibility comparison, not a usage comparison. Being aggressive against another correct usage however uncommon it is, is not only rude, it's wrong.

[@CROM-on1bz]

@@Lostouille The Lancasters or Lancastre in French are like almost all the English nobility descended from the companions of either William the Conqueror or the Plantagenet kings, so saying Lancastre is the correct pronunciation, whether you like it or not.

[@PHDiaz-vv7yo]

Watching this while my son laps up MCU Deadpool. Yeah it’s fun- but it’s prepackaged. What’s scary is that he’s 18 soon. Would he watch a BSG in 10 yrs time when I first watched it and was “surprised” by it ( ie blown away by it)

[@Skyebright1]

Has he seen BSG?

[@dalriada7554]

Watching the MCU has never been a problem. The problem is when you watch only those kind of things.

[@PHDiaz-vv7yo]

@@Skyebright1 he basically watches me watch The Expanse. On a loop. To really enjoy The Expanse you need to journey thru Star Wars, then Trek, then TNG, DS9, B5, then BSG before you finally earn The Expanse I’m a hard task master

[@lahirefrancois7508]

18 is still a good year. The trick is to inject some more "artsy" movies every once in a while. Oh you liked Deadpool? Then mabye watch Hellzapoppinz that broke the fourth wall in the 30th, 60 years before the character of Deadpool was created. That is how you build curiosity. "What do you like? Then let me show you what I like that is comparable"

[@CloneShockTrooper]

I agree but on a global scale because of the insane rules added to art. Art is organic and the very moment one starts to shoehorn artificial rules to the art. Plus being having critical mind is bad in the collective mind currently. Also retroactively changing real history to fit someone’s narrative. Can’t help thinking back to my history lessons where I first saw that kind of thing was in 1930s Germany. Yeah we live in trouble times now.

[@RaySqw785]

son français est très bon, il est acteur ou musicien?

[@hermes6910]

acteur, tu peux notamment les trouver tous les 2 dans Battlestar Galactica ;)

[@RaySqw785]

@@hermes6910 une série ?

[@hermes6910]

@@RaySqw785 Pas que, mais les concernants t'as une série et un film de mémoire.

[@s.p.8803]

Il est anglais, donc a étudié le français au collège/lycée. Il a joué dans pas mal de séries et films au RU, aux USA et en France

[@CaptainDangeax]

US is canceling arts, that's Idiocracy for real

[@timelordvictorious]

I agree in a way there very little payed jobs in Britain for the arts sadly.Also idiots in the government obviously don’t feel art stuff is important for people so meany of of them have to be seat up by people volunteer’s .

[@christiansmith-of7dt]

English class never ends

[@puccaland]

If only he was like the average British people on the French.

[@christiansmith-of7dt]

Yeah right

[@henghistbluetooth7882]

Not sure I recognise this in the UK. Seems a pretty narrow view of art. My wife and I and my 11 year old boy have been to so many free museums and art galleries, and music is constant. My home town which only has a population of 250,000 has three separate music and art festivals a year as well as two really good local theatres. London has more art, music and theatre than I can count. And TV and film are OK as long as you ignore the bit tentpole,blockbusters that are all the same and reality TV. There are also dozens of major book festivals. You just need to know what’s on, when and where.

[@timelordvictorious]

Yea I agree I think actors feel unappreciated in the countries like Britain .which is faire enough but nurses and people like that are go unappreciated in the country as well

[@Skyebright1]

I guess more the idea of a lot of actors being from UK private schools and can afford to pay for auditions

[@fredericdehohenstaufen7874]

I think it resides in the scale of the cities which can provide these types of events. 250 000 people is HUGE for France. They are 11 french cities of more than 200k, 27 in the UK. I don't know about the UK so I'll let you give me a counterpart in your answer, but here in France, I think what stroke Jamie is the capacity for a small town, let's say 25 000 to 50 000 max, even sometimes smaller than that, to host international arts events, like the Aurillac International Street Theatre Festival, which gathered in 2024 around 240 000 spectators, and 600+ theatre troupes. The city has a population of 25 000, the whole area is completely lost, far away from any urban center, very rural, it's like Hawick in Scotland, and there's this massive 4 days urban festival where all the medieval and old streets are so packed. It's not a music festival which like of Glastonbury can be in remote areas, it's a urban festival hosted only inside the town. It also brings a lot of visibility and money to the town which can then do even more festivals during the year, giving back to all community groups and volunteers who gave their time and effort to the big annual event. It's one example but there are so many in France : Garorock near Marmande (25 000 hab.), 120 000 people, Jazz in Marciac, a 1 200 pop village which hosts a 200 000 jazz festival and it can go on and on. You can be completely lost in the country, 2 hours drive from any 100k pop city, and have at least 10 or 20 venues where they will be something to attend in the next week, even during the off-season. Also, looking at where some big groups tend to go for their concerts is interesting. I just looked at Artic Monkeys schedule for the past years: in England in 2022 they played in London, Manchester, Swansea, Coventry, Bristol, Middlesbrough, Norwich, Sheffield not one date in Scotland for example, all 200k cities. In France in the same period they played in Paris obviously, Lyon, but also in 25k town of Aix-les-Bains, 40k Carcassonne. It seems there's a lot of diversity in the typology of venues where you can find big events, and local communities are able to bring all their community together to host large gathrerings. I lived in Italy and the US, and in these countries, it's really difficult to find anything to do on a november week in any city smaller than 100k people, in France it isn't, there is always so much artistic stuff happening, even a remote 1200 pop. village will have a movie theatre with public funding to also show "auteur movies" like armenian or mongolian production funded by french institutes and not only big productions.

[@christiansmith-of7dt]

People are afraid of me because im a genuinely bad person

[@Entasis5555]

Wtf was that lol

[@BonzoKilbourn]

It's okay. AI can do all the at for us. 😂

[@eglantinepapeau1582]

in FRANCE he says ? Oh Jamie I respect you and i think you're a great actor but i also think you're wrong on this one , at least when it comes to modern France .