Purchase song rights for The night Laurier Gaudreault woke up was lengthy, laborious and expensive, claims the musical director Lucie Bourgouin, a reference on the matter in Quebec. For two years she had to negotiate the rights to many songs from Xavier Dolan’s first TV production.
• Also read: Xavier Dolan had to “give up” a “dozen Quebec songs” for his series.
Presented on Club illico, the five-part series brings together around forty songs, including hits by Celine Dion, Jean Leloup, Ginette Reno, Sum 41, Coldplay and Joy Division. The filmmaker provided a great showcase for local music, as a quarter of these tracks are from Quebec.
However, in an interview with our colleague Sophie Durocher on QUB radio last week, Xavier Dolan said he had to give up a dozen Quebec songs because a record label didn’t respond to his calls. He also hinted that getting the rights to a Ginette Reno song could be just as expensive as a Coldplay hit.
Lucie Bourgouin, who has been in the profession for 28 years, wanted to put the filmmaker’s words into perspective.
“I understand his frustration. But Xavier has a lot on his mind and mixes up the information. There is a context for this. It’s not true that Ginette Reno’s song cost as much as Coldplay’s. When a song runs over the credits of an episode, as is the case with Les croissants de soleil, higher costs are normal. All of the Quebecers I worked with on this file were cooperative and happy to be a part of a series by Xavier. »
the experience CRAZY
Lucie Bourgouin knows that getting the rights to foreign songs isn’t necessarily easier. She was the one who worked as musical supervisor on CRAZY, the late Jean-Marc Vallée’s classic. The film’s soundtrack, which combines hits by the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd and David Bowie, cost more than $600,000 17 years ago.
“When I tried to get Pink Floyd on CRAZY it took weeks to get a response. And it was a rejection. I persevered and finally made it,” she says.
“Negotiating the rights to songs is meticulous work that requires a lot of rigor and perseverance. A balance must be found between the demands of the producer and those of the rights holders. People also need to understand that it takes more money in the budgets to include songs in an audiovisual production. Of course, if you come along and say you want to spend 1% of your budget on songs, but that you want them wall to wall in your movie or series, it’s not going to work. »
Quebec songs from the Dolan series
like a rocket Mary Carmen
sun crescents, Ginette Reno
Isabella, from John Leloup
for this love Monique Leyrac
my brother, from France of love
Look at me, Celine Dion
you are there, from Robert Charlebois
Kreve, from Rimz
If you die of our love, Gilles Vigneault (carried out by Rufus Wainwright)
winter evening, Nelligan/Léveillée (carried out by Monique Leyrac)
Merry Christmas performed by Ginette Reno