La Job

La Job
Cast of La Job.
Created by	Ricky Gervais Stephen Merchant
Starring	Antoine Vézina Sébastien Huberdeau Sophie Cadieux Paul Ahmarani
Country of origin	Quebec, Canada
Original language	French
No. of episodes	12
Production
Executive producers	Anne-Marie Losique Marc Trudeau
Camera setup	Single camera
Running time	20-22 minutes
Original release
Network	Bell ExpressVu
Release	October 9, 2006 – present

La Job is an upcoming Quebec comedy television series. It is an adaptation of the cult British show The Office of the BBC. Produced by Anne-Marie Losique's Image Diffusion International, it will be broadcast on Bell ExpressVu starting on October 9, 2006 and later on the SRC (starting in January) and ArTV in 2007. It is the third foreign adaptation of the concept and the second in a language other than English.

Synopsis

Industry leader Les Papiers Jennings, a multinational carton and packaging company, is restructuring. The regional manager of their branch in Côte-de-Liesse, Saint-Laurent, in the Montreal suburbs, is David Gervais (the last name is an homage to Ricky Gervais, co-creator of the original Office, actor of the corresponding British role and incidentally of Quebecois descent; the first name is probably taken from the original role's name, David Brent). He will need to compete with the Terrebonne branch and operate an important effort to avoid the shut-down of their branch. He will also have to cope with occasionally rebellious employees.

David is a failed humorist and rocker who fails to grasp the notion of political correctness. He tends to either make a fool of himself in front of the office crew or make it intensely uncomfortable. The one who seems to enjoy him the most is Sam Bisaillon, former army cadet who worships David. He shares his desk with Louis Tremblay, who is secretly in love with the shy receptionist Anne Viens. The problem is that Anne is engaged to Luc, a macho warehouse employee.

Production

The Office had already seen foreign adaptation with the American The Office, the French Le Bureau and the non-official German version Stromberg. Image Diffusion International produces the Quebecois incarnation. IDI co-founder Anne-Marie Losique, a well-known television host and producer, says "I saw the original show on DVD and found that it was one of the most risqué and extraordinary shows ever. For me, it's a cult classic [...] we've stayed very faithful to the British series [...] [Like the original series], the show is also set in the suburbs where nothing ever happens". She has mentioned that French television station Canal+ has shown interest in this version , despite already producing and broadcasting the French one. Losique already made herself known for importing shows like the American The Simple Life (called La Vie rurale in its Quebec version, its first exportation) starring herself and pop signer Jacynthe and The Surreal Life (Des gens pas ordinaires).

Like the British Office, La Job takes the form of a mockumentary. Twelve episodes for the first season began shooting on July 10, 2006 with a budget of less than 200,000 C$ each and filmed in high-definition. Initially, there was hesitation over whether to call the show "Le Bureau" (a direct translation identical to the French version) or "La Job" (a Quebec French franglais colloquialism, not a proper French word, for "job"; it exists in France argot, but in the masculine rather than feminine form). Eventually, La Job was chosen. Reports in the media of the name "Le Job" were mistakes.

André St-Pierre is the director of the episodes. Script adaptation has been given to Ian Lauzon and Jean-Philippe Granger is the scriptwriter. Like the American Office, improv veterans were called to fill the shoes of some of the original actors. The role of the David Brent boss was entrusted to Antoine Vézina, an performer of the reputed Ligue nationale d'improvisation (LNI), a Quebec-born concept of improvisational theatre and international improv team competition (Quebec, France, Belgium, Switzerland and Italy). Sophie Cadieux, who holds the role corresponding to Dawn Tinsley, has also taken part in the LNI. Paul Ahmarani, playing La Job's Gareth Keenan, is a great fan of the British series. About the black humor of the show, he comments: "Personally, when I began watching that show, after five minutes, I knew that I had before my eyes something unique, that would litterally shatter all that we had seen before". On his character, he sums up that "I'm someone that is very much of a coward, so I like to take refuge in military fantasies of virility... I really like to say that I spent three years in the army... I'm a bit of a loser, very right-wing, very militarist". Sébastien Huberdeau, the Tim Canterbury equivalent, was seen on international screens in The Barbarian Invasions, winner of the 2004 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Reality and fiction sometimes meet in La Job, like in its American counterpart (see The Office trivia). The actual studios are located in Côte-de-Liesse (part of the Saint-Laurent borough in Montreal), near Highway 20, where the Papiers Jennings branch is located in the series. Some scenes have also been shot at the Bar Zeffé, a bar located near the main set that keeps its real name within the show. Built for the series, the shooting set is said to be ready to be converted into a real office space overnight. Shooting is done without spotlights, only with the office neon lights. The neighbourhood paper Saint-Laurent News provides the show with fake newspapers used in filming.

Cast

These are the actors, the characters, and their equivalents. Évelyne Rompré is also starring in La Job, but her character is not yet known. Uncomfirmed equivalents are Emmanuelle Sirois-Keaton, played by Nathalie Coupal (probable counterpart of the Jennifer Taylor-Clark role) and Raymond, played by Bernard Carez.

Occupation	Quebec version	British version	American version	French version
Gérant régional (Regional Manager)	David Gervais (Antoine Vézina)	David Brent (Ricky Gervais)	Michael Scott (Steve Carell)	Gilles Triquet (François Berléand)
Représentant des ventes (Sales Representative)	Louis Tremblay (Sébastien Huberdeau)	Tim Canterbury (Martin Freeman)	Jim Halpert (John Krasinski)	Paul Delorme (Jérémie Elkaïm)
Réceptionniste (Receptionist)	Anne Viens (Sophie Cadieux)	Dawn Tinsley (Lucy Davis)	Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer)	Laetitia Kadiri (Anne-Laure Balbir)
Assistant-gérant régional (Assistant Regional Manager)	Sam Bisaillon (Paul Ahmarani)	Gareth Keenan (Mackenzie Crook)	Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson)	Joël Liotard (Benoît Carré)
Warehouse Employee and Receptionist's Fiancé	Luc (Martin Tremblay)	Lee (Joel Beckett)	Roy Anderson (David Denman)	Ludovic Correia (Julien Favart)

See also

• List of Quebec television series
• List of Quebec television series imports and exports
• Television of Quebec
• Culture of Quebec
• The Office
• Le Bureau

External links

General

• "Office life satirized in La Job" in Saint-Laurent News
• "La Job: Quand la réalité rejoint la fiction" in La Presse

Pictures

• David Gervais looking at his employees through his venetian blinds
• The personnel play ball hockey in the office space
• The wider cast of the show (at the bottom of the document)