By participating in the race around the world When she was only 22, Chloë was storing images and nurturing her desire to witness reality. Her love of culture and documentaries led her to spend a few years in London, time to add Brian Eno and Yoko Ono to her CV. Recently it has evolved To drink and to eatDirected by Jlove you big as well as 9/11 and me. She has been working with Jean-Philippe Dion for ten years. First for 7 seasons on Unlimited accessthen for 5 seasons with true nature which gave him three twins and offers us a first date over the holidays.
Since last season, Jean-Philippe has been welcoming his guests in a new chalet. How was the transition made to keep the same spirit?
The challenge was not to disorient either the guests or the spectators. It’s an important change because the house is contemporary. The barn has become the workshop. But there is the river and everyone always arrives by boat. The first stop is the cabin. We managed to make it look like the old place to make an advance towards modernity. The country is bigger, so we had to eliminate visiting the house. And there is the great open space. The ceilings are high. Jean-Philippe quickly felt at home.
How come there’s never been a Christmas show before?
The idea has been floating around since season one, but it’s really a matter of logistics. Before that we shot in the summer and then disassembled all the technology. We have no idea, but filming the program requires fiber optics and antennas across the country to transmit sound and images to the basement of the house where the controls are located. It’s a complex shoot. It was therefore necessary that the holiday episode could be shot after the season. What we were able to achieve last season by shooting in the fall. We were also able to book artists who are always busy in the summer. And the Eastern Townships are so pretty in the fall!
Photo provided by Chloë Mercier
Chloe Mercier
Why did you choose Naadei Lyonnais, Garou and Marie-Claude Barrette for this particular show?
These are people who had very strong Christmas stories. Garou got his first guitar for Christmas. He remembers family gatherings in a rented community hall. Marie-Claude spent her holidays walking between Gaspésie and Témiscamingue, where she has family. Naadei is an only child. Her father left her when she was young and despite lack of funds, her mother always did everything she could to have a good holiday. It’s a personality we’re really going to discover. A musician who performed with Wyclef Jean and Pharrell Williams. There was an instant spark between the three. We visit beautiful talks and a party in music. Jean-François Breau and Marie-Ève Janvier ended up at the Crème de Menthe. They party properly until 3-4am. The next day we find a slightly wrinkled Jean-Philippe and all the guests are in their pyjamas. What I like about True Nature, and this is one of its main qualities, is that everything is true. Guests sleep in the same house, eat together. Nothing is settled.
In terms of direction, could you have had more fun given the holiday theme?
I had so much fun filming this show. We made ourselves comfortable in the new house. We decided to shoot more in motion, to intervene between the living room and the kitchen. We used to tend to split everything up. In a 90 minute format, we can take the time to live. There is always a lot of interesting content and it is often the movements and small moments of daily life that suffer from editing. There is a lifestyle page.
What to expect from next season?
We still have a large number of guests. Artists, but also politicians. Many tell us I hope I won’t cry over True Nature. We will discover beautiful people there. And after 5 years I can say that the boat remains a mystery to many people.
True Nature: At Christmas in the cabin Monday, December 19 at 7:30 p.m. on TVA
true nature will be back on January 15 at 9:30 p.m.