Canal+ calls for drama-driven stories for fledgling channel Canal+ Docs

Canal+’s presentation at Sunny Side

SSOD: French pay broadcaster Canal+ has unveiled a number of new shows and called for new projects for its channels, including fledgling documentary net Canal+ Docs, as part of a group-wide presentation here at Sunny Side of the Doc.

Canal+ Docs, which is positioned as a premium contemporary generalist channel, launched last September. At the time, Christine Cauquelin, director of documentaries and factual discovery channels for Canal+ Group, said the new channel’s raison d’etre would be real stories with drama-like storytelling.

Christine Cauquelin

Canal+ Docs is also the group’s first channel entirely dedicated to documentaries, said Jean-Marc Juramie, deputy director general of content and channels for the group.

The genre already plays a large role in the group’s overall output across its channels, which attract 20 million-plus subscribers in France and internationally.

Canal+ Docs launches two or three new shows a week and about 30% of its output is new originals. Its line-up is expanding in September with a new sport-related doc slot.

Among the new shows unveiled for its line-up is 2080 Nos Futur, a look at how new technologies will shape human lives in the future, using virtual production techniques. The big-budget production comes from prodco Caméra Subjective and is coproduced with Mad Films.

Cauquelin highlighted the group’s overall requirements for its flagship channel Canal+, thematic siblings Planete+ and Planete+ Crime, as well as projects with new voices for younger audiences.

The exec said Canal+ documentaries were true stories that should create emotion and offer exclusive access, and offer drama-driven storytelling as a fundamental ingredient guiding all its channels. She also emphasised Canal+ is a creative partner and not a “bank” for producers.

The launch of Canal+ Docs has also led to a revamp at Planéte+ this year, with the channel now more focused on specialist history subjects.

The group’s digital platform, My Canal, was also highlighted as a destination for documentaries and new digital shortform projects, especially for younger viewers. The platform now brigns in around two million viewers per month and offers subscribers more than 1,600 docs.