Marc du Pontavice

Early life Born on January 10, 1963, in the 15th arrondissement of Paris, Marc's parents never worked in French cinema and rarely took him to theaters; his grandmother was the one who took him to the legendary theater in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, La Pagode. When he turned seven, his parents agreed to show him a film they liked, Charlie Chaplin's City Lights. Every Sunday, he watched the program he never missed, Histoires sans paroles on ORTF. A calling to cinema came late to du Pontavice and almost by chance, after he had been rejected for the second time by the École nationale supérieure. In the adolescence, his schooling was a succession of failures when he was 16 and his family life was a terrible disaster. Du Pontavice studied at a Jesuit college near Bonn in Germany, chosen by his parents, where he spent the first two months in absolute silence, without conversation and surrounded by strangers. Calmed by the power of silence, he spent his days reading, mostly poetry and few novels. due to the sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of his mother, who violently beat him, locked him in the closet, and separated him from his siblings' games, since his parents' marriage was a failure because his mother was homosexual. The abuse ended when she left him and his father in 1986 to move to the USA. Du Pontavice would not meet his mother again upon her death 30 years later in 2016.

In 1993, encouraged by the success of the Highlander series, du Pontavice proposed adapting the series into an animated cartoon, co-produced by Gaumont Television in 1994. Convinced by the series delivered in just ten months, Gaumont's general director, Patrice Ledoux, proposed in March 1995 that du Pontavice form his own department, Gaumont Multimédia, to produce cartoons, video games, and internet content. He moved to Luc Besson's former studios in Paris in September 1995, which years later became the headquarters of Xilam.

However, due to Gaumont's need for funds to develop its Multiplex cinema network, the reorientation of its main business, cinema, and an inability to develop diversification businesses at Gaumont, On the same day as his replacement, du Pontavice announced the creation of an independent animation studio, which was introduced at MIPTV in May 1999. On August 5, 1999, he founded the animation studio Xilam, He held the position until 2015, when he was succeeded by Philippe Alessandri.

On February 3, 2020, along with 19 shareholders, he bought the longest-running film magazine in France, Cahiers du Cinéma, which resulted in the magazine's editorial team resigning collectively after the purchase. In the same year, he was invited by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to become a member of the academy.

On March 10, 2022, he released his autobiographical book, Destin animé, published by Slatkine et Compagnie, which tells the story of his life as a producer and the history of the Xilam studio. Development of the book began in mid-September 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the book's publisher offered du Pontavice the opportunity to tell his story in an autobiographical book.

Personal life Du Pontavice has been married to director and writer Alix de Maistre since June 23, 1989, with whom he had dated five years since 1984. They have two children, Lou and Ivan. Du Pontavice and de Maistre married in the former French commune of Saint-Martin-du-Mesnil-Oury in Calvados. The couple's relationship is very loving, as they form a united and fused couple, where de Maistre's love protects du Pontavice, also due to her support, both emotional and intellectual, which is one of the conditions for his balance. Without her, his choices would not always be the same. The birth of their children, Lou in 1992 and Ivan in 1995, brought rebirth to Marc, who faced sexual abuse from his mother in childhood. He has a good relationship with his two children, and also forms a strong bond with his eldest daughter. As for his youngest son, he sees him as a wonderful boy and sees himself reflected as in a mirror. On du Pontavice's 50th birthday in 2013, de Maistre made a moving speech, uttered an essential phrase which said all the strength of her gaze upon him: "Marc, you are not afraid."

He is a fan of recent animation such as Studio Ghibli's The Tale of the Princess Kaguya and The Wind Rises, and Disney's Wander Over Yonder, and also admires Brad Bird, Bluey and the comics of Joann Sfar, who worked alongside him on Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life, directed by Sfar himself.

Du Pontavice is fluent in English and German, the latter due to his time at boarding school near Bonn during his adolescence, whereas the first one was previously terrible for having chosen German as his first foreign language. In a column sent to Agence France-Presse in 2020, about one hundred representatives, including du Pontavice and the director of I Lost My Body, Jérémy Clapin, who make up the new general assembly of the Academy of Arts and Techniques of Cinema that holds the César ceremony, ruled out a collective resignation and denounced the lack of transparency following the presence of director Roman Polanski among the members. On the topic of artificial intelligence, du Pontavice said that AI will never reproduce any story or style and it shouldn't be viewed as a means to revolutionize the processes behind animation. Despite not seeing AI as a threat, he and Xilam try to focus on and go exactly where AI can't go and said AI is impossible to come up with animated content. Du Pontavice said that his film, Lucy Lost is a response to the fear of AI in animation, given that it is a feature film that is absolutely impossible to create using AI, both technically and artistically and that artificial intelligence is incapable of venturing into this territory.

Influences Du Pontavice was intrigued by Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Fatty Arbuckle, Tex Avery, Chuck Jones, but also Walt Disney's 1967 The Jungle Book, the Mandrake the Magician and Rahan comics and the paintings of Alexander Iakovlev.

De nouveau lundi Short film Kaena: The Prophecy

Go West! A Lucky Luke Adventure Sleeping Betty Short film 2009 For a Son Doctor Script collaboration 2010 Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life Police Officer Vian 1 2011 War of the Buttons 2013 Oggy and the Cockroaches: The Movie 2014 Far from Men 2015 Minions Special thanks 2017 Chateau Co-producer 2018 Close Enemies 2019 I Lost My Body

Meanwhile on Earth Prodigies 2025 La Vie de château - Mon enfance à Versailles Co-producer 2026 Lucy Lost Television Year Title Notes 1992–1995 Highlander: The Series Executive in charge of production, alongside Denis Leroyseasons 1–3 only 1994–1996 Highlander: The Animated Series 1996 Sky Dancers 1996–1997 Dragon Flyz 1997–2006 Space Goofs 1998–1999 The Magician 1998–2019 Oggy and the Cockroaches Freelance producer on season 2 2001–2003 The New Adventures of Lucky Luke 2001–2002 Cartouche: Prince of the Streets 2003–2004 Ratz 2005 Tupu 2006–2007 Shuriken School Co-produced with José Maria Castillejo Rintindumb 2008–2018 A Kind of Magic 2008–2009 Rahan 2009–2010 Mr. Baby Creator 2010–2016 The Daltons 2010–2024 Zig & Sharko 2011–2014 FloopaLoo, Where Are You? Creator 2013–2015 Hubert & Takako 2016–2017 Rolling with the Ronks! 2017–2019 Paprika 2018 If I Were an Animal... Creator 2019–2023 Mr. Magoo 2020 Moka's Fabulous Adventures! Coach Me If You Can 2021–present Lupin's Tales 2021–2024 Chip 'n' Dale: Park Life 2021–2023 Oggy Oggy 2021 Oggy and the Cockroaches: Next Generation 2021–2022 The Adventures of Bernie 2023 Karate Sheep Kaeloo Silly Sundays Special thanks 2024 Buddybot Theme song writer My Life in Versailles Co-producer 2025–present Piggy Builders 2026–present Submarine Jim The Doomies

Video games Year Title 1998 Les Visiteurs, le jeu The Fifth Element 2000 Stupid Invaders

Honours and awards Honours

Awards Year Association Category Nominee Result 2010 International Encounters of Heritage Cinema and Restored Films Henri-Langlois Award 2011 César Awards Best Film Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life Best First Film 2020 Academy Awards Academy Award for Best Animated Feature I Lost My Body César Awards Best Animated Film Animation Magazine Hall of Fame Game-Changer Award