Experiencing Interruptions?

Abigaëlle and the Dating Coach

Abigaëlle and the Dating Coach is a fantastical love affair. The heroine, Abigaëlle Michaud, is a young, 32-year- old optometrist who is brilliant and attractive and leaves nothing to chance. Like an actuary in search of the rare find, she analyses, calculates and assesses men to find the perfect equation. Constant overanalysis leads her to reject dates one after another for flimsy reasons such as hard lips, receding hairline and bed bugs, masking a much deeper emotional wound: the death of her father. She cannot imagine losing another man in her life. Unbeknownst to her, her sisters and mother decide to invest in her romantic future. They register Abigaëlle in a date coaching workshop. Initially put off by the idea, Abby finally opens up to the coach and agrees to revisit her grief in order to save her budding but intoxicating love affair with her patient, Guillaume Turmel.

  • Jessica L’Heureux
    Director
  • Stéphanie Bourgault-Dallaire
    Writer
  • Corey Loranger
    Producer
  • Marie-Claire Marcotte
    Key Cast
    "Abigaëlle Michaud"
  • Vincent Leblanc-Beaudoin
    Key Cast
    "Guillaume Turmel"
  • Sabrina Auclair
    Key Cast
    "Candide"
  • Jean Stéphane Roy
    Key Cast
    "Éric Tremblay"
  • Lyne Barnabé
    Key Cast
    "Louise"
  • Josée Thibeault
    Key Cast
    "Natalie"
  • Thérèse Champagne
    Key Cast
    "Paule"
  • Giselle Lemire
    Key Cast
    "Mémère"
  • Corey Loranger
    Key Cast
    "Jean-François"
  • Paula Humby
    Key Cast
    "Gabrielle"
  • Zak Tardif
    Key Cast
    "Martin :"
  • Benoit Pellerin
    Director of Photography
  • Nicolas Gagnon
    Editor
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Abigaëlle Et Le Date Coaching
  • Project Type:
    Web / New Media
  • Runtime:
    40 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    October 31, 2017
  • Production Budget:
    125,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Canada
  • Country of Filming:
    Canada
  • Language:
    French
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    1.85.1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Jessica L’Heureux

Jessica cofounded Les Productions Far West Inc. with Corey Loranger and Benoit Pellerin in May 2015. This project was born of her passion for storytelling and production. She directed and produced Sel et Diesel which was broadcast on UNIS TV in fall 2017. The second season will be broadcast in fall 2018. The program explores the food truck scene in Canada and the U.S. She also directed and produced the first French- language fiction web series in Alberta: Abigaëlle et le date coaching. She and her team obtained funding from Téléfilm Canada. She also obtained financial support from the very competitive Fonds TV5. She has worked as a journalist and producer at CBC/Radio- Canada for over 12 years. She produced several public affairs stories and information broadcasts for radio as well as television. She also travelled to Nicaragua to produce reports on the development of humanitarian projects that were nominated for Alberta Film & Television Awards (AMPIA).

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Director Statement

Dating is sometimes as unpalatable as fast food: just think of Ashley Madison, a online dating service for married people, or Tinder, where an applicant’s fate rests in a single swipe of the index. In this time of relationship cynicism and dating overconsumption, I tried to hearten amateur web series spectators. I am convinced that these spectators are in dire need of love and romanticism, which is what I offer with the six-episode romantic web series Abigaëlle et le date coaching. This series proposes a foray into a touching, comical world where there is a real (as opposed to virtual) way to find a soulmate.

The action in Abigaëlle et le date coaching takes place in Alberta, which is quite uncommon in Franco-Canadian literature. I particularly appreciated reading this novel in which the action takes place somewhere other than la Belle Province. This is also what I highlighted in the production. I wanted to help the Francophone audience discover a new author as well as new horizons. We shot the series in Edmonton, a city where la francophonie is very much alive. Alberta is currently experiencing an impressive cultural buzz as attested by the path of author Stéphanie Bourgault Dallaire. The province is full of potential to build a story of implausible love. The web series presents the fragmentation of la francophonie in Canada. We reach out to francophone communities outside Québec, for whom it is important to be seen, heard and recognized in Canadian productions. The adventures of our Franco- Albertan heroine Abigaëlle Michaud move Canadian Francophones and make them proud of their history and the production. After all, love is a universal subject that is as inexhaustible as the ties that bind Francophones in the country.

With love, Jessica L’Heureux