Doc heads change in France

At press time, several sources familiar with the doc departments within the France Télévisions public TV group were able to confirm the major changes underway at France 2, France 3 and France 5 ahead of the official announcement.

All three documentary unit heads will change, and in some cases, so too will their mandates. Though voting for the nominations was scheduled to take place on September 29 for France 5, September 30 for France 2 and October 5 for France 3, Yves Jeanneau spoke to RealScreen earlier to confirm that he will no longer hold his post as head of documentaries for France 2, and that he will not be taking another position within France Télévisions.

"My first step will be to head up Sunnyside of the Doc," announced Jeanneau, who denied rumors that he was offered a position as deputy head of programs at digi channel France 4. "I will be involved in its management, the direction and in its development. After that I will take some holidays and consider several propositions. After four years, I really need a rest." Whether he ends up with a broadcaster or an indie, Jeanneau said he intends to stay involved with factual production. "I will stay within the documentary genre. I don't know exactly where or how, but I will."

Jeanneau will be succeeded at France 2 by Patricia Boutinard Rouelle, who, in taking the post, vacates her seat as head of docs at France 3. Muriel Rose will fill that position at France 3, thereby leaving the head of docs post open at France 5.

Unlike Jeanneau, Boutinard Rouelle is expected to also head up France 2's magazine department. "Her goals are to strengthen documentaries at France 2, which is the biggest of the channels," said a source within France Télévisions. "By being head of all factual programs, she can do that. She negotiated a bigger budget for docs and factual, so she's changing the way docs have been done at France 2." As part of this change, it's expected that Boutinard Rouelle will bring to France 2 the slots and funding she had for big factual events at France 3.

This executive shuffle follows the election of Patrick de Carolis as president of France Télévisions. He succeeded Marc Tessier on August 22 and immediately installed new channel heads at France 2, 3 and 5. De Carolis declined to comment on the changes within the documentary units since they weren't yet official.