The French Connection: ‘John Wick 4,’ ‘Murder Mystery,’ ‘Emily in Paris’ Facilitator Raphael Benoliel Is Hollywood’s Man in France
variety.comBen Croll For the past two decades, Raphael Benoliel has been Hollywood’s man in France. With more than 40 projects under his belt, the Nice-born Benoliel has turned his Firstep production banner into a kind of one-stop-shop for international shoots, amassing line producer credits on projects as varied as “Les Miserables,” “Stillwater” and “The Marvelous Mrs.
Maisel.”And if last year might have been Firstep’s busiest year to date following back-to-back shoots of “Emily in Paris,” “John Wick: Chapter 4” and David Fincher’s “The Killer,” this year shows no signs of letting up, which makes the circumstances of Firstep’s founding all the more ironic.“[Firstep co-founder] Dimitri Veret and I started the company with other goals in mind,” Benoliel tells Variety. “I was receiving [employment insurance] and didn’t necessarily need the money to get by, so we launched Firstep, using the benefits to finance our shorts.” Opportunity knocked when Benoliel – who was working as a production coordinator for international ad shoots at the time – caught wind of an upcoming project scouting locations across the country.“Neil Jordan came scouting for [2002’s ‘The Good Thief,’] his remake of “Bob Le Flambeur,”’ Benoliel continues. “He was hesitating between shooting in the South of France and in Deauville.
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