Based in Montpellier since it was founded in 2017, this training center prepares students for all facets of the acting profession, bringing them into direct contact with professionals throughout their curriculum so they can build their own network.
An all-inclusive learning experience for the art of acting. Le Plateau is ready to serve! Created in 2017 in Montpellier, this center offers comprehensive, global actor training. With a focus on working in front of the camera, the three-year program enables students, selected by audition, to learn how to play roles through courses in acting, body expression, improvisation, English, diction, and more. But they also learn how to prepare themselves effectively for the expectations and demands of castings, and for the realities they will face after completing their training.
This is what makes Le Plateau unique: its teachers and lecturers are always working professionals, as is the case with Jean-Baptiste Durand, director of Chien de la Casse, who spoke at the school. In addition, students have classes once a week with a variety of industry representatives – directors, artistic agents, casting directors, and actors themselves – who come to explain what is expected when shooting a film.
The training program takes care of the rest. This is how Le Plateau came to launch the “Cérémonie des Renards,” a short-film competition featuring actors from Le Plateau and a jury comprised of people from the industry, so that students can get started right away with a proactive approach and build their network.
“Acting is a career based on relationships. We immediately connect our students with professionals in the field,” explains Armelle Esnault, who co-founded Le Plateau alongside Julien Izard.
Mentored by well-known actors such as Kad Merad, Olivia Cote, Fred Testot, and Pascal Demolon, Le Plateau already has three graduating classes to its credit, with 15 to 20 students per class. Many of these students have gone on to join the casts of local daily shows.
It would be fair to say that the film ecosystem in the Montpellier metropolitan area is particularly favorable. “Occitanie regional authorities and Montpellier Métropole in particular have made considerable strides in terms of audiovisual production, with a large number of film shoots now taking place here. This enables our students to get their first small roles quickly, while building up their acting skills and professional network, and thus getting off to a good start in their careers,” explains Armelle Esnault, who also decided to set up the La Famille artistic talent agency Julien Izard. “It was an obvious choice for us because we wanted to accompany our students for longer,” she concludes.