Biography
Director and screenwriter, Jean-François Rivard began in 1997 with a first noticed short film Kopps, winning the audience award and the jury prize at the Vidéaste Recherché competition. Six other short films followed including Soowitch, Kuproquo, and Noël Blank presented on Radio-Canada Television, the latter winning the 2004 Genie Award for Best Dramatic Short.
He is the co-writer (with François Létourneau) and director of two renowned TV series broadcast on Radio-Canada: Les Invincibles and Série Noire. The 3 seasons of Les Invincibles received a total of 24 nominations at the Prix Gémeaux, and won 7 Gémeaux awards, including "Best Series," "Best Writing," and "Best Direction." The series also received the Academy's special award for creation and innovation, and also won two Olivier awards.
The two seasons of Série Noire received 15 awards out of 29 nominations at the 2014 and 2016 Prix Gémeaux, including "Best Writing" and "Best Direction."
In 2021, he filmed the 2nd season of the series C'est comme ça que je t'aime. The first season was selected at the Berlinale Series of the 70th Berlinale and received 15 nominations at the Prix Gémeaux. He won the Gémeaux for Best Direction. The series won a Rockie Award at the Banff Media Festival for Excellence in Canadian Content in 2021.
C'est comme ça que je t'aime is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video as Happily Married in English. The series has received a lot of praise from The New York Times, which describes it as "sultry," "cheeky," "intriguing," and "terribly fun".
In 2023, he co-directed and wrote the series Bon matin Chuck, as well as being responsible for its content. Bon matin Chuck was selected for the 2023 edition of Cannes Séries and also for the 2024 edition of the Banff World Media Festival.
Since 2016, he has excelled in directing English-language TV movies The Sisterhood (nominated for "Best TV Movie" at the C21 International Drama Awards 2019), Mad Mom, Queen of Sin, Separated at Birth, and Fanatic. In addition, he has created several widely broadcast advertising messages, music videos, and video game captures.
