''Louis 19, King of the Airwaves'' (french: Louis 19, le roi des ondes) is a Canadian comedy film, released in April 1994. The film stars

Martin Drainville Martin Drainville (born August 21, 1964) is a Canadian film and television actor and comedian from Quebec. He is best known for his role in the film '' Louis 19, le roi des ondes'', for which he received a Genie Award nomination for Best Actor at ...

as Louis Jobin, a television fanatic who wins a contest to be on television. Unbeknownst to him, however, his prize is to become a

reality show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

: he is followed around by a cameraman 24 hours a day for three months, and when his life doesn't make for compelling viewing, the show's producers decide to manipulate his life to make the show more exciting. The film was directed by

Michel Poulette Michel Poulette is a Canadian film and television director, writer and producer. He won the Claude Jutra Award in 1994 for his first feature film, ''Louis 19, King of the Airwaves (Louis 19, le roi des ondes)'', which became the first American re ...

, and written by Poulette, Sylvie Bouchard, Michel Michaud and

Émile Gaudreault Émile Gaudreault, ( born March 6, 1964) is a Quebec director, author, screenwriter and producer. Since 1994, he has been directing, writing and producing feature films as well as episodes for television series. Several of his films have won awar ...

. It won the Golden Reel Award as the year's top-grossing film in Canada.

Cast

: Louis Jobin * Zenhu Han : Sam Ying * Chantal Fontaine : la reporter *

Gilbert Lachance Gilbert may refer to: People and fictional characters * Gilbert (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Gilbert (surname), including a list of people Places Australia * Gilbert River (Queensland) * Gilbert River (South ...

: Remi *

Jean L'Italien Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Jea ...

: Roger *

Dominique Michel Dominique Michel, OC, CQ (born ''Aimée Sylvestre''; September 24, 1932 in Sorel-Tracy, Quebec) is a Quebec comedian, actress, singer and artist. Biography She began her career in cabarets performing songs written by Raymond Lévesque and sub ...

: Aline Jobin * Alexandra Boulianne : une chanteuse de la chorale *

Mireille Thibault Mireille () is a French given name, derived from the Provençal Occitan name ''Mirèio'' (or ''Mirèlha'' in the classical norm of Occitan, ). It could be related to the Occitan verb ''mirar'' "to look, to admire" or to the given names ''Miriam'' ...

: une chanteuse de la chorale * Sylvie Bouchard : une chanteuse de la chorale *

Yves Jacques Yves Jacques OC (born 10 May 1956) is a Canadian film, television and stage actor.Yves Jacques ...

: Michel Gobeil * Carol Jones : une gardienne de sécurité * Patricia Tulasne : Charlotte Dubreuil * Marcela Seguel : Marie-Laurence Despins *

Stephanie Laplante Stephanie is a female name that comes from the Greek name Στέφανος (Stephanos) meaning "crown". The male form is Stephen. Forms of Stephanie in other languages include the German "Stefanie", the Italian, Czech, Polish, and Russian "Ste ...

: scripte télé * Pierre Paquin : réalisateur télé *

Guillaume Lemay-Thivierge Guillaume Lemay-Thivierge (born February 28, 1976) is a Canadian actor and film producer best known for major roles in Quebec films ''Nitro'' and '' The 3 L'il Pigs (Les 3 p'tits cochons)'' in 2007. Profile After participating in a first commer ...

: le technicien de la régie *

Agathe de La Fontaine Agathe de La Fontaine (born 27 March 1972) is a French actress. Her film roles include '' Train de vie'' (1998), which shared the 1999 Sundance World Cinema Audience Award with ''Run Lola Run'', and ''Love in Paris'', the sequel to ''9½ Weeks'' ...

: Julie Leduc * Marie-Claude Robitaille: Guylaine *

Sonia Laplante Sonia, Sonja or Sonya, a name of Greek origin meaning wisdom, may refer to: People * Sonia (name), a feminine given name (lists people named, Sonia, Sonja and Sonya) :* Sonia (actress), Indian film actress in Malayalam and Tamil films :* Sonia ...

: Josée *

Benoît Brière Benoît Brière (born June 20, 1965) is a Canadian actor from Quebec.Patricia Belzil"Benoît Brière" ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'', October 23, 2008. He is most noted for his performance in the film '' Seducing Doctor Lewis (La Grande séduction)' ...

: Caméraman

Release

The film opened on 34 screens in Quebec on April 1, 1994.

Reception

The film grossed $194,732 in its opening weekend It went on to win the Golden Reel Award for the year's top-grossing film in Canada, even though it was only released in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, with a gross of C$1.8 million.

Awards

The film won the

Claude Jutra Award The John Dunning Best First Feature Award is a special Canadian film award, presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the year's best feature film by a first-time film director. Under the earlier names Claude Jutra Award and Ca ...

for the best feature film by a first-time Canadian film director. It was also a nominee for Best Motion Picture, but lost to ''

Exotica Exotica is a musical genre, named after the 1957 Martin Denny album of the same name that was popular during the 1950s to mid-1960s with Americans who came of age during World War II. The term was coined by Simon "Si" Waronker, Liberty Records ...

''.

Remake

The American film ''

EDtv ''EDtv'' is a 1999 American satirical comedy film directed by Ron Howard. An adaptation of the Quebecois film ''Louis 19, King of the Airwaves (Louis 19, le roi des ondes)'' (1994), it stars Matthew McConaughey, Jenna Elfman, Woody Harrelson, ...

'' was an adaptation of ''Louis 19''."EDtv a fun, fluffy Truman Show". ''

Montreal Gazette The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...

'', March 26, 1999.

References

External links

* {{John Dunning Award 1994 films Canadian comedy films Best First Feature Genie and Canadian Screen Award-winning films Canadian satirical films Films directed by Michel Poulette Films about television 1994 directorial debut films French-language Canadian films 1990s Canadian films