Creators of the Edith Piaf AI-Generated Biopic Speak Out: ‘We Don’t Want Her to Look Cartoonish’ (EXCLUSIVE)
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After being convincingly portrayed by Marion Cotillard in the 2007 film “La Vie en Rose,” legendary French singer Edith Piaf will come to life in an animated biopic “Edith” that looks to break new ground by using AI to recreate her voice and image.
When Warner Music, which is producing the feature-length movie with Paris-based company Seriously Happy, broke news of the project last week, it stirred an avalanche of reactions — many of them skeptical — across social media. To clear up some concerns and shed light on the decisions behind the creative endeavor, Variety spoke to Julie Veille, who came up with the original idea, and Gilles Marliac who are co-producing through their banner Seriously Happy and co-wrote the script. Endorsed by Piaf’s estate, “Edith” will take place between Paris and New York from the 1920s to the ’60s.
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“Edith” will weave together archival footage and animation. Is it an animated documentary?
Gilles Marliac: No, we’ll have archival footage but it’s not a documentary, it’s an animated biopic.
Julie Veille: There have been animated biopics before but I don’t think there’s ever been one of a big star like Edith Piaf.
How are you going to use artificial intelligence in “Edith”?
JV: We’ll use it in two different ways. First, we’ll use it to reproduce Edith Piaf’s voice. We did many tests. We started developing this project two years ago and it’s been a very intense process because we wanted to test many things and we wanted to make sure it was going to work. So first we tested the voice reproduction, which was very complicated. Edith Piaf’s voice is so recognizable, with its intonations and strong emotions. We also wanted the animation to be completely realistic, which was also a desire shared by the Edith Piaf estate, so we worked with a deep learning tool (commonly known as deep fake) and applied it to the drawings in order to make the animated face look even more real.
What studio did you work with during the development of “Piaf”?
GM: We worked very closely with Mac Guff Line (“Despicable Me”) on all the technological aspects. They have been using their own in-house AI tools on “Edith” and delivered the proof of concept. It’s the first time deep fakes are being used in animation so it’s brand new and as with anything new, you have to be very cautious, step by step, and make lots of tests.
Are you also going to use deep fakes for the archival footage?
JV: On the archival footage, we’ll do something (with deep learning) but we can’t say what exactly. We’ll never alter it in a way that distorts reality but we’ll customize it with technological tools, because the quality isn’t always good on archival footage and we want it to look harmonious with the rest of the animated feature, which will be modern.
What style will the animation be?
JV: It’s 3D animation. From the start, our wish and the wish of Edith Piaf estate was for us to be as realistic as possible in our depiction of Edith. When we started this journey, we didn’t have much experience in animation and we thought everything was possible. But we quickly realized that it’s complicated to create something that looks realistic in animation. Pixar and Disney have created iconic films and countless references for us all, but we’ve had to take a different route because we wanted to create something that looked very, very realistic, rather than reinventing the legend of Edith Piaf. Because Piaf showed so many emotions when she spoke and sung, we didn’t want her to look cartoonish.
So Edith Piaf’s estate wasn’t worried about the use of AI?
JV: Not at all, at the contrary, they were reassured. They didn’t want Edith Piaf to look cartoonish either.
What was it like meeting with her relatives?
GM: It was very moving for us to meet them. They’re the sisters-in-law of Edith Piaf and they care so much about her legacy and care about staying faithful to the truth of who Edith Piaf was.
JV: One sister-in-law is in the U.S. and the other in France. At first they didn’t like the idea of making it with animation. But when we started talking to them about the project, they embraced it, and we’ve worked with them hand-in-hand on every step of development. We showed them every drawing of Edith Piaf until we were certain that they liked it and that we were on the same page. It was a similar process with reproducing the voice. It was so moving for us and for them to listen to Edith Piaf’s voice being reproduced so authentically.
Do you recall when “Polar Express” with Tom Hanks was shot entirely using motion capture, to give it an ultra-realistic look? Some viewers thought it looked weird.
GM: Motion capture is very different from deep fake. With motion capture, you take an existing actor and you use the body measurements and facial traits to reproduce their image. But here, with deep fakes, we’re using the image of someone who’s no longer there.
JV: Deep fakes have been used in live action fiction before. And I tested it with my documentary about Diana Ross.
Why did you decide to make the film animated rather than live action?
JV: We thought making it an animation feature would give the film a poetic edge. Edith Piaf was a poetic character. And doing the film in animation gave us more freedom to dive into her world, explore her songs.
What aspects of Edith Piaf’s life interest you the most?
JV: I became interested in Edith Piaf by chance after reading a book, “Le Dernier Amour d’Edith Piaf,” that touched me and overwhelmed me because I discovered someone I didn’t know at all. I discovered her resilience, strength, modernity, how she didn’t care about what others thought of her. She was a model of female empowerment. That’s what I wanted the film to show — who she was as a woman and an artist, and hopefully to reach younger generations who may not be familiar with her. The use of this new technology will hopefully allow the film to attract these younger audiences.
Are you going to tell her whole life in the film?
Yes, it’s a biopic so we’ll start with her childhood, from a very young age and it will span her entire life, after she marries Theo Lamboukas. We may not go until her very last day but we will explore the last chapter of her life which was filled with happiness.
What about the music rights? Have you obtained all the rights from Warner Music?
JV: Yes, Warner Music Group is producing the film with us and we’ll have Edith Piaf’s songs in the film, and it will be Edith Piaf’s original voice singing these songs.
Will the film be in French and English?
JV: It will begin in French and end in English. It will be mainly in French but with English dialogue.
That opens up a lot of possibilities in terms of the voice cast.
GM: Yes, apart from Edith Piaf the other characters will be voiced by real actors. So the AI isn’t stealing anyone’s job.
Would you say it’s a global project, rather than a French one?
JV: Yes, it’s definitely a global project. It’s Warner Music Group producing in the U.S. with us, and the project will probably be sold there. But the execution will be done by teams in France and in the U.S.
Are looking for a French or an American filmmaker?
JV: It depends. The most important thing is to find someone who loves Edith Piaf, who feels close to this character. It’s not a matter of nationality.
Do you think Marion Cotillard’s Oscar-winning performance helped Edith Piaf become more well-known in the U.S.?
JV: Yes, Edith Piaf is huge in the U.S. The highest number of Edith Piaf songs being streamed comes from the U.S. with tens of thousands of streams and covers. Then you have France, the U.K. and Mexico. The famous cover of “La Vie en Rose” by Lady Gaga in a “Star in Born” is one of many!
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