Kaizen, from Inoxtag, is already coming to television

Less than a month after its exceptional release in cinemas, the film 1 year to climb Everest is scheduled for this Tuesday, October 8 on TF1.

On September 13, Basile Monnot and Inoxtag (Inès Benazzouz) were exceptionally released in theaters Kaizen – 1 year to climb Everestand achieved great success: 300,000 entries in two days. 311,710 spectators gathered precisely in front of 500 screens.

Right after, the film was uploaded to YouTube and generated over 300 million views. A huge score, which earned its creators the congratulations of the company's boss, Neal Mohan.

It will arrive this Tuesday evening on television, scheduled precisely at 11:30 p.m. on TF1. For a special 100% adventure evening, this broadcast following that of Koh Lantaat 9:10 p.m.

How Kaizen can it already be visible on the small screen less than a month after its cinema release, without breaking the media chronology? Explanations.

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Normally, a film shown in cinemas in France must then wait six months before being offered to Canal + or OCS subscribers, then between 15 and 17 for streaming programming on Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ or other, and finally almost two years, 22 months preciselyto be broadcast on television. Once on the small screen, unless there is an agreement between a platform and a free channel, films must be removed from streaming services until the 36th month.

Yes, but now, the ascent of the famous mountain by the French YouTuber has had the right to an extraordinary broadcast in the cinema via a partnership with MK2 and a temporary visa granted by the CNC. By being offered over only two days and being limited to 500 copies, it was able to escape the rule, becoming an exception. For the CNC, it remains considered as a film intended to be broadcast on YouTube, and not as “a cinema film”and its creators can therefore sign a broadcast agreement more quickly with a free television channel, in this case TF1.

This type of exceptional visa has, for example, been used in the past to organize theatrical screenings of Netflix films. As long as the platform offered them on the big screen for a limited time and few copies, nothing stopped them from streaming their productions.

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The case of Kaizen however, caused a lot of ink to flow in September, with independent distributors denouncing non-compliance with the conditions of the temporary visa.

“As of September 6, the video has already been announced in 458 establishments, for a total of nearly 925 scheduled sessions, with exposure well beyond regulatory limits, i.e. a maximum of 500 sessions over a period not exceeding two dayswrote the Bloc. We have only been able to note a constant increase in the number of sessions concerned, despite renewed alerts from several of our organizations since last Wednesday.”

A “massive multicast” which would harm arthouse cinema. The Bloc had asked the CNC to withdraw their visa before the planned broadcasts of Kaizen in the cinema, but it did not come to fruition.

Contacted by The French FilmNathanaël Karmitz, chairman of the board of the MK2 group, was pleased that Kaizen had been able to remain scheduled:

“That the Bloc, representing independents, directors and research cinema, are the first to be outraged and call for censorship of such a joyful operation for theaters and spectators is an ideological strangeness, which is a matter of a retrograde conservatism that is difficult to understand.

There is a lack of understanding within this organization of the precise context surrounding this release. Exceeding 500 screenings is not deliberate and is linked to a social phenomenon, which mainly served provincial arthouse cinemas, territories and young spectators far from large urban centers.

Following the Bloc's recommendation would, at this stage, involve canceling sessions. This would mean that the hundreds of thousands of spectators, young people aged 15 to 25 who have been waiting for this event for 10 days, would be told, in front of cinema ticket offices, that they will not be able to experience this session on the big screen. The message sent would be that cinema is against young people. We must know where to place the general interest, and we call on the responsibility of everyone.

Being outraged by the success of an indoor event bringing together a young audience, which was until then announced as a major concern, demonstrates a profound disconnection of these union organizations with the realities of our professions and their rapid changes. We will enjoy this evening with several hundred thousand spectators, and will respond in substance to this organization in due time.”

The success of Kaizen will it inspire other content creators in the future? Will it open up new exceptional visas for programming in YouTube production rooms? Its television broadcast scheduled for this evening in France in any case follows the same logic as in Belgium, where the film was offered on Tipik, a channel of the RTBF group, or as in Switzerland, where it is still visible in replay on the RTS 2 website.

Here, in parallel with TF1, the documentary remains available in full on the Inoxtag YouTube channel, with even half hour bonus. This weekend he shared 34 minutes of exclusive content under the title “1 year to become better”.

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