Expat Entrepreneurs: Jenny from L’Amour (or Less…)

In this series, I feature expats who started their own business abroad. From food to fashion, art to tourism — these women had the guts and confidence to pursue their passions and turn it into something bigger. Check out previous interviews here.

My latest interview is with Jenny, an actress and screenwriter from New York. Last year when she was granted her French artists’ visa, she threw a party to celebrate and I remember thinking at the time, What exactly does one do with an artist’s visa? Can you really make it as an artist here? 

Well, Jenny’s certainly trying, making good use of said visa to recently launch her big project, L’Amour (or Less): a series of short films based on actual dates between expatriates and the French. Their first video is on Kickstarter, where they have until May 16th to get the project funded and bring the series to life.

Watch their promo below, then read onto Jenny’s interview:

1. Tell us a little about yourself and your life before Paris.

I feel like I’ve already lived many incarnations. I’ll try for the short version. I decided I wanted to be an actress when I was ten, and I spent years studying and acting in New York. After some success in the New York scene, I moved to Los Angeles and began acting there, as well.

Unfortunately, after about a year, I slipped and fell and severely injured my knee. I had surgery, which I discovered later was very ineptly done. Over the next few years, I was slowly rendered immobile. I could barely walk, let alone act, and I eventually moved back to New York to try to decide what I would do and who I would be if I couldn’t be an actress.

I started writing, naturally enough, which led to screenwriting and that, more or less, brings me to where I am now.

2. Why did you move to Paris?

It was, as they say, par hasard. As I mentioned, the pain in my knee was so great that I eventually was unable to leave the house to walk to the corner store or take my dog around the block. I finally opted for surgery at the Hospital for Special Surgery, which I cannot recommend highly enough. That surgery, which was meant only to be exploratory, fixed the problem completely. I felt like I had been given a brand new life.

A few weeks later, I was meant to go to Prague to scout locations for a script I had written. At the last minute, my plans changed and I decided to spend a week in Paris. Almost as soon as I stepped off the plane, I knew I was where I needed to be. I had never written as much or as easily as I did on that vacation.

When I got home, I started the visa process and, less than five months later, I had moved.

3. What was the hardest part about moving to Paris?

Is it wrong to say the hardest part was the bureaucracy? I was ready to leave my old life; ready for new challenges, new experiences and the freedom to find out who I was away from all the pre-conceived notions I had of myself. I had lived so long in such a closed world, I was thirsting for change. It was hard to say goodbye to my friends and to my sisters, and harder still to my Mom, but I was ready.

These days, the things that wear me down and tire me out are seemingly simple bureaucratic things, like how impossible it is to get an apartment as a expat to how difficult they make it to open a bank account. It’s hard to fight, fight, fight for a visa. But once you have these things you feel enormously accomplished.

4. Where did the idea for L’Amour (or Less…) come from? How did the project get started?

I spent the last year writing screenplays. I wrote two full-length features and was feeling both very accomplished and very unsatisified. The problem with writing screenplays is that it can take years before anyone sees what you have “finished”. I wanted to do something more immediately gratifying, something I could quickly show the world. So, I had the idea to create a web series, but no idea what it would be about.

At the same time, in my personal life, I have been exploring the world of dating in a foreign culture. I’ve dated a bit, sometimes seriously, sometimes less so, and from time to time I would write about these dating stories on my blog, Jennyphoria.

I’m endlessly fascinated by the cultural differences between myself as an American and the French. I don’t think I knew how deeply ingrained my culture was until I tried to form these romantic connections.

I would talk a lot about this on my blog and with my friends, and I found that a lot of people had similar (or wildly different but relatable) experiences. One day, the lightbulb went off and I knew I had my idea: I would create re-enactments (slightly dramatized) of these true stories to explore what happens when expatriates and the French try to form romantic connections.

5. What was your biggest fear in doing this project, and how did you overcome that?

My biggest fear… there are so many. I was scared that my director, Helen Alexis Yonov, wouldn’t want to do this project. That she would think it was stupid or pedantic or small. I was afraid everybody would think that.

Once she was on board, we faced so many challenges one after the other that, if someone had told us about them ahead of time, we never would have started. They would have seemed insurmountable.

To start with, we had no money and no crew. Then we found crew. Amazing fantastic crew, who all worked for free. A week before shooting, we lost our insurance. And then we found new insurance. Then we were told we couldn’t shoot outside on location. And then we were told we could. Then we were told we could only use the restaurant we wanted to film in at night, while the place was open. And then we were told we could shoot all day. Then we found out, two days before shooting, that the equipment would cost double what we thought it would. Somehow, we scrambled and found the funds.

We were told, the day before shooting, that we would need 1000€ deposit for the equipment. Then we were told it would actually be 3000€. Per day. For an hour, we had cancelled the shoot. We had one day to go and no way to get those deposits. Through the grace of some wonderful people and very good friends, we finally got those deposits together. It was nerve-wracking.

There’s more, but I think you get the point. How did we get through? Moment by moment, piece by piece. Alexis and I leaned on each other, trusted the people around us and willed the whole thing into being.

6. What surprises, either positive or negative, have you encountered so far in being in the film industry in Paris?

I’m surprised at how eager people have been to jump on board. You hear stories about the French being rude or cold or standoffish, but the people on my team have bent over backwards to make this project happen. Of the twenty-five or so people who dedicated their time to launch this series, there are only three that I knew before we started. Two acted as Production Assistants for us and one was Alexis, the director, whom I had only met twice before I roped her into this project.

Greg Turbellier, our Director of Photography, has been incredibly selfless with his time. The timelapse you see in the video required us to get up early and stay up late in the freezing cold. Not only did he not complain, but he thanked me and Alexis for coming with him. Did I mention his talent? He’s ridiculously talented. Just look at how beautiful his shots are.

And he’s only one example. Renata Pepper started as our locations expert, but actually asked if she could become more involved in our project. She’s now our Unit Production Manager and essential to what we have accomplished. She’s tireless, dedicated, incredibly smart, the list goes on.

I could go on and on. Seriously, I could. I fancy myself a writer and I don’t think I have the vocabulary to fashion the gratitude I have towards the people involved. All were brilliant, driven, dedicated and worked for free. Completely for free. Simply because they loved the project.

I can’t think of a more positive experience than that.

7. What’s the best part about the business?

The best part about the business is the creation. It’s about having a picture in my head and being able to have it realized on film. It’s incredibly rewarding. It makes everything else worth it.

8. What’s the worst/hardest part about the business?

Again, the hardest part is the bureaucracy. I’m not French, for better or for worse, so I have to fight hard for funding, give more for equipment deposits, justify myself harder for our locations. There’s also the language barrier, which adds some pepper to the pot.

9. How has this improved or impacted your expat experience?

It’s been total enrichment. I was looking for something to anchor me here in Paris, some higher purpose for staying, and I feel like I’ve found that. I love, love, love being an expat. I get to be both outside and inside at the same time, and then I get to tell those stories. To me, that is heaven.

10. What advice would you give for future entrepreneurs in Paris or abroad?

Believe in yourself. Things will get hard, they always do, so you have to believe, in your core, that you have something worth sharing. Not everyone will love you. Not everyone will “get it”, but if you can share some part of yourself and create something that matters, that is worth fighting for.

Bonus question: Do you have a favorite behind-the-scenes story you can share?

Indeed I do. Our first day of shooting was on the Canal de l’Ourcq. We had a permit to shoot for six hours and a good chunk of the script to cover. I don’t know how much you know about filming, but shooting someone walking down a street can take that entire six hours and, and here’s the kicker, it’s very important that the sky look the same throughout that walk. Do you see where I’m going with this?

When we started filming, the sky was gray and cloudy, and then the sun came out. Shortly after, it started to rain. Then, the rain turned to hail. Yes, that’s right. Hail! We took a short break, and then came back to clear skies and a rainbow. Until it hailed again. Then, sun, rain, more hail and, finally, sunset.

Why is this a favorite story? Not only because it seems to signal the end of the world, but because the second time it started to hail Alexis and I turned to each other and burst out laughing. We grabbed each other and hugged. “Screw it!”, we said. “Let’s just shoot.”

That’s when I knew we would be okay. I knew that I would have to stay up all night writing a new script, which I did, and that most of the footage would likely be unusable, but I also knew that I had a partner that cared liked I cared, that loved the experience like I did, and that, ultimately, that would be what mattered.

Jennifer Fox Geraghty is a screenwriter from New York who moved to Paris with her sweet puppy Moxie to make some magic happen. She writes Jennyphoria, where she blogs about the expatriate experience and explores the hidden sides of Paris. Follow her on facebook and twitter; support her Kickstarter here.

All photos courtesy L’Amour (or Less…).