Meeting with Nicolas & Bruno: Welcome to the COGIP

As part of the “Funny Business” programme, dedicated to comedy in the workplace, the VIFFF is delighted to be showcasing the duo Nicolas & Bruno, alias Nicolas Charlet and Bruno Lavaine.

For nearly thirty years, the corporate world, with its codes, language and absurdities, has provided a wonderful playground for the two partners. It was in Message à caractère informatif, which premiered on Canal+ in 1998, that Nicolas & Bruno created COGIP, a fictional company whose business remains a mystery to this day. Using authentic institutional archive footage, for which they rewrite the dialogue and provide the voice-overs, they have developed a world where meetings, hierarchy and jargon form the basis of a brand of humour that is both precise and offbeat.

In 2006, they continued this exploration with Le Bureau, the French adaptation of the British series The Office, before moving into cinema with Me Two (La Personne aux deux personnes)(starring Daniel Auteuil, Alain Chabat and Marina Foïs), followed by The Big Bad Wolf (Le Grand Méchant Loup) and In Search of the Ultra-Sex (À la recherche de l’Ultra-Sex). They also co-wrote the adaptation of 99 Francs and produced an ‘original French version’ of What We Do in the Shadows.

A recurring theme throughout their filmography, COGIP takes on a different guise depending on the story, notably taking the form of a provincial SME in Alter Ego, their fourth feature film starring Laurent Lafitte and Blanche Gardin.