Laurent Tirard


Laurent Tirard is a French film director and screenwriter.

Life and career

Laurent Tirard grew up admiring American films, such as those by Steven Spielberg. He studied film making at New York University, worked as a script reader for Warner Bros. studios, then became a journalist and worked for the French film magazine Studio for six years.
There, he conducted a series of interviews on film making which have been published as a book under the title Moviemakers' Master Class: Private Lessons from the World's Foremost Directors. From Woody Allen to David Cronenberg, the Coen brothers to Lars Von Trier, all film directors run up against the same essential concerns: how to direct actors, for example, or whether to pre-plan camera angles. In interviewing these and 16 other notable filmmakers, Tirard found notable affinities between seemingly dissimilar directors. The book has also been published in France, Canada, England, Italy, Spain and Brazil.
In 1997, he left the magazine and began writing scripts for film and television, while directing two short films, in 1999 and 2000. He wrote and directed his first feature, The Story of My Life, in 2004, co-wrote the hugely successful Prête-moi ta main for Alain Chabat in 2005, then wrote and directed his second film, Molière, the following year. Molière was entered into the 29th Moscow International Film Festival.
He directed the film adaptation of the popular French children's book Le petit Nicolas: Little Nicholas in 2009 and its sequel Nicholas on Holiday in 2014.

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1999De source sûreWriter and directorShort film
2002Maternal LoveWriterTV movie
2002Fred et son orchestreWriterTV series
2002Ton Tour ViendraWriterTV series
2004The Story of My LifeDirector and writer
2004Mon Vrai PèreWriterTV movie
2004Le Plus Beau Jour de Ma VieWriter
2005Tête de gondoleDirectorsegments "La Pause", "À consommer froid de préférence"
2006I DoWriter
2007MolièreDirector and writer
2009Little NicholasDirector and writer
2010Sans laisser de tracesWriter
2011MikeWriter
2012Director and writer
2014Nicholas on HolidayDirector and writer
2016Up for LoveDirector and writer
2018Return of the HeroDirector and writer