L’ÉLOI’s Lab Is a Space for Creative Experimentation

Above: still from 'The Cult' by LM Chabot

The production company L’ÉLOI has always written its own script, created its own opportunities. In business for 25 years, it represents some of the world’s most progressive image-makers with a roster of talent that currently stands at over 20 artists. Among the roster, specialism is in and generalism is out – a philosophy the company’s founder Éloi Beauchamp holds to be true to this day. 

Around 10 years ago, L’ÉLOI launched a new, internal programme of the company called Lab. As the name suggests, it was to be a place for experimentation, testing, and development. The aims were, and remain, twofold: to give artists the space to develop their practice and to use the resulting work to help attract bigger, international clients. 

“We saw this wonderful opportunity in Montreal to learn, to discover, to build talent, but it's a very small market. I knew that if we wanted to keep that tight artist-driven niche, we would need to expand, because we will not have enough business in Montreal,” says Éloi of the market conditions that inspired him to start the Lab. 

To get the attention of international creative directors, the ideas and their execution had to be big, exceptionally crafted, and arresting. “That’s how we started experimenting, putting a bit of money and resources, adding producers to the mix, and letting our directors play and experiment. We started with photography, creating purely original content, and used our PR capabilities to broadcast on different platforms, which quickly generated leads.”

Above: 'Pony' by LM Chabot

LM Chabot’s ‘Pony’ was one of the first to be made within the Lab, a playful and graphic photographic project that was picked up by multiple media outlets, earning 75 thousand views, and ultimately landed before the eyes of creatives at Ogilvy Shanghai. Ogilvy then invited L’ÉLOI to pitch for a campaign for Korean Air, which was a huge success. 

‘Club Palace’, a collaboration between Nik Mirus, Caravane, and Camille Boyer is one of Lab’s biggest projects to date and the company put somewhere in the region of $40,000 into its creation. The surreal film challenges viewers’ perception through geometric visuals, colour and light. The film was featured on NOWNESS, garnering millions of views and ultimately leading to a campaign for the SNCF through TBWA/Paris. Nik’s other Lab project, ‘Digital Architecture’, was an homage to the work of sculptor David Umemoto. By taking inspiration from the artist’s process and materials, Nik explored one of the artist’ pieces, transforming flat, inanimate 2D Plexiglas pieces into a dynamic 3D structure that grows, deconstructs, and becomes seemingly animated. 

Above: 'Digital Architecture' by Nik Mirus

Last year, the artistic duo Les Garçons used Lab to complete their experiential short film, ‘ASSIMULATION’. It was a labour of love that took a few years while the artists tested different techniques to bring their vision of a dystopian future to life. To do this, the artists used AI – the very technology the film critiques – to help complete the project, lending the film a metanarrative aspect. 

Above: 'ASSIMULATION' by Les Garçons

Éloi’s instinct on the value of experimentation and the Lab proved correct and the company put a system in place to allow more artists to test and develop their ideas outside of the limitations of commercial work. 

For the artists at L’ÉLOI, having the space – and crucially, the resources – to play, experiment, develop, and try out ideas, without the pressure of commercial outcomes, is an undeniable benefit. It’s a way to push themselves, to ask questions about their work, and to get to grips with new, emerging technologies and techniques. “We always stress that if you do a test and it doesn’t bring in any leads, it doesn’t matter,” Éloi affirms. “Sometimes with these tests people succeed and sometimes they fail, and that’s okay.”

Justine Chassé-Dumont, L'ÉLOI’s artist development and creative strategist, says that the Lab is like “a promise we’re making to our artists. It’s a way to say that we believe in their work, we believe in them, and we believe that their career can and should develop.” It’s a way to push the artists: “If we look at someone’s portfolio and think something is missing, we suggest they experiment in the Lab and see what kind of effect that has on their career,” Justine adds. 

Above: 'Micromondes' (teaser) by Audrey St-Laurent

The case for the success of Lab continues to be made. Its newest project, a short film ‘Micromondes’ by artist Audrey St-Laurent, will premiere at a Montreal film festival later this year, and it helped Audrey to secure multiple leads on commercial projects, plus a confirmed campaign for Cirque du Soleil. LM Chabot’s new Lab project – a short film titled ‘The Cult’ – is likewise ready to be unveiled soon. It explores culture’s collective obsession with beauty and the effects it can have when taken too far, echoing themes of last year’s hit film, ‘The Substance’. 

Above: 'The Cult' (teaser) by LM Chabot

With a decade of experiments under Lab’s belt, Éloi is now looking to the future – he wants to ensure that there is even more scope and opportunity for the artists at L’ÉLOI to expand their practice. “My wish is to find alternative ways to finance the programme, like grants and public financing, so we can continue to generate new ideas, help our artists grow, and attract even more international clients.” The Lab’s success is a testament to the idea that great, creative, conceptual work has a place in the commercial world but it’s only by giving artists the opportunities, space, and resources to further their practice, like Lab has, that the gap between the two worlds can be bridged.