Frédéric Tellier

French writer-director Frédéric Tellier established a reputation as a skilled and stylish storyteller for police and crime dramas on television, which led to his feature film debut with the true-crime thriller "L'Affaire SK1" in 2014. Tellier began experimenting with making movies as a high school student, directing short films on video while also balancing a busy career as a DJ at parties and events. In the early 1990s, he moved into features and television, working at first as a production manager on music videos and commercials before transitioning to director for corporate training videos. Tellier eventually became assistant director on commercials for such acclaimed filmmakers as Tarsem, Michael Lindsay-Hogg, and Barry Myers. In 1993, he directed his first short film, "L'enfermé," which also marked his debut with 35mm; five years later, he made his first widescreen short, "Le Dernier" ("The Fight," 1998). In the new millennium, Tellier moved up to director on numerous French advertisements for major clients like Toyota, Ford, Peugeot and Renault before writing and helming his first feature-length effort, a French TV movie called "Paul Sauvage" (RTL-TVi 2004), with Olivier Marchal and Daniel Duval as opposite sides of the law. Marchal returned the favor the same year by tapping Tellier to serve as his second unit director on the police drama "36th Precinct" (2004) with Gérard Depardieu and Daniel Auteuil. The success of these efforts led to more crime-oriented fare, including multiple episodes of the cop series "Un Flic" (FR2, 2007- ) and the made-for-TV movie "Obsession(s)" (FR2, 2009). In 2012, he served as writer and co-creator of the political thriller series "Les hommes de l'ombre" (FR2, 2012- ) Two years later, Tellier made his feature-length theatrical debut with "L'Affaire SK1" ("Serial Killer 1," 2014), a documentary-style procedural thriller based on the real-life crime spree conducted by Guy Georges (played by Adama Niane) from 1991 to 1997.