Meet Luca Fontaine | Actor, Producer, Writer, Dialect Coach

We had the good fortune of connecting with Luca Fontaine and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Luca, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
To keep trying. Again and again and again. If the door closes, you get in from the window. I am also someone really open minded and curious. I am curious about people, watching them, listening to them, asking them questions, seeing them and letting yourself be seen. I mean like one of my Juilliard teachers beautifully said, where in the “letting people see us business”.

So I graduated from Juilliard in New York city in 2022. I was the first french and italian in history to graduate from this highly competitive program. After graduating from school I was cast in a production at LaMama (NYC) making it my Off Broadway debut. Subsequently I worked on various TV production both in the US and Europe for CBS studios, Paramount + and Netflix. The fact that I speak 4 languages (French, Italian, Spanish and English) allowed me to get more job opportunities and work in various countries. Besides that I have worked both on Broadway and for major films and TV shows as a dialect coach like Severance on Apple TV, Disney TV, Moulin Rouge/Camelot/Betrayal/Burn This etc. on Broadway.

In addition to my acting career, I started my own film production company, MOVART. We have MOVART creative which focuses on commercial, branding, Virtual production and MOVART Studios which is focusing on Film, TV and Documentaries. We worked with brands like Vayyu, Celis Beer and are partering with Prismax working with Alicia Keys/Formula 1/Tomorrowland etc.
On the Studios side, we are an award winning studios and have already produced 3 films, one that I wrote and acted in in addition of producing it called ‘Blue or Green’ directed by Mathery and featuring myself and Marcia DeBonis. We have other projects in the works like a new fiction series and documentary series in addition of a feature film. We aim to tell compelling stories and raise questions which has always been my main focus with what I do.

The important thing for me and what is essential to my success is to always be active. But it needs to be driven and purposeful. Like Denzel says “Never confuse movement with progress. Because you can run in place and not get anywhere.”

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
The year I got accepted into Juilliard about 2000 people had auditioned but only 18 of us got in which makes it an acceptance rate of about 0.9%. Being international and coming from where I’m from made it even harder. Obviously when you look at numbers you might think that there’s not chance to even succeed at such a thing. Nevertheless one thing I’ve learnt is to dream big and set out the biggest goals to follow. A lot of people will try to discourage you but you need that unlimited belief in yourself and that part of craziness to keep going. Nothing was ever given to me and I had no relationships in th business. I failed many times to be able to succeed. After pushing here I am today living in New York, having graduated from Juilliard and having worked on Broadway/TV/Film as an actor, dialect coach and producer/director.

Because of my sport mentality I take everything as a challenge to overcome. You get hit and get back up. That’s the beauty of it, never letting something go but coming in from the window if the door closes. It’s a game of resilience. That is the reason why I was able to also start my own production company. Now MOVART, is an award winning company and we have collaborated with big brands and names in the industry. We are building a name for ourselves and a “brand”. It takes so much time to do so that you have to choose carefully all your collaborators and stories you want to tell and have attached to your name.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would go catch up some basketball games or other sporting events. I would also discover nature and probably drive around the coast. Catching up some good music bars wouldn’t also be a bad idea. I would bring my friend to the oscar museum and learn about the vibrancy and history of this city and most popular art form. There is so much to get from this place! I’d jump in the ocean for some surfing!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I want to recognize the Juilliard School and the whole faculty and people I met them for giving tools that I’ll be using for the rest of my life. I came to Juilliard thinking that I would learn a “Juilliard technique” for acting but thankfully such a thing doesn’t exist. Like one of my teachers said “we are in the letting see yourself business”. Allowing to be seen to see the other person in front of you and react instead of act. Being present and “taking the time you need”. I was lucky upon graduation to have my Off Broadway debut at one of the most respected and historical NY Theater – LaMama. It was a piece directed by Martha Clarke that we then took on an international tour for the international theater festival in Umbria. Outside of that I was able to work on various tv shows for Paramount +, CBS studios, Apple TV, Disney plus and Netflix. Because of the 4 languages I speak (French/Italian/English/Spanish) I have been lucky to work as much in Europe as I have in north/central America. It has been a blessing to observe and take part in different ways of working. Curiousness is key in our work and staying open to learn at any time is also necessary.
As I graduated I manage to get the The Juilliard Career Advancement Fellowship which is given to a select group of graduates (15 each year out of the whole graduating school) “with an established track record demonstrating artistic merit, leadership, breadth of engagement, innovation, and an entrepreneurial mindset among other key characteristics. Funds will provide a critical jump-start to their careers, providing resources for professional development as well as general living expenses.”
This fellowship has allowed to pursue my artistic endeavors outside of acting too in addition of getting my Artistic O1 visa to work as an actor, producer in the USA. Thanks to this fellowship I started my own film production company with 2 other people called MOVART (www.movart.tv). We are now an award winning company. We already produced 3 films, one of them that I wrote called ‘Blue or Green’ where I was the lead in with Marcia DeBonis and which was directed by the brilliant duo Mathery. We worked with an award winning team in NYC. This is part of MOVART Studios where we focus on Film, TV and documentaries. We also have a second branch, MOVART Creative, where we focus on commercial, branding and virtual production. We have worked with high fashion brands, world renown beer brands etc. We are also partnering with Prismax which is one of the leading companies in Virtual Production and working with Alicia Keys, Formula 1, Tomorrowland etc.

I believe it important to keep expanding and always be open to all form of art, people, traveling etc. Curiousness is key and everything you do should be directed towards your goal.

Website: www.movart.tv

Instagram: @lucafontaine

Other: www.lucafontaine.com

Image Credits
T Charles Erikson Donatella Basso Thomas Brunot