'Call My Agent' cast laughing after International Emmys Comedy Series win

French series 'Call My Agent' won best comedy at the International Emmy Awards in New York. Originally shown on the streaming platform Netflix, it has been signed for 20 remakes around the world.

The crew of the French Netflix hit comedy "Call my agent" celebrate their win at the 49th International Emmy Awards in New York on 22 November 2021. Kena Betancur AFP

The writers and producers were in New York for the awards on Monday, which are given to the best television shows produced outside of the United States.

Launched in France in 2015 under the title Ten Percent, (Dix pour cent in French) the show has become an international hit as Call My Agent, charting the ups and downs of the lives of actors and their agents in Paris.

The International Emmy for best comedy was awarded to the fourth season of the show, which began as an idea by former agent Dominique Besnehard.

Camille Cottin, Thibault de Montalembert, Grégory Montel are a few of the main French actors involved.

The 'Call My Agent' television series helped launch French actress Camille Cottin internationally. Valery HACHE AFP

The show's particularity lies in that each episode features a "real" celebrity playing their own part, adding a good dose of humour and self-mockery.

Actresses Nathalie Baye, Juliette Binoche, Isabelle Adjani and Sigourney Weaver have been among the guest stars.

On the red carpet in New York, producer Michel Feller said: "The Netflix broadcast of the four seasons has allowed us, with a production that we could say is local, to be seen in more than 200 territories.

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"Today there are almost 20 remakes that have either been signed, are in production or have been filmed."

Besnehard told  French news agency AFP that the success of the series was due to a "French touch", with what he describes as "the France of tragic-comedy," made popular in the United States by cinema directors such as François Truffaut or Michel Deville.

Actor Grégory Montel agrees. "Ten Percent is France, it's Paris, and this way of life inspires people, and this is a positive thing," he told France Info. 

"We also realised that trying to save a small business in trouble was actually very universal. The fact that there were celebrities involved appealed to people," Montel said, adding he is looking forward to the next step.

Besnehard has confirmed that a fifth season is in the works, to be presented initially as a feature length film.