Photo credit : Dominic Gouin

Anik Jean

Writer | Composer | Director | Actress | Dreamer

From a very young age, Anik Jean has been drawn to performing. While attending a David Bowie concert with her mother when she was just 11 years old, Anik had an epiphany: she was going to be a famous singer-songwriter…She quickly learned how to play guitar and piano and embarked on an adventure that would take her from her native Gaspésie to Los Angeles before eventually returning to Montreal. In the spring of 2005, her first single, Je suis partie, cracked the Top 5 on the radio charts in Quebec, which laid the groundwork for the successful release of her debut album Le Trashy Saloon in August of that same year. The song was written by Anik’s mentor, Quebec rock legend, Jean Leloup, who also co-produced the album with David Strutton. Anik co-wrote the follow-up single, Junkie de toi, with Jean Leloup, and it quickly became her biggest radio hit. Anik was not meant to stand in her mentor’s shadow for long. Her talent, boldness and singular style were immediately recognized by her peers and celebrated in the media, which led to her opening for The Rolling Stones when they played a concert in Montreal in January 2006.

For her second album in 2008, Anik worked with Mark Plati, the producer for David Bowie, Alain Bashung, Louise Attaque and Les Rita Mitsouko. She was backed by top musicians, Earl Slick, Mike Garson, Sam Harrison, Jean-Sébastien Chouinard, Alec McElcheran, Julien Blais and Antoine Gratton. The resulting album did not disappoint: Le ciel saigne le martyre is, like the artist behind it, an intense rock record that decisively shows that smart can be sexy. The album showcases a newfound maturity and cements the scope of the singer’s talent. The first single, Oh mon chéri, shot up the charts and caused a sensation among her growing fans. In 2010, Anik Jean produced her third album herself, the self-titled, Anik Jean.  Recording in New York and Montréal, the singer-songwriter co-wrote some of the songs with her friend, Earl Slick, and finished the album with musical help from Gail Ann Dorsey and Sterling Campbell, two members of David Bowie’s group. The single, J’aurai tout essayé, a duet with Robert Smith of The Cure, stayed at the top of the charts for nearly a year. The album was later nominated for “Best Pop Album” at the ADISQ awards. 2013 was a busy year for Anik: she composed the music for her celebrated husband, Patrick Huard’s, new stand-up show; she made her on-screen debut in the film Filière 13 (File 13), and she became designer Marie Saint-Pierre’s muse. Also in 2013, she was inspired by her brother’s struggles with schizophrenia to write her fourth album, Schizophrène. Recorded entirely in her home studio, the abstract and highly personal album was dedicated to her brother, who passed away that same year.

In 2015, Anik went back to basics for her first English-language album, Lost Soul. The singer who, over the previous decade had served up a steady stream of rock hits, now surprised her fans with an album of ballads. Her sound, however, remained reliably intense and the music became the soundtrack to a feature film of the same name which went on to be showcased at the two most prestigious film festivals in Quebec. In 2016, Anik was asked to score her first film, the Canadian box office hit, Bon Cop Bad Cop 2. Her brilliant soundtrack won the SOCAN PRIZE for best film score in 2019. In 2021, in parallel with the release of her second children’s book Nathan at the bottom of the ocean, she is working on the original music for Escouade 99 (an adaptation of the Brooklyn Nine-Nine series) and the release of her new and highly anticipated sixth album Love in Silence.

Working on her music videos with directors Robin Aubert and Francis Leclerc, Anik was exposed to filmmaking, and she was immediately hooked. It all came together for her when she co-directed her feature, Lost Soul in 2015-2016. With her second short film, La Porte screening opening night at Québec Cinéma 2019 and being selected for the St.John’s International Women’s Film Festival, her most recent work, Sois Sage, being presented at the Fantasia International Film Festival, and several of her film scripts in development, notably the writing of Lazy Bogan House, Anik Jean has carved out a unique place for herself in cinéma.

Anik will be presenting her first feature film Les hommes de ma mère in 2023.

 

Filmography

Images from Anik (Demo reel)

2019

Les hommes de ma mère

2023

Feature film
Director | Scénaristique Maryse Latendresse
Production Jessie Film II
*Screenwriting assistance funding from SODEC (fiction)

La Maison Lazy Bogan

In writing

Feature film
Director & screenwriter
Production Jessie Films II

Sois sage

2019

Short film | 14 min
Director, screenwriter, actress & composer
Production Nathan Films | Distribution Welcome Aboard

Awards

FESTIVALS
Rendez-Vous Québec Cinéma - 2020
International Short-Film Festival on Youth - 2020
NOX Film Fest- Official selection, 2021
CRASH - International Fantastic Film Festival - 2020
Festival du film court d'Armagnac - 2020
Los Angeles short film fest - 2020
Vancouver Horror Show Film Festival -2020
St. John's International women's film festival - 2020
Festival de film de la Montérégie - 2020
Fantasia film festival – Official selection and presented as a world premiere - 2019
Blood in the Snow Film Festival – Official selection, Toronto – 2019

La porte

2019

Short film | 15 min
Director, screenwriter & composer
Production Nathan Films | Distribution Welcome Aboard

Awards

FESTIVALS
Cinema on the bayou, USA – 2020
Festival du cinéma international en Abitibi-Témiscamingue – Official selection, Rouyn-Noranda, 2019
FICSAM International Mental Health Film Festival, Portugal, 2019
St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival – Official selection, 2019
Rendez-Vous Québec Cinéma – Presented at the opening night, 2019

Lost Soul

2016

Shot film | 65 min
Projection-concert concept film, unique cinematographic object
Screenwriting, original score, lead actress & co-director with Jean-François Bergeron (cinematography and film editor)

Awards

FESTIVALS
Abitibi-Témiscamingue tour, october 2018
Outremont Theatre– Montréal, 2018
Abitibi-Témiscamingue tour, october 2018
Presented at the Abitibi-Témiscamingue International Film, 2017
34th Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois 2016– Opening film

Music Albums

Love in Silence

22 October 2021

Writer and composer
Production Nathan Records | Distribution Believe

Bon Cop Bad Cop 2

2016

Directed and produces by Anik Jean
Production Nathan Records | Distribution Universal

Awards

*SOCAN Film Music Award, 2019 – For the first time in 30 years, the prize is awarded to a woman

Lost Soul

2015

Original album concept, soundtrack presented in projection-concert of the film of the same name.

Schizophrène

2013

Album dedicated to her brother, recorded in her personal studio.

Anik Jean

2010

The single « J’aurai tout essayé » duet with Robert Smith (The Cure) is standing at the top of the charts for almost a year. Cover of « Wild is the Wind » (Nina Simone, also performed by David Bowie), duet with Pierre Flyn « Si tu voulais » and an acoustic version of « Je sais »

Awards

Gala de l’ADISQ 2010 : Nominated, Best pop album

Le ciel saigne le martyre

2008

Number 1 on the radio for two weeks with « Oh mon chéri »

Awards

Gala de l’ADISQ 2008 : Nominated, Best rock album | Nominated, Best song « Oh mon chéri » | Nominated, Best pop album

Trashy Saloon

2005

Number 1 on the radio for two weeks with « Junkie de toi »
Cover of « Je suis partie » by Jean Leloup

Awards

Juno Awards 2005 : Nominated, Francophone Album of the Year (Le Trashy Saloon)
Nominated, Grand Prix de la relève Archambault 2005
Nominated, Artiste Sacré Talent ! 2005
MuchMusic Video Awards 2006 : Nominated, Best French Video (Tendre sorcière)
Gala de l’ADISQ 2006 : Nominated, Best new artist of the year

Escouade 99 Season 2

TBR in April 2022

Original score for the adaptation of american TV series Brooklyn Nine Nine

La Tour

2020

Musical theme composition for the show La Tour
TVA | TVA +

Escouade 99

2020

Original score for the adaptation of american TV series Brooklyn Nine Nine

Sois sage

2019

Original score

La porte

2019

Original score

Bon Cop Bad Cop 2

2016

Original score, movie soundtrack

Awards

Film Music Award – SOCAN, 2019

Original score for Patrick Huard’s show : Le Bonheur

2013

Original score for the "Ford Fusion" advertising campaign

2012

Traitement Choc

2011

Musical theme composition for the web series

Nathan at the bottom of the ocean

October 2021

Children’s book
Édition EDITO

Nathan in the land of pirates

2020

Children’s book
Cowriter with François Thisdale
Édition EDITO

Magnum 66

2009

Comic book in collaboration with Zilon
Developer and author
Édition Intouchables

Sois sage

2019

Secondary role

Lost soul

2016

Lead role

Unité 9

2016

TV, Secondary role

Filière 13

2010

Secondary role

Opening of the Rolling Stones concert

2006

Featured on one song on the album: Elles chantent Cabrel

2012

Featured on one song on the album: Roll Play 2

2008

Featured on one song on the album: War Child présente – Héros

2008

Collaborator at La Tour ( with Patrick Huard) on TVA

2021

Spokesperson for the Guignolée des Médias

2020