History

HISTORY OF STARFIX

First Period : A cult magazine is born

Starfix is originally a film magazine created in the early 80s by Christophe Gans and Doug Headline. The magazine was dedicated to genre films, including sci-fi and horror movies, but also "auteur" films and independent, low-budget movies.The editorial statement of the magazine was written in its tagline: The magazine of adventure, fantasy and science fiction cinema and video.

The magazine was born under the impulse of the founders of the video distribution company Scherzo Video, which asked Christophe Gans to create the magazine in order to promote their own video releases. Christophe Gans, who had just graduated from Idhec (Institute of Advanced Film Studies) then put together the "dream team" and called Doug Headline, a former writer with the French Heavy Metal magazine, as well as Nicolas Boukhrief, Frederic Albert Levy (FAL) and François Cognard.

On January 20, 1983, Starfix published its first issue with its first cover featuring Dark Crystal. Subsequently many others would join the ranks as journalists, such as Helen Merrick, Christophe Lemaire, Matthias Sanderson (Gwennolé Laurent), Bernard Lehoux, Guilaine Chenu (now a journalist and host on French national Television), Nancy de Méritiens...

In the 80's, Starfix became a phenomenal success for its relevance in the eyes of the moviegoing youth of the time. Today, Starfix remains a"cult"magazine for an entire generation, because it represented a certain spirit, a certain outlook on genre cinema and popular movies. It was the media that defended the emergence of a new French cinema, breaking with previous generations, influenced by American and Asian cinema. They championed films which turned their backs to the conventions of the New Wave, developed a purely visual language, and relied on state of the art special effects as a tool for storytelling. The Starfix spirit also drew its inspiration from other media such as advertising, video, comics, video games ... To this day, directors like Dario Argento, John Carpenter, Joe Dante, David Cronenberg, William friedkin, Michael Mann, Peter Weir, Paul Verhoeven, John Badham, John Boorman are witnesses of their own status elevated in the pages of Starfix, as "auteurs" in their own right! After 80 issues and several special editions, Starfix released its last issue in December 1990, and very much like some critics of "Cahiers du Cinema" before them, some contributors to the magazine went on to pursue film careers of their own as directors, writers or producers.

Second Period : Some stars never die

In December 1997, Patrice Girod, who was already the publisher of the french Lucasfilm Magazine, resurrected the cult magazine as "Starfix - New Generation". A new editorial team was set up which included David Oghia, Pieric Guillomeau, Jean-Michel Dupont, Julien Dupuy, Erwan Chaffiot, Jean-Baptiste Thoret, Sandra Benedetti, Philippe François and Christophe Lemaire, one of the former contributors to the original publication, who resumed its legendary column signed "Robert Paimboeuf".

Third Period : The Starfix legacy

Between 1983-2001 the magazine inspired a lot of readers, and spawned a new generation of filmmakers including Albert Dupontel, Mathieu Kassovitz, Gaspar Noé or Jan Kounen. But the founding fathers of Starfix themselves have gone on to become major players in the industry. Nicolas Boukhrief and François Cognard created the "Journal du Cinéma" for French TVnetwork Canal +, and eventually managed the Canal + Writing workshops and development structures. Nicolas Boukhrief eventually directed seven films including "Le Convoyeur -CAsh Truck in US film festivals) and "Gardiens de l'ordre" (known as "Off limits" internationally). François Cognard wrote several feature films and produced "The Strange Color of your body's tears" among others. Doug Headline directed Broceliande, and Christophe Gans went on to direct "Crying Freeman", "Brotherhood of the Wolf", "Silent Hill" and "Beauty and the Beast".

Starfix today

In November 2011, teaming up with Arnaud Grunberg and André Kobtzeff, Patrice Girod brought the classic brand back to life, once more, but this time quite logically, as a production company, Starfix Productions. The company aims to produce genre films, particularly, seeking to assert its French identity all the while remaining open to international projects and impulse. The company sets itself to stay true to the tastes, pioneering vison of the editorial line of the magazine's origins. The company also developped a wide range of products branded to the iconic STARFIX logo and the William Stout's pin-up. Starfix, it's more than a production company!

If there was a magazine that really left its mark on me in the late 80s, it was definitely Starfix. And I learned much later that it was run by Gans and Boukhrief who have become distinguished filmmakers afterwards. I would expect my monthly Starfix quite religiously, it was to me like the Cahiers du Cinema for some others. It was great to have them, because otherwise, it is very easy to miss a movie, I loved this kind of magazines, they reflect my taste, and it was a different generation. Les Cahiers du Cinema today feel cold, cerebral and didactic. And I am not sure there are any like this one around today, because I think Studio or Première appear more like magazine that are advertising...
Albert Dupontel (actor / director)
Interview by Ségolène Alunni for the website crabedesarts.com - Oct. 7, 2013