CULTURAL PERSONALITY 2024 – Sylvain Parent-Bédard made the biggest acquisition of his career this year. He got his hands on the Just For Laugh/Just For Laugh brand and expects sales of around $100 million at the end of the financial year, which ends May 31, 2025. For those who say they dream to become the “Walt Disney of humor”, we’re off to a good start!
I don’t realize yet that it’s 100 million
says the entrepreneur at the head of Just for Entertainment, in a long interview he gave us in the company’s premises, rue Saint-Joseph Est, in Quebec. When I ask my bank if we are among the big ones in cultural entertainment in Quebec, they answer me: “Stop asking me that question, Sylvain”.
Excluding public institutions and museums, the Just for Entertainment group finds itself in the top three of the largest cultural companies in Quebec, he tells us. If we exclude Cirque du Soleil, I think we’re pretty close to number one.
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Some photos of artists produced by Sylvain Parent-Bédard’s company adorn the walls of his offices.
Photo : Patricia Tadros
The beginnings
It’s quite a journey that that of Sylvain Parent-Bédard, a little ass from Lévis
as he describes himself. who does things because he likes it
he continues. He who couldn’t find work in communications and marketing at the end of his studies at Laval University.
I couldn’t sell myself. I visited all the communications agencies in Quebec and I convinced myself to go to almost all the communications agencies in Montreal. I didn’t get a call back. Guess they thought I wasn’t going to develop their business
he emphasizes, laughing.
He attributes his difficulties to the fact that he is shy and reserved at first contacts. The more confidence I gain, the more space I will take up
. At the time, job interviews weren’t his cup of tea.
After launching a small video game company at the age of 17, he decided to start his own company specializing in events. In 1997, he founded QuébéComm. It was with this company that he made his debut in the entertainment industry and where he tried humor for the first time.
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Memories from another era in the Just for Entertainment premises in Quebec.
Photo : Patricia Tadros
In 1997, I was a little guy with 300 piastres in his bank account and a telephone on the wall. I received one call a day from my mother to find out if I had any clients.
One client at a time, he built his company. Among the memories of this period, Quebec celebrates Christmas. The Christmas Market that there is in Old Quebec today, 27 years ago, I did it
he recalls. But the city’s leaders told me: “If you think you’re going to come and disguise the face of Quebec City with your wooden cabins, that’s out of the question.”
. He still managed to organize a party for a few years, which even made the front page of Los Angeles Times. I still have it!
he said proudly. It is written “Quebec, Where merry is made”.
L’ascension
In 2000, he launched a first comedy festival in Quebec, the Festival du Grand Rire de Québec, which would change its name over time to become the Comediha! Fest. In 2006, the company expanded and became an audiovisual producer. We produced our own galas.
Then, in 2008, the first comedy gala at the Olympia in Paris. It was a step towards international development
.
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The Just for Entertaining offices in Quebec
Photo : Patricia Tadros
The sketch series LOL, which was born in 2010, is an important milestone in the history of the company. Sylvain Parent-Bédard’s company took a financial risk.
The places where we took the biggest risks are where we took the biggest steps.
We invested half a million dollars when no one here in Quebec wanted to buy this project.
This series of short humorous sketches was subsequently sold in 125 countries around the world.
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Madonna on the Plains of Abraham in 2008
Photo: The Canadian Press / Francis Vachon
The equal Madonna
It is thanks to Sylvain Parent-Bédard that Quebec hosted Madonna on the Plains of Abraham in 2012. Not only did the entrepreneur have to demonstrate a lot of determination and perseverance to convince the team to the singer to trust him, but he put his condo and his FAMILY as collateral to advance $3 million.
LOLit was a risk and it worked. Madonna, it was a risk where, from that moment on, everywhere I called around the world, where I said that I had been Madonna’s promoter and producer in Quebec, where we had sold 72,000 tickets in 28 minutes, the record of any tour for one date, everyone was taking my call.
However, what he is most proud of is his business plan. We respected it to the letter, without being influenced
he maintains. We always had a vision, a mission, a goal and that was to become one of the most important companies in humor. Then we never deviated from our values, never deviated from our culture, never deviated from our plan, even if sometimes, it could have been more profitable
.
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Sylvain Parent-Bédard in the Just for Entertainment offices.
Photo : Patricia Tadros
The rivalry
The passion that drives Sylvain Parent-Bédard is a love of the arts. He says he gets up in the morning wondering what can we do that will be the fun
. He has deep respect for entrepreneurs who share his values. He names Louis Morissette from KO and Eric Young from Entourage.
When they have success, I am the first to congratulate them on social media or elsewhere, because that means that the Quebec cultural industry is doing well.
What he doesn’t like is jealousy. There were a lot of them, he tells us. We have to support ourselves in the cultural industry we are in. There were low blows, there were lies. It was difficult
. Industry people? Yes, people in the industry, and then I decided not to lower myself to that, not to respond to that, to stay dignified and [coller au plan].
He mentions the three B
who guide his life: The good, the good and the beautiful.
Québécomm changed its name in 2013 to ComediHa! from which emerged a musical division, Sismyk. It is with this division that he produced Madonna sur les plaines (2008), Céline Dion (2012) and several other major shows. Despite the success of these productions, nothing is ever taken for granted.
There will always be people to discourage you when you are passionate, even if you have proven yourself
. He gives the SuperFrancoFête as an example. When I wanted to relaunch the SuperFrancoFête three years ago, there were still people in culture, civil servants […] who said to me: “Well, let’s see! It might work for a year, but this thing will never work
. The future proved him right. From one evening, the SuperFrancofête became a festival last year, whose shows, designed for television, found international takers.
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The show “Starmania: 45 years under the stars” was presented during the SuperFrancoFête in 2024.
Photo : Radio-Canada / Frederic Vigeant
Refusals
When people didn’t believe in him, Sylvain Parent-Bédard invested from his own pocket. For Madonna, I put everything at risk
. Same thing for the series About Antoine, an autofiction written and performed by his girlfriend Cathleen Rouleau and which stars his multi-handicapped son, Antoine Parent-Bédard.
His voice breaks when he talks about the sacrifices his girlfriend made when she was a comedian at the start of her career. She left her career out of love for my son, out of love for me
he said, his throat tight and tears in his eyes. When she had the idea for this series, he encouraged her. I said to myself: “Wow! This is a great opportunity to get her back into the industry, to give back a little.”
.
Sylvain Parent-Bédard once again found himself faced with obstacles to overcome. I meet with broadcasters. We don’t believe it or, we believe it, but Cathleen won’t play her role, she’s not well-known enough
he explains. We believe in it, but Antoine will not play his role, it’s too risky. Cathleen was even offered to play the role of my ex. It had to be done!
he says, indignant.
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Cathleen Rouleau and Claude Legault in a scene from the series “About Antoine”
Photo: Screenshot/Club illico
He made the decision he makes every time he receives a refusal. It doesn’t matter. You know what? I’m going to take all the money I managed to raise and I’m going to produce it
. That’s when the broadcasters got on board with the project. However, this came with a requirement. It was necessary to find a known actress for the main role. He refused.
He finally won his case, but each time, it’s demanding. We feel he is tired of fighting this kind of battle. Once again, something that I fought for, and that the big decision-makers didn’t believe in, well it was a listening success on TVA, on Club illico, on Netflix. A sale in the United States, a sale in South America, a sale in France, Australia, a prize in Cannes, in La Rochelle, the biggest television festival!
And a Gemini prize for his son Antoine.
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Antoine Parent-Bédard in a scene from the series “About Antoine”
Photo: Courtesy: Simon Perrier
The Walt Disney of humor
Sylvain Parent-Bédard dreams big. With his team who follows me in my wildest dreams
it puts no limits on what they can accomplish with Just For Entertaining.
Today, I say to myself: “Let’s dream, we’re not there yet, but let’s continue to want to be the Walt Disney of humor!”
Even if its primary motivation remains the pleasure it provides to the public, the figures are a guarantee of success. When I watch Disney, I tell myself that dreams are not over, we are talking about billions. Is it impossible to think of billions in Quebec?
. To ask the question is to answer it.
