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Biography
Max Koskas, French writer and screenplay author born in Tunis on the 26th of March 1950.

During the autumn of 1977, Max Koskas was working on the "Freud by Cézanne" project under the direction of Jean-François Lyotard: in a conversation they had, Max Koskas told the philosopher he had to save some time to focus on a scenario which was about to be played at an International Festival.

The answer he received sounded life changing to him: "...Throughout this long journey made of lectures and seminars, I have always wondered if the social function given to the intellectuals — and by extent, I mean Universitarians — in the world to come, was to collapse into a role play. As if these intellectuals were doomed to debate like carving tools bumping into each other would witness the medium they could have shaped, vanish on and on. That being said, congratulations for your decision to become an entertainer. Your approach as it comes, shows a valuable judgment. You’d better make something out of it."

Formation
This is how Max Koskas starts his biography on Facebook:

"My first encounter with a writing practice dates back to when I was 11 years in a summer camp, in Moulins-sur-Allier. I was back from a walk in a forest when I was offered to write down my feelings about it. My text was published in a local newspaper. Don’t ask me why! What I can say, is that this very first time, while proof reading my text, I experienced the same overwhelming surprise I would like to share with you".

While studying philosophy, he learnt marble engraving, and contributed to the creation of the "Theatre du Petit Bonhomme Rouge" theater troupe.

Theater plays
Jean-François Lyotard never stopped urging Max Koskas to carry on with his projects. He even introduced him to his social network and namely to John Cage at the Center for American Arts in Paris. Max Koskas keeps a moving memory of this meeting: the absolute feeling of good will in this conversation strengthened his belief in the approach he had hesitated to embrace until then. He understood that a masterpiece was to emerge from his hard work: it would be original in steady focus as well as in random encounters.

As a matter of fact, his play "le moment opportun" which was on stage at the Rencontres Internationales d’Art Contemporain in La Rochelle made him meet the plasticist artist Serena Carone.

"Et si je te racontais le théâtre", Encre editions (December 1979). As he was working as a lecturer and professor in both private and public schools, he wrote a short book dedicated to children and early teenagers. Its plot was based on an illustrated theater history extending from Greek tragedy to Commedia dell’arte, Elizabethan theater and Ubu Roi, eventually connecting to Artaud and contemporary creation. According to Max Koskas, theater is an ephemeral phenomenon as opposed to marble carving. It might be what led him to write this opus. With this contributive book, children were able to colorize every theater genre on a world map, based on a hopscotch pattern.

He enters the Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques (September 1980) as a member. He is introduced to the Swiss director Andre Steiger (1928-2012) who had adapted "Transvestites" by Tom Stoppard at the Odeon theater in 1978. Andre Steiger later organized lectures on two Max Koskas’ plays, Soliloques pour un Règne Froid (1982) et La Faillite de l’Absolu s.a (1984).

He starts an extensive study under the authority of the Director of Theater of the Ministry of Culture, Robert Abirached in 1988 and 1989: this study focuses on the production-formation-patronage-Europe relations to create an editorial collection at Dixit editions.

TELEVISION
During a particular period of time, when Max Koskas texts dealt with theater, the Television industry approached him to write a screenplay. In 1986, the CNC Fonds de Soutien Audiovisuel awards his “A vos masques” with financial support. He signs a contract with Technisonor (1989) and Antenne 2, for a TV series (13 x 26 minutes). The Milano Piccolo Teatro deals with the casting (1990) under the direction of Ferruccio Soleri. His management of the famous theater troupe "l’Arlequin à vie" led Max Koskas to appreciate both his creative talent and technical expertise. Meanwhile, Koskas kept following up funding plans and the production schedule.

MULTIMEDIA
From 1982, he intuitively started to study the multimedia industry, as a part-time worker. Based on his experience, he began to visualize a paradigm change emerging from a confrontation between the contemporary world and a new era.

He then joins "Les Editeurs Associés" — a partnership between Dreager Encre editions, Artefact (Tex Avery, la folie du Cartoon) among others — and he writes articles like memo-notes on "Greek-roman sculpture", "Dance" and so on, for Atlas editions.

During all these years, Max Koskas has been alternatively a reader in the TF1 Department of Documentaries and Magazines under the direction Francis Mercury (with contributions of Arnaud Teneze), and a freelance author in 1985 for aaa Production company of which Jacques Rouxel — creator of the Shadocks — was also producer.

In December 1986, Max Koskas publishes an article in the Media-Pouvoirs review: "Sponsorship, patronage and communication policies in modern societies". In November 1987, he edits another article for the Art Magazine "Canal" dealing with FIPA creation and changes in TV production modes and movie financial support in an interview with Michel Mitrani.

During this period of time, he keeps focusing on the intimate relations between communication and media production. To study even more thoroughly creative processes, he is hired as an editor for MTGB advertisement company in Paris, and in CB News Magazine, created just then by Françoise Vidal and Christian Blachas.

In 1988-1989, the Courier de l’Unesco offers Max Koskas the opportunity to publish several articles. Based on his previous experience with editing, he urged his director, the French writer and poet Edouard Glissant, to accept advertisement offers to avoid a financial disaster. This new orientation was a success, and as a consequence the Courier became even more valorized by UNESCO itself, and subsequently more famous.

Max Koskas has also been a renowned ghostwriter and a journalist. He recently published articles in the "Nouvelles d’Auber" as an introduction to a book on the evolution of a city in the "Grand Paris" project.

Art Gallery experiences

In order to promote the first and last Warhol exhibition in Paris in 1986, "Warhol Andy 10 Statues of Liberty", Jean-Pierre Lavignes from the Lavignes-Bastilly art gallery asked Max Koskas to assist him in promoting the show. He also contributed to the Mimmo Rotella 1965-1987 corpus edition as a leaflet with 13 reproductions.

In 1990, he contributed to the performance exhibition of Wolf Vostell, a German pioneer of installations, video art and happenings. Max Koskas also organized the Fluxus movement retrospect at the Lavignes Gallery (Fluxus Concert, "Le Cri", Paris, 1990).

Cinema
Max Koskas meets Alain Resnais in Magellan Street, in Paris, as he was coming out of Technisonor productions. They have a brief talk about "Harry Dickson adventures" (this Belgian series by Jean Rey was eventually to be produced under Anatole Dauman’s direction).

"A vos masques" was a scenario whose production was constantly delayed because of incompatible agendas between Antenne2, Technisonor and the Piccolo Teatro di Milano troupe: Alain Resnais urged Max Koskas to turn the page in order to start writing what he felt he had to tell, e.g. a futuristic police based plot contextualized in a pharmaceutical industry losing contact with a new generation of evolving men.

Within three years, Max Koskas completed this scenario under the title "Idéalsystem" (S.a.c.d 82639) and asked Alain Resnais to read it: his first reaction to advise the author to get in touch with "the only two young real time producers in Paris", Serge Silberman in his 80s, and Anatole Dauman in his 70s… And offered to use his name to contact directly Anatole Dauman.

This production went well until Anatole Dauman’s sudden death in 1998. This epic personality of French movie industry was the founder of Argosfilms which has delivered the highest standards of movie production since its creation. The production also gave him the opportunity to meet the photo director Gérard de Battista, the cinema editor Francoise Widhoff and the composer Luciano Berio in order to create a production team for future projects.

To Max Koskas’ great surprise, it was Anatole Dauman who wanted him to direct the feature film version of "Idealsystem". As Max Koskas opposed his decision, Anatole Dauman screamed at him with what later sounded like a compliment: "I do know what I am doing. I know my business and how it works. What I am interested in is your imagination and your energy…"

In the following years, Max Koskas has enrichened his experience with research in emotional intelligence. This enlarged sensitive perception appears even more essential to complete creative technological processes. Based on this connoisseurship, he started in 2006 the Starface project completed in 2020, as both a video game and an animation movie.