- Martin Villeneuve, brother of director Denis Villeneuve (known for films like Arrival (2016), Blade Runner 2049 (2017), and Dune (2021)), has carved his own path in the world of filmmaking. Despite their shared surname, Martin's creative journey has always been independent and self-driven. In an interview with TVA News on April 2, 2012, theater director and filmmaker Robert Lepage marveled at the Villeneuve brothers' artistic achievements, humorously pondering what kind of Rice Krispies their mother served them for breakfast. More recently, Lepage emphasized Martin's individuality, highlighting that being "the brother of" didn't provide him any special advantages or privileges, as evident by his sci-fi epic Mars and April (2012) which took him seven years to make on a shoestring budget, and in his nine-year endeavor, Les 12 travaux d'Imelda (2022), which he self-produced.
- When the Montreal commercial creativity agency Diesel changed its name in 2006, Martin Villeneuve had the idea for the anagram Sid Lee.
- How do you pay for something that you can't afford? Martin Villeneuve needed seven not-yet-made musical instruments, inspired by women's bodies, for the movie Mars and April (2012). Only he had no budget for them. So he got someone else to pay for it - he sold the hypothetical instruments to Cirque du Soleil and got to use them in the movie for free. And he presented an artist friend with a dream project, in creating these wildly imaginative props.
- Back when he was studying filmmaking and graphic design, Martin Villeneuve created film posters, most notoriously the one for Québec-Montréal (2002) showing the pictograph of a moose screwing a car, which earned him an award for "Best Advertising Campaign" for a movie.
- Martin Villeneuve found the name for three Cirque du Soleil shows: "Zumanity", "KÀ" and "Corteo," as well as for Guy Laliberté's ONE DROP Foundation.
- Martin Villeneuve made Quebec's first true science fiction film, Mars and April (2012). The inventiveness of the film's production led to a TED Talk in Long Beach, California, making Villeneuve the third filmmaker to receive the invitation - the other two being James Cameron and J.J. Abrams. Since then, his talk is part of TED's movie magic list, and Mars and April (2012) is being referred to as the "Impossible Film". So far Villeneuve is the first and only TED speaker to come out of Quebec. His TED Talk, Martin Villeneuve: How I made an impossible film (2013), has been subtitled in 33 languages and viewed more than a million times.
- Martin Villeneuve is a notorious fan of the Back to the Future, Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises. As a teenager he built a replica of the Back to the Future (1985) time machine, on display at Rodeo FX in Montreal since October 21st, 2015. In October 2012, his indie sci-fi Mars and April (2012) had its U.S. premiere at the Mill Valley Film Festival, partly sponsored by Star Wars creator George Lucas to whom Villeneuve sent a letter along with a copy of his film. In early 2015, Martin penned an unsolicited script proposal for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023) based on an idea he had pitched to his older brother Denis Villeneuve who directed Blade Runner 2049 (2017) starring Harrison Ford. On December 20th, 2015, Martin gave a review of Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015) on CBC Radio One, after he attended the Montreal premiere. In January 2016, he visited Skywalker Ranch. On May 18th, 2019, he realized a childhood dream by meeting the whole cast of Back to the Future (1985) in Orlando, Florida, and having them sign a letter from the movie he had replicated 30 years prior.
- How do you get top-notch visual effects? For Mars and April (2012), Martin Villeneuve asked the best people in the field: Belgian comic book artist François Schuiten and former ILM Senior Compositor Carlos Monzon. Even though his budget was tiny, Villeneuve approached his effects heroes, offering them the opportunity to dream rather than money.
- In Mars and April (2012), the scene where Jacob and Arthur are leaving for Mars is inspired by one of Martin Villeneuve's childhood memories: when he was 4 or 5 years old, his older brothers, including Denis Villeneuve, put him in a box and made him believe that he made a space travel on his way to Mars. They would put Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) books behind the box's 'porthole' as to give the illusion that he truly was in space.
- How do you get someone who is too busy to star in a movie? In Mars and April (2012), Martin Villeneuve turned Robert Lepage's character into a hologram. He gave another actor a mask of green screen material, and had him stand in for Lepage in scenes. The green screen was then replaced with Lepage's face and voice, meaning he could play the part.
- Martin Villeneuve was with Caroline Dhavernas at the Whistler Film Festival in December 2012, giving a Q&A about his film Mars and April (2012), when he was given a phenomenal opportunity. TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) curator Chris Anderson was in the audience, unbeknownst to Villeneuve, who at that moment was providing Anderson with an audition for his own stage.
- Martin Villeneuve won an award for "Best Actor" for his role in his short film Imelda (2014), in which he plays his own grandmother. Martin takes up once again the role of Imelda in two sequels: Imelda 2: le notaire (2020) co-starring Robert Lepage and Imelda 3: Simone (2020) co-starring Ginette Reno. In 2022, he released the feature film version, Les 12 travaux d'Imelda (2022), for which he once again won an award for "Best Actor".
- The day after his TED Talk, Martin Villeneuve had a meeting booked at DreamWorks Pictures, Lucasfilm, Disney and Kennedy/Marshall. Surprisingly, he was the only speaker talking about cinema at TED2013. Being an up-and-coming filmmaker who has done a two million dollar film that is worth 10 times more at least, made the studios really curious.
- Filmmakers Martin and his brother Denis Villeneuve are the descendants of three generations of notaries.
- On top of playing the lead role in Les 12 travaux d'Imelda (2022), Martin Villeneuve is also portraying the judge featured on Imelda's old TV set. Villeneuve's brother Claude, a judge at the Superior Court of Quebec in real life, was set to make this cameo, but had to cancel the day before shooting. Martin therefore had to don the judge's robe and go through aging makeup to play the part himself.
- The world premiere of Les 12 travaux d'Imelda (2022) took place on September 9th, 2022, at the Quebec City Film Festival, exactly 9 years to the day after Martin Villeneuve shot the short film Imelda (2014) on September 9th, 2013.
- Martin Villeneuve is in a relationship with Kika Martinez, and they are raising two children.
- Les 12 travaux d'Imelda (2022) was produced by Martin Villeneuve with no money over a nine-year stretch. The filmmaker tried to finance it for five years, after the success of his award-winning short Imelda (2014). Canadian stars Robert Lepage and Ginette Reno, who had both appreciated the short film and endorsed the feature film screenplay, said yes to play the other two leading roles. However, the project failed to convince the Canadian funding agencies, SODEC and Telefilm Canada. Villeneuve decided to shoot his movie nonetheless, with the resources at hand, in 8 'chapters' chronicling Imelda's last 12 years. He assembled an all-star cast, and the whole crew once again agreed to work for free. Upon its release, Les 12 travaux d'Imelda (2022) was a Box-Office hit in Quebec, opening in 29 theaters. The movie won the award for Best Editing in a Borsos Competition film at the 2022 Whistler Film Festival. In 2023, Martin Villeneuve won the Best Actor award for his role of Imelda at the Festival du Film Canadien de Dieppe, France, and the Best Director award at the Canada China International Film Festival.
- Les 12 travaux d'Imelda (2022) is about the Villeneuve family, and is based on real characters and facts. It was partly shot in the small village of Gentilly, Quebec, where Martin Villeneuve and his brother Denis Villeneuve grew up. The main character of Imelda, played by Martin, is based on their paternal grandmother, and Jean, portrayed by Robert Lepage, was inspired by their father. Lynda Beaulieu interprets their mother Nicole, while Ginette Reno plays Simone, their maternal grandmother. Michel Barrette was cast as their uncle André, and Anne-Marie Cadieux as their aunt Diane. Antoine Bertrand plays their cousin Louis, while Marc-François Blondin portrays their brother Claude.
- Martin Villeneuve is writing and directing Red Ketchup (2023). In the French version of the show, he also lends his voice to the character of Bill Bélisle.
- Every cinephile knows that thanks to the films Arrival (2016) and Blade Runner 2049 (2017), Denis Villeneuve revived top-tier science fiction cinema with a philosophical touch. But perhaps not everyone is aware that his younger brother, Martin, did the same years before him with Mars and April (2012).
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