Benoît Pelletier

Quebecois screenwriter Benoît Pelletier's knack for satiric, often outrageous material was showcased in such French-Canadian comedies as "Shooting Star" (2005), "A Sense of Humor" (2011) and "Ego Trip" (2015), which also marked his feature directorial debut. Pelletier began his career writing material for French-Canadian comedy performers like Mario Jean and Claudine Mercier. These and other assignments led to scripts for Montreal's long-running Just for Laughs comedy festival and numerous television award shows, including the Gemini Awards, Canada's equivalent of the Emmys. In 2005, he earned his first feature film credit by contributing to the script for "Idole instantanée" ("Instant Idol"/"Shooting Star"), a showcase for Mercier's improvisational and impersonation talents that parodied reality television competitions. Pelletier's gift for satire led to darkly comic scripts for such popular French talents as Pierre Richard ("Le Bonheur de Pierre," 2009) and director Émile Gaudreault ("A Sense of Humor," 2011). In 2013, he teamed with actor-writer François Avard to contribute material to the 2013 edition of "Bye-Bye" (1968-2008, 2010-), Radio-Canada's long-running New Year's Eve sketch comedy special. The pair reteamed for the 2015 feature "Ego Trip," a comedy directed by Pelletier and written by Avard about a talk show host who attempts to pull his career out of a tailspin by traveling to Haiti as part of a relief effort.