Isabelle Madelaine's fate was sealed when a cinema opened in her hometown of Vitry when she was 10 years old. it was decided: she would work in film, not as an actress or director but – as she would later come to find out – as a producer.
"It was a deliberate choice," recalls this young woman, who is still barely 30 years old. As evidence, she entered the ISC business school in Paris to study auditing, completing a thesis on State intervention in cinema production. She then took a post-master's degree in law and administration of audiovisual communications at the University of Paris I, but this time with an emphasis on film marketing. After more classes and some essential work placements with Gaumont and Cinécinémas, it was in the Cinema and Video Digital Effects department that our film-lover really got to the heart of her subject. "I had complete freedom as far as the technical aspects were concerned," she recalls, an experience that gave her the chance to get the measure of her talent.

Isabelle now devotes her talents to her own production company, Dharamsala, which she set up in April 2001. Her work has included La Chatte Andalouse (35') by Gérald Hustache Mathieu and Œdipe (n+1), a short science-fiction film (also 35') by Eric Rognard, which was pre-purchased by France 2 and TPS, and, of course, Les Poils du Pinceau, the first feature film supported by the Jean-Luc Lagardère Foundation. All her projects have given Isabelle the opportunity to pursue her very favourite activity: learning, and then learning some more. Clearly, she picks things up quickly!

Achievements since winning the grant
In 2005, her project Avril (formerly Les Poils du Pinceau) was in post-production. She has also produced Cousines, a short film by Lyes Salem, and Kitchen, the first short film by Alice Winocour. Cousines won the César award for Best Short Film in 2005, while Kitchen was selected as an official competitor at the Cannes Film Festival. On 14 June 2006, Avril was released in cinemas.