François Theurel

Born Jun 14, 1983 · Lyon, Rhône, Rhône-Alpes, France

François Theurel, born June 14, 1983 in Lyon, is a French author, director and web video creator. With a scientific baccalaureate, he pursued political science studies at IEP Lyon, then sociology at Avignon. He taught at Avignon University from 2008 to 2011 and defended his PhD thesis in information and communication sciences on December 6, 2011 at the University of Avignon and Pays de Vaucluse, under the supervision of Emmanuel Ethis: "The spectator in motion: perspectives and impacts of digital cinematic distribution on spectatorial practices in festival settings." In September 2012, he launched the music project Dead Watts on YouTube, then in October 2012 the show Le Fossoyeur de Films, dedicated to genre cinema, which brought him to fame. His pseudonym evokes his desire to "unearth" forgotten films or old debates. He cited Lindsay Ellis (Nostalgia Chick) and Spoony as influences. In 2015, he launched Film Wars exclusively on Dailymotion, with reworked versions released on YouTube starting November 2020. He also acts, notably in 2024 in the short film The Three Wise Men by Kirk Mihelakos. Co-creator of Studio Uha! with Mathieu Pradalet, he plays the SuperNes console in the web series Wet Short. In 2018, he created the talk show Pandora's Box at the Frames Festival in Avignon.