Sophie Decroisette

Sophie in 2019 on her Hue Dada! Productions Profile

Sophie Decroisette is a professional writer of TV scripts and children's books. Her most famous work is being the head writer of the first three seasons of Code Lyoko. She also wrote the French editions of the novelizations of several Code Lyoko Episodes. She has been active since 1987. She is currently affiliated with Agence Kamaji.

She speaks native French and a little Italian.

Early Life

Sophie Decroisette was born in 1969. She is a graduate of Gobelins, like Thomas Romain, Tania Palumbo and Bruno Regeste. Her degree is in writing. She also taught there.

She began writing for animated programs in 1992, with Leo and Popi being her first series as head writer in 1994. She had served as a writer for the animated science fiction series Malo Korrigan just prior to working on Code Lyoko, and was on a break between projects after giving birth to her first child when Antefilms contacted her.

Code Lyoko Work

Sophie Decroisette served as the head writer for Seasons 1-3 and co-wrote the series' backstory with Jérôme Mouscadet between Seasons 1 and 2. She was also heavily involved in the early planning for Season 4 by writing the story bible, though stepped down as head writer as she was pregnant with her second child, being replaced by Bruno Regeste. She remained on the show as a regular writer and closely monitored episodes involving Replikas. She also wrote novelizations of some episodes. As she worked in French, she was only peripherally affiliated with the dub teams.

She was hired in late-August or September 2002 to replace the original head writer, who according to Mouscadet had "taken a lot of vacation" over the summer that caused development on the series to move too slowly. When she was offered the position, Decroisette recalled: "I hesitated. I was a little bit familiar with science fiction because I had read science fiction books, but never practiced [it myself]…". Things then progressed "very quickly" after Decroisette was brought on. She had an influence on the personalities of several characters, such as her and Yumi both being "serious" and "reserved". Decroisette's father, a physicist, and her husband, a scientist, also influenced Jeremie, specifically the latter's "mathematical obsessions".

She also co-wrote the initial draft of Code Lyoko Evolution's bible with Mouscadet along with synopses for the first two episodes. She ultimately left the series after the directors and head writer David Carayon decided to alter the bible to simplify the concept, as they felt Code Lyoko as a whole was "extremely complex and unclear". Decroisette described these changes as "[...] they made narrative choices that moved away from the continuity we had installed" and they "[...] wanted to be on a particular story level that didn't agree with my ideas on the series". She has since said she views Evolution as non-canon as a result of these changes and considers the show "finished from a narrative perspective" with the finale of Season 4.

She was invited to write for the Code Lyoko Chronicles novels, however she turned it down as she didn't have the time. She has not read the books in detail and was initially unsure how closely they follow the backstory she and Mouscadet wrote for the series, but upon reading a summary of them she said "There are similarities, but it is by no means identical. This backstory is much more detailed but there are things that have nothing to do with what I wrote. The memory stealing gloves, the Broulet [and Brothers], the stories of the [First C]ity, Dido..."

She either wrote or co-wrote the following episodes:

• "X.A.N.A. Awakens" ("She saw this one completed two months prior to broadcast")
• "Code: Earth"
• "New Order"
• "Uncharted Territory"
• "Mister Pück"
• "The Chips Are Down"
• "Marabounta"
• "Common Interest"
• "Temptation"
• "Ultimatum"
• "Contact"
• "Revelation"
• "The Key"
• "Tidal Wave"
• "The Secret"
• "Sabotage"
• "Double Trouble"
• "Final Round"
• "Lab Rat"
• "Bragging Rights"
• "Hard Luck"
• "Cold Sweat"
• "Down to Earth"
• "Fight to the Finish"
• "Echoes"
• "X.A.N.A. 2.0"
• "Cortex"

In an interview, she said she did not expect Season 1 to be successful, but enjoyed writing it. She regards Code Lyoko to be her greatest success. She also commented that although she was not involved in the dubbing process, she regarded the English dub to be extremely successful. Her favorite characters are Jim and Odd, as she likes comedic characters as a fan. She "never felt censored" working on the series and, reflecting years later, wouldn't change much in terms of writing.

Her favorite episodes are "Ghost Channel" and "Contact". She came up with the "I'd rather not talk about it" gag for Jim, resulting in the other writers joining in on it.

Noteworthy Non-Code Lyoko Work

Sophie Decroisette has worked on over 50 TV series, books, and films. She has worked as a writer, head writer, storyboarder, and literary bible writer. These are some of the noteworthy projects she has worked on:

• "Martin Martin"
• "Lou!"
• "J'écris dans l'espace"
• "Highlander"

Activity in the Animation Community

Sophie Decroisette is a powerful figure in the European animation industry. She has filled the following roles:

• Expert for the Committee on Innovation CNC background.
• Reader to the Committee on Innovation CNC background.
• Member of a jury at the end of study EAEC (European Academy of Audiovisual Writing) section "draft animated feature"
• Associate Member of the SACD

Further Reading

• http://www.agence-kamaji.com/auteurs/sophie-decroisette/
• http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1665964/
• http://www.codelyoko.fr/interviews/sophie_decroisette.cl
• http://sophiedecroisette.over-blog.com/
• http://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-249458/filmographie/
• https://www.youtube.com/user/tchouckyetal/videos "contains a multi-part interview in french."
• http://www.agence-kamaji.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/sophie-decroisette-cv.pdf
• http://www.codelyoko.fr/createurs.cl