In a workshop exterior Paris, Celine Lallement stitched hairs right into a silicone child’s cranium — the newest creation from a studio specialised in making ultra-realistic infants for the movie and TV industries.
Founded in 2008 and primarily based in a north Paris suburb, “Cinebebe” produces props that may take greater than six weeks of crafting earlier than they’re despatched to manufacturing units.
“It’s mohair, it comes from the Angora goat. It’s finer than adult hair, so it imitates baby hair very well,” Lallement defined as she rigorously inserted every strand.
At one level, she noticed an issue. “There are two hairs in the same follicle, that won’t work,” she mentioned earlier than utilizing tweezers to right the error.
Her newest work is ready for use in a movie shoot in England, based on Justine Ray Le Solliec, who co-manages the particular results workshop.
With barely crimson cheeks, tiny veins below the eyelids, pores and skin folds and pores, it is exhausting to inform the distinction from an actual baby.
“You can expect to pay around 700 euros ($726) to rent a baby for a day’s shoot and between 9,000 euros and 15,000 euros to buy one, depending on the time required to make it,” mentioned Ray Le Solliec.
From 26-week untimely infants to 18-month-old toddlers, Cinebebe’s miniature mannequins are utilized in round 100 productions yearly, largely in France and Europe.
Their work has been glimpsed in hit Netflix collection “Emily in Paris”, in addition to the blockbuster 2024 French film “The Count of Monte Cristo”.
The firm makes use of silicone castings for infants, but additionally creates pregnant bellies, breasts, placentas, fetuses, umbilical cords, and even life-sized pelvis fashions which are used for delivery scenes.
“In France, regulations prohibit newborns under three months old from participating in film shoots,” Ray Le Solliec defined. “For infants aged three months to three years, filming time is limited to one hour per day, which can be challenging when multiple scenes involve children.”
Beyond laws, their enterprise has accelerated for the reason that COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020 and 2021.
“It helped us because babies were not allowed on set during that period,” she added.
Post-pandemic, their income has doubled yearly, although there was a “slight slowdown” in 2024 in comparison with 2023, with a progress charge of 35 %.
The subsequent step is increasing internationally, with a London workplace deliberate in 2025.
Their manufacturing objective is to develop infants with open eyes in addition to bigger infants for stunt scenes.
© 2025 AFP