Born in 1957, producer, executive director and writer Rodrigue Jean discovered cinema after earning a degree in biology, sociology and literature, but he began his career in dance as a professional choreographer in 1984. He was a founding member of the dance company, Les productions de l'os, in 1986 and studied theatre and directing at the Canada Council for the Arts in London in 1992. He soon after became a founding member of The Howlers, a London theatre troupe and put on works by Shakespeare, Genet and Brad Fraser. In 1990, Jean produced his first fictional short film entitled La Déroute, based on his company's choreography. He then founded Transmar Films, a film and video production company. His video La mémoire de l'eau was chosen for the Oberhausen International Short Film Festival in Germany as well as the Pandemonium Festival of London and won the prizes for Best Script and Most Promising Director at the 1996 Atlantic Film and Video Festival in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.