Jean-Cyrille Merle-Remond, known as Martini
Founder of La Lettre — association & production company
More than thirty years doing two things: preventing accidents before they happen, and proving what people can do. First in the kitchens of a great theatre, then in the food trades, then in a method that links the two. La Lettre is the end of that road.
Luigi Martini was born in May 1839 in Ferriere, in the Duchy of Piacenza. His father Domenico, a farmer, declared the birth before the podestà; the two witnesses “declared that they could not sign, as they could not write”, and the podestà signed for them. Luigi is a direct ancestor of the founder: the name people call him by, Martini, comes from him. A record, witnesses, someone who writes down what he saw and signs: La Lettre's rule is almost two centuries old.
Record no. 63, birth register of the commune of Ferriere (Piacenza), May 1839; marginal notes of the marriages of 1871 and 1886. Family reproduction.It all starts in the theatre
From 1989 to 1999 he kept the books and the kitchen of Ariane Mnouchkine's Théâtre du Soleil at the Cartoucherie de Vincennes: ten years feeding, every day, a company known all over the world, between the seriousness of the accounts and creation that never stops. In 1991, invited as an author to a national training course for theatre teachers (French Ministry of Culture / ANRAT), he met Peter Brook. From that meeting came the method he has practised ever since, that of the empty space: all you need is a place, someone who does and someone who watches. In the same years he also worked on the exhibitions of the Musée des Pays de Seine-et-Marne in Saint-Cyr-sur-Morin: ordinary objects that tell whole lives.
The trade of preventing accidents
Since 2006 he has helped kitchens and food companies make sure nobody gets ill: he trains teams in hygiene rules (the HACCP method), he prepares the files that allow a large kitchen to get its licence, and he comes on site to check that everything is done by the rules. He does the same work for safety at work: looking at each workstation, imagining what could go wrong before it happens, and following the figures. He is currently taking recognised qualifications in this trade (FSSC 22000 auditor, Six Sigma Black Belt), and is applying for three short courses to support his services and the association (see below).
From this trade, La Lettre has kept its discipline: everything is written down in registers, and we apply the green light rule: you only move on to the next step if the step before is really finished.
A method: the dramatic cards
Over the years, with Dr Pierre Benghozi, child psychiatrist and psychoanalyst in Hyères, he developed the dramatic cards method, inspired by two great screenwriters, Mankiewicz and Wilder. The principle is simple: for each character, you write on a card what they want, what they know, what they hide; then you play the scene and watch what happens. Open workshops bring it to life: everyone invents a character, writes their scene, and discovers that what they have just done is real know-how, which can be described, watched and proven.
On this museum poster, a clog-maker's gouge. When his wife died, the craftsman replaced the tool's ferrule with her wedding ring, “so that her memory would accompany him in his daily labour”. What he wants, what he knows, what he hides: it all fits in one object. It is a dramatic card before its time, and it is what the workshops teach you to see.
“Dépliez” poster, Musée des Pays de Seine-et-Marne, Saint-Cyr-sur-Morin, 1990s. © Musée des Pays de Seine-et-Marne / Département de Seine-et-Marne.La Lettre, today
In 2026, this road becomes two houses carried by one shared story. The association, based in Burel (Marseille) and Carami (Brignoles), teaches people by having them do: its big training course is building a video game with an AI. What they can do is then written down and signed by professionals, and these papers open doors to work and training. The production company makes the video game "La Lettre" and its engine: an artificial intelligence that can choose the path of the story, but never where it has to arrive.
Each keeps an eye on the other. The theatre gave the method, the risk trade gave the discipline, and the game gives them a playground.
What I do, in detail
Two forms, never mixed: what is invoiced is invoiced by the sole trader; what is voluntary is carried by the association. Each has its own cash, accounts and guarantor.
For profitinvoiced · sole trader
Invoiced by Jean-Cyrille Merle-Remond, sole trader (SIREN 490 693 512). Quote within 48 hours; terms of sale in plain language; a named guarantor in every quote.
- Food hygiene and safety. HACCP training on the client's premises, the “Sur le fil” course, health-approval files, ISO 22000 and FSSC 22000 audits. see →
- Accident prevention at work. Risk assessment by workstation, musculoskeletal disorders, training and equipment duties, warning indicators, action plan. see →
- Video game and AI workshop (4 hours). Discovering how a video game is built with an AI as a tool, for groups and individuals. see →
- Building a character. Preparing a public speech: a seven-line card, three rules, five moments, a guarantor of the speech. see →
- Company in difficulty. Intensive support for very small and small businesses in serious difficulty; a free trial week when an emergency arises. Anonymised templates published. see →
- Talks. Universities, conferences, start-up fairs, support networks: three field methods, one real anonymised case, a practical sheet for the room. see →
Not for profitvoluntary · association
Carried by the LA LETTRE association (French 1901-law association, being set up), on a voluntary basis. None of these activities is invoiced.
- The training course: building a video game with an AI. 600 hours in seven blocks, linked to the blocks of two French vocational titles (RNCP37674, RNCP42140); signed witness statements, validation by the certifier's jury. see →
- The welcome desk. Preparing your formalities: papers, before a dispute, at the notary's, budget and rent. Showing good faith to the bailiff, in writing. Never legal advice. see →
- The tenants' association. Weekly desk, service charges, arrears, repair claims, tenant consultation, preparation of the 2030 tenant-representative elections. see →
- Participatory accommodation. Rooms open to everyone, including those who cannot be themselves in everyday life; written house rules, a guarantor; never without the landlord's written agreement. see →
- The spoken-word workshop for young people. Presenting your work to the group, then to a jury, in five moments and three rules. see →
- The territory files. Burel (Marseille): training first. Carami (Brignoles): each proposal linked to an axis of the 2024-2030 city contract, costed and evaluated. see →
The production company (planned, not yet incorporated)planned
The video game “La Lettre”: one night in 1919 in Montmartre, three characters, ten obligatory moments; a controlled generative drama engine, where the AI chooses the path, never the destination. see →
I am also training
Three short courses, each chosen for a precise reason: they make an existing service billable and immediately serve the association; and a fourth, at university, targeted for the following session. The two certifications already in progress (FSSC 22000, Six Sigma) are funded by France Travail; the three applications below are presented in the same framework, in the week of 27 October 2026. Their status will be updated after the meeting.
Certification listed in the French specific register (RS7336, Manitude), active until 27 October 2028.
What it makes possible: The “Building a character” service and the association's spoken-word workshop.
255 hours, 30 ECTS, fully online, one year.
What it makes possible: The “Company in difficulty” service (employees, works council, social debts) and the tenants' association.
50-hour course unit, 6 ECTS, no prerequisites.
What it makes possible: Dialogue with the city, the agglomeration and the landlord: city contract, tenant consultation, calls for projects.
230 hours over eight months; application for the 2027-2028 session.
What it makes possible: The legal side of the “Company in difficulty” service.
The full detail is in the detailed CV (in French), which can be downloaded as a PDF.
Talk, take part, build
The project is being set up. The door is open.