Nicolas Altmayer & Dior Executive Mathilde Favier Die In Car Accident

French film producer Nicolas Altmayer and Dior PR executive Mathilde Favier have died in a car accident in France, local authorities announced this afternoon. 

French media reports state the couple was killed around 4 pm on Monday on a road in the northern part of the Deux-Sèvres department in western France. The couple’s car “collided with a heavy goods vehicle traveling in the opposite direction, while they were overtaking another vehicle,” the local police chief told AFP. Local authorities have opened an investigation into involuntary manslaughter by a driver to determine the circumstances of the crash.

Favier, 57, was the public relations director for the Dior brand, and Altmayer, 61, was one of France’s most prolific indie producers. He headed the company Mandarin & Compagnie with his brother Éric. Their credits include François Ozon’s Young & Beautiful, Summer of 85, and The New Girlfriend. Altmayer was also behind popular titles like Michel Hazanavicius’ OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies. And, more recently, Julia Ducournau’s Alpha. In 2017, Nicolas and Éric Altmayer received the honorary Daniel Toscan du Plantier César Award, which honors French producers.

In a statement on X, Ozon wrote: “Shock and sadness. Nicolas Altmayer was a great producer. A supporter and a friend.”

Dior CEO Delphine Arnault described Favier as “an exceptional woman whose infectious joy, talent and loyalty were exemplary” in a post on Instagram. 

“She embodied the Dior woman so perfectly. During these tragic times, my thoughts are with her family, her children, Héloïse and Carlo, her mother, her sisters Victoire and Pauline, her uncle, her many friends, and the team she loved so dearly. Her energy, her smile, and her elegance will be sorely missed,” the post ended.