Jean-Paul Andrieu studied history before becoming an illustrator-researcher, then a producer for the radio channel France Culture. He also became a sound technician for movies (documentaries) and collaborated with Jacques Kébadian, Françoise Prenant and, in 1985, with Raymond Depardon for "Une Femme en Afrique". Very deeply influenced by the cinema of Frederick Wiseman ( discovered in the 1970s), he became a documentarist himself with "La Traversée de la France à pied" shown on Arte in 1994 et "Journal de Campagne" shown on France 3 in 1996. From 1998 to the beginning of the year 2000 he filmed the everyday life of the cancerology department of Hôpital Lariboisière in Paris in the excellent "Etats de Service"