Wild Bunch’s Vincent Maraval & Brahim Chioua Talk New Era As They Move On From The Company’s Iconic Name: “I’ve Been Through My Period Of Mourning” — Deadline Q&A
January 13, 2023
At a party in Paris on Thursday evening, original Wild Bunch co-founders Vincent Maraval and Brahim Chioua bid farewell to the legendary company name they created in 2002.
The move cements the separation of their assets from the pan-European Wild Bunch AG film group, which was created in 2015 out of the merger of their original French company Wild Bunch and Germany’s Senator Film and is now majority-owned by German entrepreneur Lars Windhorst.
This means Wild Bunch AG no longer owns its 20% stake in the independent standalone international sales company Maraval and Chioua and their 15-strong team launched in 2019 under the banner of Wild Bunch International (WBI).
The company is now been majority owned by Maraval and Chioua and its staff, with CAA also holding a 20% stake.
WBI has continued to dominate at major markets and festivals, handling sales on established A-list festival regulars.
The company also launched boutique feature animation-focused sales label Gebeka International in partnership with French animation specialist Gebeka, while Maraval also continues to work with Kim Fox at Santa Monica-based sales company The Veterans, in which WBI has a 50% stake alongside MadRiver Pictures.
Maraval and Chioua have also steered the company towards development and production with the creation of Wild West, a joint venture with film company Capricci aimed at developing and producing genre fare, as well as Le Collectif 64 with the producer Marc Dujardin.
Outside the company umbrella, Maraval, Chioua and Noëmie Devide launched the indie production label Getaway Films in 2019, which has since produced Alexandra Aja’s Netflix Original Oxygen as well as Michel Hazanavicius’s Cannes 2022 opener Final Cut and Dario Argento’s comeback melo-horror Dark Glasses.
Source: https://deadline.com/2023/01/wild-bunch-vincent-maraval-brahim-chioua-new-company-name-1235220893/
Wild Bunch International Reveals New Name – Does It Amuse You?
March 29, 2023
Wild Bunch International, which bid farewell to its legendary company moniker at a bash in Paris in January, has announced its new name.
Taking inspiration from Martin Scorsese’s Oscar-nominated 1990 hit, the international sales company has been renamed as Goodfellas.
Source: https://deadline.com/2023/03/wild-bunch-international-renamed-goodfellas-1235312571/
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Wild Bunch’s Vincent Maraval Talks Cannes, Venice, Netflix & Industry Opportunities — San Sebastian
September 19, 2022
The topic of streaming loomed large over the first session of San Sebastian’s new Creative Investors’ Conference featuring a keynote by Wild Bunch co-founder Vincent Maraval.
During the lengthy and wide-ranging session, Maraval was joined by CAA Media Finance’s Roeg Sutherland who asked him the extent to which he deals with Netflix, to which he responded: “Of course, I will deal with Netflix.”
Wild Bunch previously struck a lucrative deal with the streamer on a Studio Ghibli catalogue and has also reportedly sold new Johnny Depp film Jeanne Du Barry to the company for France.
“I think it is our chance,” Maraval said of the streamer. “And I think the chance of Netflix is cinema. If Netflix wants to survive against better-capitalized companies like Amazon and Apple their chance is through cinema.”
Maraval later added that he is very “positive” about the streamer and the only reservation he has about working with them is that his first directive for any film he handles is that it is released theatrically.
Maraval’s comments on streamers and theatrical distribution quickly prompted Sutherland to press him for his opinion on the challenged relationship between the Cannes Film Festival and Netflix. Maraval’s Wild Bunch has long enjoyed a large presence at the festival. This year, the company screened 12 films across the festival’s sections. Netflix films, however, haven’t played in the Cannes Official Selection since 2017.
Cannes’ approach to Netflix wasn’t the only issue Maraval identified in the international festival market. Later in the session, Maraval highlighted what he described as an equally challenging issue with the way the Venice Film Festival has embraced Netflix.
“I think Venice is doing the total opposite mistake, which is that the four first days of Venice look like the Netflix film festival,” he said. “Ted Sarandos is on the red carpet welcoming people. And I think Venice sold its soul to Netflix. But I think refusing films because they are not going out theatrically is a mistake. I think someone who selects movies should focus on the quality of the film.”
Source: https://deadline.com/2022/09/vincent-maraval-cannes-venice-netflix-san-sebastian-1235121916/
Wild Bunch International’s Vincent Maraval on Taking a Bet on Johnny Depp, the Need to Take Risks
Backing a film in which Johnny Depp will play French King Louis XV is what Wild Bunch International head Vincent Maraval describes as part of the risk taking that is essential to this business.
In a keynote interview with CAA Media Finance’s Roeg Sutherland at San Sebastian’s first Creative Investors Conference on Monday, Maraval discussed his 23 years in the business – failing to bet on “Black Swan,” but going for it with Depp’s first film since the Amber Heard trial.
Netflix is releasing this French-language production on SVOD, after a theatrical release in France. Wild Bunch is handling international sales.
Maraval said during the keynote that his “Jeanne du Barry” partner Netflix was positive for the business.
“Netflix is a real force for us,” he said. “Of course I work with them, and I think their chance to survive is cinema. The studios controlled 90% of the market. For the first time in history, there is an independent company that has control. We know it won’t last, and that it will be a parenthesis in history that the independents controlled the business. People complain about them but I think it’s our chance.”
He added: “We need to be able to take advantage of the streaming business to get stronger. I think that cinema distribution will survive for sure but it will be different.”
Source: https://variety.com/2022/film/festivals/vincent-maraval-roeg-sutherland-san-sebastian-1235377301/
Wild Bunch’s Vincent Maraval On The “Huge Growth Potential” Of The Saudi Film Market And Its Similarities With China
December 5, 2022
Wild Bunch co-founder Vincent Maraval drew comparisons between the burgeoning film industry in Saudi Arabia with that of China during a business-focused keynote at the Red Sea film festival this morning.
“When I started working, like, 25-30 years ago, the Middle East was basically Lebanon,” he said. “Today that has all changed. The growth of the region in terms of box office, streamers, and Netflix is coming, but most of the streamers will come. What happened in Saudi Arabia in the last five years is on a scale very comparable to the growth rate of Chinese exportation.”
He added that there is “huge growth potential” to be had in Saudi Arabia as well as the whole MENA region, but industry professionals must establish a greater understanding of audience consumption and taste in the region now and in the future.
“There is also a huge potential not only here, but it will probably be the same in Africa too,” he said. “We can see there’s a middle class in Africa coming and subscribing to streaming services and going to the cinema. They are building theaters.”
Source: https://deadline.com/2022/12/wild-bunchs-vincent-maraval-on-the-huge-growth-potential-of-the-saudi-film-market-1235189268/
"The cinema market is all about exceptions", according to Vincent Maraval
12/01/2023 - The head of Wild Bunch International sheds light on the current state of affairs at the Unifrance Film Meetings in Paris
"On the American market, when it comes to the independent film sector, the traditional model has been replaced by the streaming model. Independent film has disappeared from cinemas. The American market is still more reliant on blockbusters. But studios are beginning to return to cinema releases, as Warner has done with one-to-two-month cinema windows. Broadly speaking, I think that’s the right kind of chronology for today’s world. As for the fabric of independent American producers, I believe it’s disappeared, because when you’re producing for platforms you’re not really independent anymore. Moreover, many of them have opted for series, which has left a hole. Foreign cinema, meanwhile, is hardly ever released in American cinemas now, unless for advertising purposes before dropping on platforms."
"That said, there does tend to be a pendulum effect, in the long term: we saw the rapid expansion of Miramax, for example, and the studios’ subsidiaries disappearing, etc. But it only took The King’s Speech [+] for all this to be reversed, because it’s always the exceptions which dictate trends and the market. Nevertheless, it’s possible that a certain type of viewer – sophisticated, well-off – has left cinemas behind because they’ve developed new habits. But, more generally speaking, I don’t believe the American market, which has been the focal point for film exports for a long time, is the market to watch anymore."
Source: https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/436632/
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Thank you so much dear friend for providing all this valuable information that you have searched 😊💙❤ You have been a great help 🤗
Okay so for all the followers and friends on my blog, we have some new information about Wild Bunch International.
Wild Bunch AG is a pan-European Intl film distribution company. In Nov 2021, Ron Meyer (CAA co-founder) was named CEO of WB AG.
Wild Bunch Intl now named Goodfellas is a renowned sales and production company. It has a record of movies that have been featured at International film festivals. They have been dominating major markets and festivals. It has a history of having relationships with world-renowned directors. WBI boarded sales of Amelia’s Children and other European films, revealed in Feb 2023.
WBI departed from WB AG in January 2023 and then revealed its new name in March 2023. Vincent Maraval and Brahim Chioua are the co founders of WBI.
WB AG does not hold 20% stakes in Goodfellas. It is now owned by Maraval and Brahim. CAA holds 20% stakes in Goodfellas.
The first context talks about the above mentioned points as well Maraval and Chioua’ launching of Wild West and Getaway Films and the movies that have been produced under them.
Second part of the info is about current new film markets and Goodfellas partnership with CAA and Netflix.
WBI is responsible of selling Johnny Depp’s Jeanne Du Barry to Netflix France and Netflix USA. Depp.
Maraval’s WBI has long enjoyed its presence at Cannes Film Festival.
New developing markets with huge growth potential are MENA region and Africa.
The American market has changed and the traditional model has been replaced by the streaming model. Independent films have disappeared from cinema except for blockbusters.
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