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
13.01.2023 - 14:33
/ deadline.com
EXCLUSIVE: Original Wild Bunch co-founders Vincent Maraval and Brahim Chioua bid farewell to the legendary company name they created in 2002 at a party in Paris on Thursday evening.
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.
The pair are in the process of securing a new name but the public dropping of the Wild Bunch moniker marks a decisive move for them and their team as they continue to build the new company.
Having previously taken inspiration from Sam Peckinpah’s 1969 classic The Wild Bunch, their hoped-for-new banner is taken from a 1990s classic, but the pair are awaiting permission from its A-list director before officially going ahead with the idea.
Deadline sat down with Maraval and Chioua in Paris to discuss the name change and their plans for the company in the future.
WBI has continued to dominate at major markets and festivals, handling sales on established A-list festival regulars such as Ken Loach, Claire Denis, Kore-Eda Hirokazu, Maïwenn, Gaspard Noé, Hayao Myiazaki, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne and Cristian Mungiu as well as scout breakout works by newcomers such as Julia Ducournau’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner Titane, Audrey Diwan’s Venice