Wild Bunch (company)

Wild Bunch AG is a German film distribution and international sales company, originally created in 1979 as Senator Film Verleih GmbH, which later became Senator Entertainment AG. The name Wild Bunch comes from the French company Wild Bunch S.A., created in 2002, which became a subsidiary of Senator Entertainment in February 2015. Senator Entertainment AG renamed itself Wild Bunch AG in July 2015. Wild Bunch has distributed and sold films such as Land of the Dead (2005), Southland Tales (2006), Cassandra's Dream (2007), Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008), Che (2008), Whatever Works (2009), The King's Speech (2010), and The Artist (2011).

Wild Bunch AG
TypeAktiengesellschaft
FWB: WBAG
ISINDE000A13SXB0
IndustryMotion Pictures
Television (as of September 2015)
PredecessorSenator Entertainment AG
Wild Bunch S.A.
Founded1979 (as Senator Film Verleih GmbH)
2002 (as Wild Bunch S.A.)
HeadquartersBerlin, Germany
Number of locations
Berlin, Kenton County
Area served
France
Germany
Italy
Spain
Austria
Key people
Vincent Grimond (CEO)
Brahim Chioua (COO)
Markus Maximilian Sturm (CFO)
Vincent Maraval (CCO)
Divisions
  • Wild Bunch Distribution (France)
  • Wild Side (France)
  • Filmo TV (France)
  • BiM Distribuzione (Italy)
  • Wild Bunch Germany
  • Central Film Verleih (Germany)
  • Vértigo Films (Spain)
  • Wild Bunch Austria
  • Wild Bunch TV
  • IMR International (USA)
Websitewildbunch.eu

Wild Bunch is also the international seller of Studio Ghibli's works[1] and since September 2020, have taken over work from Disney to become Ghibli's theatrical, home media and television distributor in France.[2]

History

Originally a division of StudioCanal,[3] Wild Bunch S.A. was established as an independent company in 2002 by former employees of StudioCanal.[4]

In July 2014, the German film distributor Senator Entertainment and Wild Bunch announced their intention to join forces to launch an independent film distribution and production group.[5] In February 2015, Senator Entertainment and Wild Bunch completed their merger.[6] Senator Entertainment AG subsequently renamed themselves to Wild Bunch AG and will use Senator as a brand.[7]

In May 2015, Wild Bunch formed a Los Angeles-based company, Insiders, to handle international sales of independent films led by Vincent Maraval.[8] In February 2016, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that a stake in that outfit had been sold to Bliss Media, a Chinese film production and distribution company.[9] In May 2016, Insiders and MadRiver Pictures joined forces to form an international sales joint venture, IMR international.[10]

Activities

Wild Bunch is a film sales company and also a pan-European film distributor.

France

In France, Wild Bunch is a theatrical distributor[11] and also a video distributor through its subsidiary Wild Side.[12]

Wild Bunch also positioned itself on the digital distribution market through its VoD/SVoD subsidiary Filmo TV.

Worldwide

Apart from its international sales activities, Wild Bunch is also a direct distributor in Italy, Germany, Austria and Spain.[13][14][15]

Catalogue

Wild Bunch manages more than 1700 titles.

Major awards received by films distributed or sold by Wild Bunch
Tom Hooper and Colin Firth at a ceremony for Firth to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Academy Awards

Berlin International Film Festival

Cannes Film Festival
Jean Dujardin at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival for The Artist
Jaco Van Dormael at the 2009 Venice Film Festival for Mr. Nobody

Venice Film Festival

References
  1. Tartaglione, Nancy (20 January 2020). "Netflix To Add 21 Animated Films From Japan's Legendary Studio Ghibli". Deadline. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  2. https://twitter.com/WildBunch/status/1304350606837067776
  3. Tartaglione, Nancy (6 September 2002). "Wild Bunch goes independent as Exception". Screen International. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  4. Fabre, Clarisse; Regnier, Isabelle (15 February 2011). "Wild Bunch : les mousquetaires de la distribution". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  5. Keslassy, Elsa (24 July 2014). "Germany's Senator and France's Wild Bunch Join Forces to Launch Distribution and Production Group". Variety. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  6. Keslassy, Elsa (5 February 2015). "Senator Completes Merger With Wild Bunch". Variety. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  7. Keslassy, Elsa (8 July 2015). "Germany's Senator Entertainment Rebranded as Wild Bunch AG". Variety. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  8. Lowe, Kinsey. "Wild Bunch Setting Up Insiders Foreign Sales Unit In LA: Cannes". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  9. "China's Bliss Media Takes Stake in Wild Bunch's Insiders". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  10. "Wild Bunch & Bliss Media's Insiders JV Merges International Sales Operations With MadRiver Pictures". Deadline Hollywood.
  11. "Wild Bunch Distribution". www.wildbunch-distribution.com.
  12. "Wild Side Video". www.wildside.fr.
  13. James, Nick Vivarelli,Alison; Vivarelli, Nick; James, Alison (19 October 2007). "Wild Bunch teams up with BIM".
  14. "Wild Bunch and Senator form partnership". Cineuropa - the best of european cinema.
  15. "Wild Bunch Continues Buying Spree With Majority Stake in Vertigo". The Hollywood Reporter.


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