Wild Bunch AG is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

film distribution 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 ''Vicky Cristina Barcelona'' is a 2008 romantic comedy drama film written and directed by Woody Allen. The film stars Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, Rebecca Hall and Scarlett Johansson in lead roles. The plot centers on two American women, V ...

'' (2008), '' Che'' (2008), '' Whatever Works'' (2009), ''

The King's Speech ''The King's Speech'' is a 2010 historical drama film directed by Tom Hooper and written by David Seidler. Colin Firth plays the future King George VI who, to cope with a stammer, sees Lionel Logue, an Australian speech and language ther ...

'' (2010), '' The Artist'' (2011), ''

Titane ''Titane'' (, ) is a 2021 body horror psychological drama film written and directed by Julia Ducournau. The French-Belgian co-production stars Agathe Rousselle in her feature film debut as Alexia, a woman who, after being injured in a car cra ...

'' and ''

Where Is Anne Frank ''Where Is Anne Frank'' is a 2021 animated magic realism film directed by Israeli director Ari Folman. The film follows Kitty, Anne Frank's imaginary friend to whom she addressed her diary, manifesting in contemporary Amsterdam. Seeking to lea ...

'' (2021). Wild Bunch was also formerly an international sales holding company, but they soon divested the division as an independent company in July 2019 as Wild Bunch International, which rebranded as Goodfellas in March 2023 following the expiration of the company's three-year pact to use the Wild Bunch name.

History

Originally a division of

StudioCanal StudioCanal S.A.S. (formerly known as Le Studio Canal+, Canal Plus, Canal+ Distribution, Canal+ D.A., and Canal+ Production and also known as StudioCanal International) is a French film & television production and distribution company which is a ...

, Wild Bunch S.A. was established as an independent company in 2002 by former employees of StudioCanal. In 2011, Wild Bunch took a majority stake (by means of an equity purchase made through a cash injection) of the Spanish indie distributor Vértigo Films. 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. In February 2015, Senator Entertainment and Wild Bunch completed their merger. Senator Entertainment AG subsequently renamed themselves to Wild Bunch AG and will use Senator as a brand. In May 2015, Wild Bunch formed a

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

–based company, Insiders, to handle international sales of independent films led by Vincent Maraval. In February 2016,

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

confirmed that a stake in that outfit had been sold to Bliss Media, a Chinese film production and distribution company. In May 2016, Insiders and MadRiver Pictures joined forces to form an international sales joint venture, IMR international. On 24 July 2018, Wild Bunch received approval from the Tribunal de commerce to move ahead with their restructuring plans. At the beginning of July 2019, the company reorganized all of their international sales activities into a new division, Wild Bunch International. At the beginning of June 2021, they formed the genre-oriented label Wild West with fellow French studio Capricci, and two weeks later, announced a 50/50 animation-oriented sales partnership with French animation distributor Gebeka Films at the 62nd

Annecy International Animation Film Festival The Annecy International Animation Film Festival (, officially abbreviated in English as the Annecy Festival, or simply Annecy) was created in 1960 and takes place at the beginning of June in the town of Annecy, France. Initially occurring ever ...

Activities

Wild Bunch is a film sales company and also a pan-European film distributor. Their former international sales division - Wild Bunch International, now named Goodfellas, pre-sells films from third-party companies.

France

In France, Wild Bunch is a theatrical distributor and also a video distributor through its subsidiary Wild Side. Wild Bunch also positioned itself on the digital distribution market through its VoD/SVoD subsidiar
Filmo TV

Worldwide

Apart from its international sales activities, Wild Bunch is also a direct distributor in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation studio based in Koganei, Tokyo."Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment". ''Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment''. Retrieved 2020-12-14. It has a strong presence in the animation industry and has exp ...

Wild Bunch International functions as

Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation studio based in Koganei, Tokyo."Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment". ''Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment''. Retrieved 2020-12-14. It has a strong presence in the animation industry and has exp ...

's international sales rights holder outside Asia and North America. and since September 2020, have taken over work from

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

to become Ghibli's theatrical, home media and television distributor in France. In December 2022,

StudioCanal UK StudioCanal Limited, trade name, doing business as StudioCanal UK (formerly known as Optimum Releasing), is a British film distribution division and the official British branch of the French film & television production and distribution company ...

, the distributor of the films in the United Kingdom and Ireland, filed a lawsuit against Wild Bunch International over their streaming deal with

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

, citifying that the deal breached an agreement over standalone streaming rights where Wild Bunch claimed that "non-internet" streaming platforms "don't exist". WBI counter-sued StudioCanal UK, where they citified that their distribution deal was recouping distribution expenses against all forms of distribution, and not theatrical as they claimed.

Catalogue

Wild Bunch manages more than 1700 titles.

Major awards received by films distributed or sold by Wild Bunch

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

* '' The Artist'' by

Michel Hazanavicius Michel Hazanavicius ( ; born 29 March 1967) is a French film director, screenwriter, editor, and producer. He is best known for his 2011 film, ''The Artist (film), The Artist'', which won the Academy Award for Best Picture at the 84th Academy Aw ...

in 2012: Best Picture (

Thomas Langmann Thomas Langmann (born 24 May 1971) is a French film producer and actor, known for producing '' The Artist'' (2011), for which he received an Academy Award for Best Picture as producer in 2012. Career Langmann began his career as an actor in his ...

), Best Director (

), Best Actor (

Jean Dujardin Jean Edmond Dujardin (; born 19 June 1972) is a French actor and comedian. He began his career as a stand-up comedian in Paris before guest starring in comedic television programmes and films. He first came to prominence with the cult TV series ...

), Best Original Score (

Ludovic Bource Ludovic Bource (; born 19 August 1970 in Pontivy) is a French composer best known for his work in film scoring. He rose to international critical acclaim in 2011 for composing the Golden Globe- and Academy Award-winning score for '' The Artist'' ...

), and Best Costume Design ( Mark Bridges) * ''

'' by

Tom Hooper Thomas George Hooper (born 5 October 1972)''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005''. 5d: 2485. is a British-Australian filmmaker. Known for his work in film and television he has received numerous accolades includ ...

in 2011: Best Picture ( Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, and Gareth Unwin), Best Director (

), Best Actor (

Colin Firth Colin Andrew Firth (born 10 September 1960) is an English actor and producer. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Colin Firth, several accolades, including an Academy Award, two British Academy Film Awards, BAFTA Aw ...

), and Best Original Screenplay ( David Seidler) * '' Pan's Labyrinth'' by

Guillermo del Toro Guillermo del Toro Gómez (; born 9 October 1964) is a Mexican filmmaker, author, and artist. His work has been characterized by a strong connection to fairy tales, Gothic fiction, gothicism and horror fiction, horror often blending the genres ...

in 2007: Best Art Direction and Best Cinematography * ''

March of the Penguins ''March of the Penguins'' ( French ''La Marche de l'empereur''; ) is a 2005 French feature-length nature documentary directed and co-written by Luc Jacquet, and co-produced by Bonne Pioche and the National Geographic Society. The documentary d ...

'' by Luc Jacquet in 2006: Best Documentary * ''

Spirited Away is a 2001 Japanese Anime film, animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It was produced by Toshio Suzuki, animated by Studio Ghibli, and distributed by Toho.Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, filmmaker, and manga artist. He co-founded Studio Ghibli and serves as honorary chairman. Throughout his career, Miyazaki has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Anime, Japanese ani ...

in 2003: Best Animated Feature

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

* '' Before, Now & Then'' by Kamila Andini in 2022: Silver Bear for Outstanding Supporting Performance for Laura Basuki * '' The Wayward Cloud'' by

Tsai Ming-liang Tsai Ming-liang (; born 27 October 1957) is a Malaysian filmmaker based in Taiwan. Tsai has written and directed 11 feature films, many short films, and television films. He is one of the most celebrated "Second New Wave" film directors of T ...

in 2005: Silver Bear of Outstanding Artistic Achievement * ''

in 2002: Golden Bear

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

* '' Shoplifters'' by

Hirokazu Kore-eda is a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor. He began his career in television and has since directed more than a dozen feature films, including '' Nobody Knows'' (2004), '' Still Walking'' (2008), and '' After the Storm'' ( ...

in 2018: Palme d'Or * '' I, Daniel Blake'' by

Ken Loach Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936) is a retiredhttps://variety.com/2024/film/global/ken-loach-retirement-the-old-oak-jonathan-glazer-oscars-speech-1235956589/ English filmmaker. His socially critical directing style and socialist views ar ...

in 2016: Palme d'Or * '' Goodbye to Language'' by

Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French and Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as ...

in 2014: Prix du Jury * ''

Blue Is the Warmest Colour ''Blue Is the Warmest Colour'' (; ) is a 2013 romantic drama film co-written, co-produced, and directed by Abdellatif Kechiche and starring Léa Seydoux and Adèle Exarchopoulos. The film follows Adèle (Exarchopoulos), a French teenager, who d ...

'' by

Abdellatif Kechiche Abdellatif Kechiche (; , born 7 December 1960), also known as Abdel Kechiche, is a Tunisian-France, French film director, screenwriter and actor. He made his directorial debut in 2000 with ''La Faute à Voltaire'', which he also wrote. Known for ...

in 2013: Palme d'Or * '' The Angels' Share'' by Ken Loach in 2012: Prix du Jury * '' Beyond the Hills'' by Cristian Mungiu in 2012: Best Screenplay and Best Actress for Cristina Flutur et Cosmina Stratan * ''

The Kid with a Bike ''The Kid with a Bike'' () is a 2011 drama film written and directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. Set in Seraing, Belgium, it tells the story of a 12-year-old boy ( Thomas Doret) who turns to a woman (Cécile de France) for comfort after his ...

'' by

Dardenne brothers Brothers Jean-Pierre Dardenne (; born 21 April 1951) and Luc Dardenne (born 10 March 1954), collectively referred to as the Dardenne brothers, are a Belgian filmmaking duo. They write, produce, and direct their films together. Their work tend ...

in 2011: Grand Prix * '' The Artist'' by

in 2011: Best Actor for

* ''

Polisse ''Polisse'' (released at some film festivals as ''Poliss'', ) is a 2011 French crime drama film written, directed by and starring Maïwenn. It also stars Joeystarr, Karin Viard, Marina Foïs, Nicolas Duvauchelle, Emmanuelle Bercot and Ri ...

'' by

Maïwenn Maïwenn Aurélia Nedjma Le Besco (; born 17 April 1976), known mononymously as Maïwenn, is a French actress and filmmaker. Early life Maïwenn Le Besco was born on 17 April 1976 in Les Lilas, Seine-Saint-Denis, the daughter of artist Cather ...

in 2011: Prix du Jury * '' Of Gods and Men'' by

Xavier Beauvois Xavier Beauvois (; born 20 March 1967) is a French actor, film director and screenwriter. Career His film '' Don't Forget You're Going to Die'' was entered into the 1995 Cannes Film Festival where it won the Jury Prize. His film '' Of Gods an ...

in 2010: Grand Prix du Jury * '' 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days'' by Cristian Mungiu in 2007: Palme d'Or * ''

Fahrenheit 9/11 ''Fahrenheit 9/11'' is a 2004 American documentary film directed, written by, and starring Michael Moore. The subjects of the film are the presidency of George W. Bush, the Iraq War, and the media's coverage of the war. In the film, Moore state ...

'' by

Michael Moore Michael Francis Moore is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and author. Moore's work frequently addresses various Social issue, social, political, and economic topics. He first became publicly known for his award-winning debut ...

in 2004: Palme d'Or * '' Oldboy'' by

Park Chan-wook Park Chan-wook (; born 23 August 1963) is a Koreans, South Korean film director, screenwriter, Film producer, producer, and former film critic. He is considered one of the most prominent filmmakers of Cinema of South Korea, South Korean cinema a ...

in 2004: Grand Prix du Jury * '' At Five in the Afternoon'' by Samira Makhmalbaf in 2003: Prix du jury * '' Chi-hwa-seon'' by

Im Kwon-taek Im Kwon-taek (; born December 8, 1934) is one of South Korea's most renowned film directors. In an active and prolific career, his films have won many domestic and international film festival awards, as well as considerable box-office success, ...

in 2002: Best Cinematography * '' The Son's Room'' by

Nanni Moretti Giovanni "Nanni" Moretti (; born 19 August 1953) is an Italian film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. His films have won accolades, including a at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival for ''The Son's Room'', a Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize ...

in 2001: Palme d'Or * '' Blackboards'' by Samira Makhmalbaf in 2000: Prix du Jury

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...

* '' Jackie'' by

Pablo Larraín Pablo Larraín Matte (; born 19 August 1976) is a Chilean filmmaker. He is known for directing films such as ''Neruda (film), Neruda'' (2016), ''Jackie (2016 film), Jackie'' (2016), ''Spencer (film), Spencer'' (2021), ''El Conde (film), El Cond ...

in 2016: Best Screenplay * '' Mr. Nobody'' by

Jaco Van Dormael Jaco Van Dormael (born 9 February 1957) is a Belgium, Belgian film director, screenwriter and playwright. His films especially focus on a respectful and sympathetic portrayal of people with mental and physical disability, disabilities. Van Dorm ...

in 2009: Golden Osella * '' The Wrestler'' by

Darren Aronofsky Darren Aronofsky (born February 12, 1969) is an American Filmmaking, filmmaker. His films are noted for their surreal, dramatic, and often disturbing elements, frequently in the form of psychological realism. His accolades include a Golden Lion ...

in 2008: Golden Lion * '' Mary'' by

Abel Ferrara Abel Ferrara (; born July 19, 1951) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for the provocative and often controversial content in his movies and his use and redefinition of neo-noir imagery. A long-time independent filmmaker, some of his best ...

in 2005: Special Jury Prize * ''

The Magdalene Sisters ''The Magdalene Sisters'' is a 2002 drama film written and directed by Peter Mullan, about three teenage girls who were sent to Magdalene asylums (also known as Magdalene laundries), homes for women who were labelled as " fallen" by their famil ...

'' by Peter Mullan in 2002: Golden Lion

References

External links

* {{Authority control German companies established in 1979 French companies established in 2002 Mass media companies established in 1979 Mass media companies established in 2002 Film distributors of France Film distributors of Germany Film production companies of France Film production companies of Germany Film production companies of the United States Television production companies of France Television production companies of Germany Television production companies of the United States Mass media in Berlin Mass media in Kentucky International sales agents Companies listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange