07/01/2013 - The shock waves created by Vincent Maraval’s column on excessive remuneration has sent out ripples over the past ten days throughout the French cinema industry

The impetuous Vincent Maraval (photo - international salesman and producer with Wild Bunch) set sparks flying with his column published on Friday, December 28, in daily newspaper Le Monde. Criticizing the excessive remuneration of some French directors and actors, and pointing to the economic failures of films "because they are much too expensive", the text was rather like a striptease in a professional environment that is usually more reserved on this topic. The heart of the matter was related to a number of key topics touched upon by recent events, in particular the concentration of funding on certain feature films (read the article - and the interview with Jean-Paul Salomé). 

However, the style of the column, based on ‘name dropping’, and its veering (more or less controlled) towards a questioning of the financing system of the French cinema industry orchestrated by the CNC have attracted unprecedented media enthusiasm. Questionable ‘poujadist’ assertions (fees making actors rich in films that make no money) began to circulate among the general public via the internet and forcing many personalities in the cinema industry (Minister of Culture, producers such as Thomas Langmann of La Petite Reine, Marc Missonnier of Fidélité Films and Christine Gozlan of Thelma Films, critics and institutional members) to put forward explanatory reactions, which were themselves immediately commented on. In short, the frenzy reached boiling point, further enflamed by the outraged responses of artists whose names had been thrown to the wolves (Philippe Lioret and Dany Boon, among others).

While cinemas in France experienced enviable results of 204.26 million admissions in 2012 (which was, however, nevertheless down 5.9% compared with the exceptional year of 2011, and with six consecutive months of decline in the second half of the year), and the market share of French films amounted to 40.2% (versus 45.3% for American productions), Vincent Maraval’s tumultuous intervention opened the door for a future influx that is potentially both positive (a possible remedying of some production excesses) and negative (a ‘civil war’ in the French cinema industry, from which no-one would survive intact). Having become a highly visible figure in the media, this maverick from Wild Bunch must now wisely make use of his new ‘political’ power within a French film industry, the pillar of strength of which has thus far been its unity. 

(Translated from French)