PARIS — EuropaCorp producer and co-founder Pierre-Ange le Pogam shook up the French film biz on Thursday when he announced that he will officially step down from his operational functions at EuropaCorp in the coming days.
Le Pogam will remain on as an 8 percent shareholder of the company, with Luc Besson maintaining a 62 percent share.
The Besson-Le Pogam divorce comes after a company shift in direction wherein le Pogam “no longer exercised his strategic functions” according to a statement from Europacorp.
French newspaper Le Figarocalled the surprise departure a “Tsunami in the French Film Industry.”
The billion dollar dynamic duo had been making films together since they founded EuropaCorp in 2000.
Since ad man Christophe Lambert came on in July as general director, Le Pogam had allegedly been upset with the strategy at EuropaCorp.
Le Pogam also reportedly looked down upon Besson’s decision to give his celebrity friends Alain Chabat and Pierre Lescure administrative positions.
Le Pogam will launch his own company that may compete with Europacorp. Le Pogam was responsible for several of Europacorp’s success stories including Tommy Lee Jones’ The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, Radu Mihaileanu’s The Concert and this year’s box-office sensation Guillaume Canet’s Little White Lies.
The EuropaCorp stock was down 1.7 percent as of 09.30 a.m. Paris time Thursday
Luc Besson has yet to comment on the departure of his right-hand man.
