The assumed “rivalry” between A24 and Neon has lastly been dispelled — and it’s really Netflix that Neon counts as their “greatest competitor” for acquisition titles.
Neon founder and CEO Tom Quinn informed Selection that his studio tried to buy current Netflix hits corresponding to Richard Linklater’s “Hit Man,” Todd Haynes’ “Might December,” and Chloe Domont’s Sundance breakout “Truthful Play.” In flip, Netflix beforehand tried to lock down “I, Tonya” and “Portrait of a Woman on Fireplace,” which had been each award-winning Neon releases.
Quinn detailed the way it was Netflix, and never fellow indie studio A24, that turned out to be the primary competitors.
“The trade thinks there’s a rivalry [between Neon and A24], and there’s not,” Quinn stated. “It’s good headlines. I believed they may be our greatest competitor. However because it seems, our greatest competitor has been Netflix. They desperately tried to beat us to purchase ‘I, Tonya’ and ‘Portrait of a Woman on Fireplace,’ and we ended up dropping out to them on ‘Hit Man,’ ‘Might December,’ and ‘Truthful Play.’ There’s a slew of films the place I’m the second-highest bidder [to Netflix].”
There was one current movie, although, that A24 did woo away from Neon: Brady Corbet’s Oscar-winning “The Brutalist.” Whereas “The Brutalist” gained Finest Actor for Adrien Brody (in addition to Finest Authentic Rating for Daniel Blumberg and Finest Cinematography for Lol Crawley), Neon’s “Anora” took the highest title of Finest Image, together with Finest Director, Finest Authentic Screenplay, and Finest Enhancing for Sean Baker, and Finest Actress for Mikey Madison.
Quinn deemed “The Brutalist” a “stone chilly masterpiece.” As Selection reported, author/director Corbet opted to go along with A24 partly as a result of the studio would theatrically exhibit the movie in 70 mm, one thing that Quinn was not sure about at Neon.
“I simply thought, ‘Brady, you’ve spent eight years making this. Let’s just remember to have sufficient time to construct each theater 70 millimeter prints,’” Quinn stated. “‘Let’s not sacrifice something. And I really feel that we’re going to be rushed.’ … As a lot because it harm to say goodbye, I believe Brady made the fitting resolution. He wished to go this yr.”
Quinn added of his strategy to guiding Neon, “We observe the beat of our personal drum. The concept of pandering to the marketing campaign versus being who you might be as a movie is an enormous, stark distinction. We by no means play to the marketing campaign. We all the time play to the movie, filmmaker and viewers — in that order. We’re in a greater place to be very intentional about who we wish to work with. Now we have a actually clear thought of who we’re and what we wish to do in an trade that may be fairly flawed and centered on the development of the day, and approaches each movie as a one measurement suits all.”
Quinn beforehand informed The Hollywood Reporter that Neon and A24 “trade a variety of administrators” and are sometimes each in discussions for a similar movies.
“We choose up motion pictures that they walked away from, and vice versa, however we’re not the identical,” Quinn stated in 2024. “Right here’s a stark distinction: Of their first seven years, they launched three foreign-language movies and three documentaries. We’ve launched 64 — 32 foreign-language movies and 32 documentaries. We’re very completely different, however are very a lot on the identical trajectory. They gained greatest image, and we gained greatest image. However I don’t perceive their enterprise and their valuations. I’m certain a lot of the trade doesn’t both, however extra energy to them.”