The Film Industry Is Contracting “But It Has Opened A Lane For Us,” Says Tom Quinn About Neon’s Streak; Indie Studio Counts 21 Golden Globe Noms
Amid noise that Neon is for sale in a motion picture industry that’s shrinking with Warner Bros bound to get acquired, the indie distribution label’s co-founder and CEO Tom Quinn isn’t sweating any of this.
Back at the Zurich Summit, Quinn said on stage in response to the swirling for-sale rumors about Neon, “Sadly, we’re all for sale.”
On Sunday on the red carpet at the Golden Globes, where the label is armed with 21 nominations (most for any studio), Quinn expounded on the industry’s contraction, saying, “There’s the version of this where you’re a publicly traded company where you’re for sale every day. Then there’s an exit strategy which some companies build.”
Neon is neither: “This is what I love, this is my passion, it’s my pursuit; my team that works for me feels the same,” Quinn told Deadline Awards Editor Antonia Blyth this afternoon.
“I’m greatly concerned about the amount of contraction in the industry or lack of competition, but it has opened a lane for us. While there’s a silver lining here, I think you’ll see more companies filling those open slots,” he added.
In regard to Neon’s nomination count tonight, especially in the wake of Anora collecting five Oscars last year including Best Picture, Quinn tells Deadline, “I feel very bullish, these movies are the best movies of the year.”
Neon’s multitude tonight includes myriad Cannes Film Festival winners from last year including Palme d’Or winner It Was Just an Accident which has four noms tonight including Best Motion Picture – Drama and Director for Jafar Panahi. Then there’s Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value, which won the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes, up for eight noms tonight including Best Motion Picture – Drama.
Says Quinn about Neon: “We’re a small independent studio, we’re dedicated to cinema form the world over, we operate at a different budget. We’re not a billion-dollar juggernaut. To see these movies over perform here at the Golden Globes, I’m overwhelmed, but I’m extremely excited that people recognize this kind of cinema and it’s our lifeblood as a company.”
