Neon CEO Tom Quinn has heralded the success of Backrooms and Obsession, saying the films show “there’s a younger generation here that’s willing to walk away from their phone.”
Quinn said the box office breakouts were “incredible” for the industry, and he equated it to a Blair Witch Project-style moment. He also claimed some credit for the success, pointing out that Neon-backed Longlegs‘ Osgood Perkins and Chris Ferguson were involved in Backrooms.
Quinn said the wrong lesson from the phenomenon would be to consider them as YouTube movies. “I don’t see it as YouTube or otherwise; I see it as cinema,” he said during an appearance at SXSW London. “And the fact that it’s appealing to a much younger audience — which for me, Gen Z, Gen Alpha, is the most over-indexing theatrical audience for me — is incredible.”
Quinn was not entirely upbeat about the state of the movie business, however. During a thoughtful diatribe (he paused for a few seconds while pondering the biggest challenges facing the industry), Quinn bemoaned the “Uber-ization of the industry.” This was his shorthand for the focus on stock prices and consolidation.
“I worry for the industry greatly. The idea that you’re at a company of 12,000 employees, you’re spending billions of dollars, and this is your end result. This is what you’ve come up with — that concerns me,” he said, without specifying what the this was. “I think there is a real lack of creativity. Creativity matters in this industry.”
Quinn said he was grateful to be independent, but what went unsaid was that Neon has held talks with Mike Larocca and Michael Schaefer’s Department M about selling a significant stake in the company.
Elsewhere in the SXSW conversation chaired by Deadline’s Diana Lodderhose, Quinn talked up Neon’s documentary ambitions. He revealed that Neon has picked up 70 Up, the latest instalment in the UK Up series of docs, once directed by the late Michael Apted. 70 Up is directed by Asif Kapadia. Quinn said it was “one of my favorite film series pieces of IP of all time,” adding: “It’s beautiful. I defy you not to cry seeing this incredible film.”
Reflecting on Fjord winning the Palme d’Or, the seventh in a row for Neon, Quinn said: “Do I feel any pressure? No. Simply being invited [to Cannes] is an honor.” A basketball fan, Quinn said he was happy to have surpassed Michael Jordan’s six NBA championship wins.
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