Everyone loves A24 films, but NEON are ones to watch…
What do Anora (2024) and Parasite (2019) have in common? Well first of all, they won the Cannes Film Festival’s top award, the Palme D’or, and survived the eight or nine months awards juggernaut to then go on to win Best Picture. But all the more impressive, is that they were handled by the same distributor – NEON. Now, if you asked a layman to name a distributor, they may simply name one of the bigger studios. If a cinephile was asked to name a distributor, they would most likely say they ‘love A24 films.’ But very few people are aware of the almost clandestine work that NEON does to consistently put its low budget films on the world stage. They are ones to watch.
The business of horror…
In the film business, the horror genre can be a difficult one to sell, particularly if the audience can be difficult to find. But with this risk, comes the corresponding potential of getting the biggest upside. As horrors are notorious for being more than able to be made on low budgets. Back in 2007 Paranormal Activity made history with its $15,000 budget, making $190 million plus at the box office. When it comes to marketing campaigns, it is better to emerge organically, and the more steeped in rumour and myth the better. Think The Blair Witch Project which terrified audiences because they believed it was all a real group of students. Audiences are drawn to these unique USPs in a way they aren’t with other genres.
It happened one night.. The Oscars recap
As Film For Thought correctly predicted, Anora is more of an accessible film and it came away with the top award. Once Emilia Perez was well and truly out of the game, this year, the big question was if it would be A, B or C? Anora, The Brutalist or Conclave. BAFTA awarded Conclave its Best Film award in a relative upset last week, but BAFTA can sometimes be a red herring that isn’t always indicative. The win for Anora makes it just the 3rd film in history to win the Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or and also go on to win the Best Picture Oscar alongside Parasite in 2019 and Marty in 1955.
FILM FOR THOUGHT 