Neon, the studio behind “Anora” and “Parasite,” and Waypoint Entertainment, the production and financing company behind “The Favourite” and “Hostiles,” have expanded their partnership with a multi-picture slate financing deal. In addition to “Splitsville,” a romantic comedy which was released on Sept. 5, the films include “Arco,” “No Other Choice,” “Sentimental Value,” “Sirât,” and “The Secret Agent,” with Waypoint Entertainment’s genre label Cweature Features coming on board for “Keeper” and “Shelby Oaks.”
Neon and Waypoint’s existing co-financing partnership came about after a successful collaboration on Tilman Singer’s “Cuckoo,” starring Hunter Schafer and Dan Stevens. The two companies went on to collaborate on a number of films including Osgood Perkins’ “Longlegs”; the upcoming Boots Riley feature “I Love Boosters,” starring Keke Palmer, Naomi Ackie, LaKeith Stanfield, Demi Moore and Eiza González; and Damian McCarthy’s “Hokum,” starring Andrew Scott, which Cweature Features recently came on board to co-produce.
The deal was negotiated by Neon founder Tom Quinn and chief financial officer Ryan Friscia, as well as Waypoint co-founder Ken Kao and partner Josh Rosenbaum.
This awards season, five Neon films have been presented by countries as official selections for the best international feature film category for the Academy Awards. Four of these titles — “The Secret Agent” for Brazil, releasing Nov. 26; “Sirât” for Spain; “Sentimental Value” for Norway, releasing on Nov. 7; and “No Other Choice” for South Korea, releasing Dec. 25 — are part of the newly expanded Waypoint partnership. They join “It Was Just An Accident” (France), which was released Oct. 15 and also captured the Palme d’Or at Cannes this year. Neon’s recent releases include “Together” starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco, and Raoul Peck’s “Orwell: 2+2=5.”
For more than a decade, Waypoint has worked with leading auteurs such as Yorgos Lanthimos, Scott Cooper, Terrence Malick and Martin Scorsese. Last year, the company launched Cweature Features. Waypoint recently backed “She Rides Shotgun” and is working on “Project Hail Mary,” an adventure film from Phil Lord and Chris Miller that stars Ryan Gosling.
(Pictured: Ryan Friscia, Tom Quinn, Ken Kao and Josh Rosenbaum at the premiere of “Cuckoo” as part of SXSW 2024.)
