As we laid out yesterday, in one of our many post-Oscars pieces, with the massive Best Picture win for “Parasite,” distributor NEON is now an awards season force that everyone will have to pay attention to moving forward. And making the night even more interesting is the fact that NEON beat out the likes of Netflix (who had the most nominations of any studio) in many of those Oscar categories.
In a new interview with IndieWire, NEON co-founder Tom Quinn talked about the future of the industry, with respect to streaming, and why he doesn’t think his distribution company has much to worry about. Oh, and he really wishes people would have had the chance to see “The Irishman” in theaters.
“Our biggest competitor for ‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire’ at Cannes was Netflix,” said Quinn regarding another high-profile NEON release. “They’ve always been interested. The question is, can they build the best model for that film? I don’t know. Sony Classics was in there. They’ve done this for years. It’s weird, but they all benefit each other, even though they’re not at the same table. That’s what I find most fascinating. ‘Marriage Story,’ ‘The Two Popes,’ and ‘The Irishman’ are not on the same shelf space as where we are at the Oscars.”
READ MORE: How The F*ck Did ‘Parasite’ Win Best Picture When We’re So Used To Losing?
Quinn’s resistance to believing Netflix is going to rule Hollywood also boils down to how they release their data. As we all know, the streaming service is reluctant to provide hard data about their films, unless the data is overwhelmingly positive. For the NEON boss, he thinks that there’s something inherently strange about how Netflix releases its data.
“Do they really make decisions based on data?” said Quinn. “Their public data decisions suggest that two minutes are the marker for whether you actually watch a film. They count that as a view. Why not just cut a trailer and call it a day? Take the trailer that wins the most views and go make that movie.”
READ MORE: Bong Joon-Ho Reacts To Historic Oscars For ‘Parasite’: “It’s Really F*cking Crazy!”
Overall, he sees the relationship between traditional distributors/studios and streaming services like Netflix as “symbiotic.” And Quinn feels that by the time his films, which have a traditional theatrical run, hit the streaming field, they’re “more valuable.”
As for what awards season has taught Quinn about the industry? Well, he doesn’t mince his words.
“Everybody needs to fucking settle down and figure out what’s best for each movie,” he said. “The best way to see ‘The Irishman’ was in a theater, without fail. I saw it in a theater. It had my undivided attention. Going to a theater is a massive commitment, but once you go, it’s huge. That’s a relevant thing.”
“Parasite” is getting a big theatrical re-release this weekend and is also available on home media.
