Neon, an Indie Studio With an International Bent, Tops Globes Nominations

Neon scored more film nominations at the Golden Globes than any other studio this year with a slate of six non-English language films.

The indie film studio Neon did the unthinkable in 2020 when it landed the Oscar for best picture for Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite,” becoming the first non-English language film to earn the coveted prize. The company doubled down on its success last year with another best picture win for Sean Baker’s “Anora.”

This year it’s entering the awards race again with six different films vying for space in the awards conversation.

On Sunday, Neon will show up at the Golden Globes with 21 film nominations — the most ever for the company and the most from any one studio this year, including the behemoths Netflix and Warner Bros.

The movies, all of which are non-English language, hail from Norway, Iran, Brazil, South Korea and France. They explore themes of family dysfunction, torture, authoritarianism and corporate greed. And they are vying for prizes usually reserved for English language films: best picture, best director, best actor and best screenplay.

“These are the best films of the year, foreign or otherwise,” Neon’s chief executive, Tom Quinn, said in an interview with his typical bravado.

The Golden Globes are often seen as a kickoff for the rest of awards season, given their early-in-the-year timing. And speeches by winners can jump-start a compelling awards narrative for contenders. But it’s an open question whether the enthusiastic reception to Neon in the nominations will translate into similar success for the Academy Awards. The Globes voting body, a group of more than 300 foreign journalists, does not overlap at all with the more than 10,000 people who choose the Oscars.

“Sentimental Value,” from the Norwegian director Joachim Trier, scored eight nominations, including four in the acting categories. (Only the Warner Bros. front-runner, “One Battle After Another,” has more.) “It Was Just an Accident,” from the Iranian director Jafar Panahi, earned four, including best picture in the drama category and best director. Brazil’s “Secret Agent” and South Korea’s “No Other Choice” got three nods. And two French films, “Sirat” and the animated “Arco,” are also competing for recognition.

The movie business has been convulsing since the Covid-19 pandemic, and box office figures haven’t fully recovered. But Neon, which was founded in 2017, has stayed the course, seeking out the best films from around the world and releasing them carefully in theaters around the country. To Neon, little has changed.

“If you were to look at the numbers, it would be hard to determine whether this was 2002, 2010 or 2019,” Mr. Quinn said of his films’ box office performance. “The numbers are very consistent.”

For many of its films, Neon is following a similar release strategy to the one it used for “Parasite” and “Anora,” which involves unveiling them slowly across the country in ways that maximize the publicity earned from the award shows. “It Was Just an Accident” debuted in October and has already hit streaming services but, according to Mr. Quinn, is only halfway through its box office run.

It has grossed $1.7 million so far, but Mr. Quinn said it “would be a mistake” to assume that number wouldn’t grow.

“It still has a very, very long tail based on what happens Sunday, what happens in the wake of Oscar nominations. It’s a contender across multiple categories. There’s going to be a second and third wave at the box office for that film.”

Mr. Quinn is just as bullish for “Sentimental Value,” which debuted in November and has grossed $4 million. He predicted similar momentum for “No Other Choice,” which opened on Christmas and has grossed $2 million on only 45 screens.

“I think for a certain type of audience, viewing habits have not changed,” he said. “Films like this demand and, I think, solicit repeat viewing.”

Mr. Quinn won’t pick his favorite movie, and he’s not making any predictions for Sunday. He does hope his seating assignment improves this year.

“I’m used to sitting on the outskirts,” he said. “I assume this year, maybe they give us fair do and sit us in the middle.”

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