Swag can appear infinite throughout awards season, whether or not it’s present baggage at red-carpet occasions or for-your-consideration collectibles that studios ship journalists.
However since 2017, probably the most extremely anticipated promotional merchandise amongst movie critics has been the Neon field set, a stunning annual bundle containing all of the indie distributor’s releases on particular person DVDs. In an period when impersonal screener hyperlinks are ubiquitous, the Neon field feels artisanal, unique, elegant and tangible.
Within the course of, it’s grow to be the one piece of swag critics brag about receiving, posting photographs on social media as quickly because the set arrives at their doorsteps — and, not coincidentally, offering Neon with ample free publicity. Not that the great of us at Neon would ever counsel that’s a part of the technique.
“It’s not unwelcome,” says Andrew Brown, Neon’s president of digital distribution, laughing over Zoom when this probably devious ulterior motive is talked about. “We love that people want to share it — we love that people feel enthusiastic about it. I can’t say it was the intent, but we’re really happy that there are fans of it.”
Brown is joined on the decision by Spencer Collantes, vp of artistic advertising and marketing, to recount the field set’s origins courting to the early days of the corporate led by Chief Government Tom Quinn. “In our first year, we were fortunate enough to have a real big contender with ‘I, Tonya,’” Brown remembers. “We had a number of really great films and I’m pretty sure it was Tom’s idea: ‘Hey, we should build a book around it.’ We wanted something really bold. Primary colors. Very reproducible.”
The indie distributor’s chief government, Tom Quinn.
(Los Angeles Occasions Picture Illustration. Pictures by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
The design for Neon’s first set in 2017 — which, mockingly, didn’t embrace “I, Tonya” however did function the studio’s preliminary cult successes, comparable to “Ingrid Goes West” — was easy: just a few DVDs with critics’ blurbs and stills packed in a shiny e-book. However Brown’s group had lofty aspirations for it.
“In our New York office, we have the Janus 50,” says Brown, referring to Criterion’s field set “Essential Art House: 50 Years of Janus Films,” the hefty 50-disc survey of the beloved label’s important masterpieces that was produced in 2006. “That was probably the great-granddaddy of [ours]. Obviously, we’re doing a much smaller version of that, but we wanted something that looks good on a shelf or a coffee table. It is a tool to celebrate our movies and garner attention around them for award season, but we really wanted something that’s a step above.”
After primarily sticking to the identical packaging for its first 4 years, Neon reimagined the field in 2021, creating particular design components for particular person motion pictures in that yr’s slate. Sturdy with out being cumbersome, every new eye-catching version now sports activities its personal arresting design and theme, the set’s growing grandeur reflecting Neon’s rising stature as an Oscar participant. (Its 2019 sensation, “Parasite,” grew to become the primary worldwide movie not primarily within the English language to win the coveted finest image trophy.) Simply don’t ask Collantes to elucidate the hidden narrative behind a selected e-book’s theme.
“I don’t know if I want to put it out there because that’s the fun of these sets,” he says when discussing final yr’s strikingly minimalist structure. “Every single year, there’s something different that everyone picks up from it. There’s a lot of discussion and consideration that goes into all of the different elements — we’re excited about what people have been remarking about online.”
Mikey Madison stars in Neon’s Oscar-nominated “Anora,” from director Sean Baker. (Competition de Cannes)
The containers look pricy, which solely provides to their desirability. Previous units promote on EBay for round $150 to $200, corresponding to some Criterion field units.
“Financially, it makes no sense whatsoever — those things are ridiculously expensive,” Neon’s chief advertising and marketing officer, Christian Parkes, admits in a separate cellphone name. “But they’re also really important because that’s the end-of-year statement. It’s a way of saying thank you to everyone that supported us. And it’s a way for everyone to look back and be like, ‘Yeah, good work, Neon — that’s a good slate.’”
However simply how a lot does Neon spend on these units? Brown gained’t disclose precise numbers, though he confirms that Neon sends out round 3,000 of them to the members of various critics organizations. Is the value tag six figures?
“We spend what we think needs to be spent,” says Brown, drawing a line. “We don’t want it to feel flimsy” — after which provides, jokingly, “We also don’t feel the need to stud it with precious gems.” He factors out that the units comprise DVDs fairly than higher-resolution choices. “These are still [just] screeners. We don’t want these movies to leak in high definition. Some of these movies are in these boxes before they’ve even come out in theaters.”
Because the business continues to grapple with bodily media’s drop in reputation, the enchantment of Neon’s field set mirrors that of vinyl’s old-school bodily pleasures. The good-looking bundle caters to critics who take into consideration motion pictures as significant, enduring objects. And if Neon’s strategy helps encourage these voters to affiliate the specialty distributor with the artwork and craft of movie, nicely, Brown gained’t object.
“We’re well aware that it does set us apart,” he says of the field units. “We know that people welcome our books and we know that our fellow studios look at us and go, ‘Wow, that’s pretty amazing. We wish we could do something like that.’ It’s not a competition — I mean, it’s a competition for the films, but it’s not a competition for the book. We welcome more of this type of thing.”