US production company Department M is reportedly looking to buy a significant stake in Neon, Tom Quinn’s multiple Palme d’Or winner with 18 Oscar nominations this season including four out of five international feature slots.
Representatives for Neon and its majority owner 30West had no comment, neither did the office of Department M co-founder Michael Schaefer when reached on Wednesday afternoon.
Department M is said to be backed by a consortium of investors. The company was launched two years ago by Mike Larocca, the former AGBO president and co-founder, and Schaefer, who previously served as a president of New Regency.
The company produced and financed 2025 TIFF world premiere The Christophers, which Neon acquired for the world in October and just licensed to Picturehouse Entertainment for the UK and Ireland.
Department M also produced the straight-to-Hulu 2025 horror remake The Hand That Rocks The Cradle directed by Mexican genre ace Michelle Garza Cervera that starred Maika Monroe.
Neon’s Quinn has made no secret that the company is open to investment, like many in Hollywood. Speaking at the Zurich Film festival Industry Summit last year, he said: “We are, sadly, all for sale. The conceit of this being a business that was created to achieve an exit was never my aim or goal. If there is an exit, it will appear. This is what I want to do. It is what I want to keep doing.”
Quinn said at the time that the company had received a “ton of incoming” interest in the business, adding that Neon received an initial equity investment and a second equity investment from Dan Friedkin and 30West and had not taken on additional investment since then.
Four years ago, reports emerged that Neon had retained an investment bank to explore a potential sale. The company was linked briefly to Criterion owner Steven Rales, although the billionaire’s interest does not appear to have amounted to anything. It was unclear at time of writing where a deal with a new buyer would leave 30West.
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