Cuckoo

Source: Courtesy of NEON / Photography by Felix Dickinson of Studio AAA

Cuckoo

Neon and Waypoint have struck a strategic financial partnership to collaborate on a theatrical slate of “bold, genre-spanning”larger independent features.

The non-exclusive pact sees Waypoint, led by Ken Kao, invest in the slate after the partners worked together on Tilman Singer’s Cuckoo, which premiered in Berlinale Special gala last month.

Waypoint founder and president Kao said, “Our joint venture will focus on the underserved market of larger independent films, specifically in the $10m+ range that often get overlooked by studios and streamers.”

Neon founder and CEO Tom Quinn hailed Waypoint’s “commitment and unique ability to create bold, beautiful cinema”.

Neon’s international sales team lead by Kristen Figeroid handled sales on Cuckoo and will do so on the upcoming slate. Neon will release Cuckoo in the US in May. Further details on the pact are expected in due course.

Ryan Friscia and Emily Thomas negotiated the arrangement for Neon with Waypoint’s Josh Rosenbaum and Alan Sacks at Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz.

Neon recently earned seven Oscar nominations and won best original screenplay for Justine Triet and Arthur Harari for Anatomy Of A Fall. The upcoming slate features Steven Soderbergh’s Presence, which the company acquired at Sundance, and Immaculate starring Sydney Sweeney.

Waypoint’s credits include Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Favourite and Shane Black’s detective thriller The Nice Guys. The company serves as executive producer on Aneil Karia’s contemporary adaptation of Hamlet starring Riz Ahmed, and Nick Rowland’s crime thriller She Rides Shotgun with Taron Egerton.