NEON’s Tom Quinn receives the Zurich Film Festival’s prestigious Game Changer Award

The Game Changer Award pays tribute to excellency in the film business with a focus on leaders that cherish change and forward-thinking approaches in the business. This year, the trophy goes to Tom Quinn, who, with his indie production and distribution company NEON, brought films like ANORA, PARASITE and ANATOMY OF A FALL to success. These films won the Palme d’Or in Cannes and later also achieved wins at the Oscars. Past accomplished recipients of the Game Changer Award include CAA’s Co-Head of the Media Finance department Roeg Sutherland, Academy Award® Best Picture winner Patrick Wachsberger (CODA), Co-Chair & CEO Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group Pamela Abdy and Sony Pictures Classics’ Co-Presidents Michael Barker and Tom Bernard, among others.

Statement Christian Jungen, Zurich Film Festival Director: «Since its inception NEON has been a trailblazer in championing bold, innovative, and visionary auteur cinema. Founder Tom Quinn is a passionate cinephile. Under his leadership, the company has established itself as a dynamic force in independent film. Tom’s exceptional instincts, refined taste, and strategic business acumen have elevated NEON into a globally recognized cult label that bridges the gap between US and international audiences and filmmakers alike. With a deep appreciation for a wide range of genres, Tom has been instrumental in bringing auteur-driven films to theaters worldwide, ensuring their creative visions reach broad and diverse audiences. Through its carefully curated slate, NEON proves that even in today’s challenging environment, artistic quality can achieve major commercial success in cinema. A long-time friend, supporter, and attendee of the Zurich Film Festival, Tom exemplifies the spirit of the Game Changer Award. His unwavering dedication to cinematic excellence and his influential role in shaping the industry make him a deserving recipient of this prestigious honor.»

Statement Tom Quinn, CEO and Founder NEON: «To be honored with the Game Changer Award alongside my peers is incredibly humbling. Zurich as a festival and a Summit is something I relish every year. It’s that rare opportunity we as an industry come together, earnestly assess how we’re doing, and strategize how to continue pushing cinema forward. I’m grateful to be a part of this exceptional gang of global cinephiles and look forward to celebrating each other again at this year’s edition. Thank you Christian, Reta and the entire Zurich Film Festival team for your continued friendship and this special recognition.»

Artistic Vision Meets Box Office Success

Established in 2017 by Quinn, NEON, in just eight years, has garnered 39 Academy Award® nominations (7 this year), 11 total wins (5 this year), including two Best Picture wins, and has grossed over $400M at the box office. The company continues to push boundaries and take creative risks on bold cinema such as Sean Baker’s ANORA, which recently took home five Academy Awards® including Best Picture, and was released in theaters to the highest per-screen average of 2024; as well as Bong Joon Ho’s PARASITE, which made history winning four Academy Awards®, becoming the first non-English-language film to claim Best Picture, and grossed over $54M at the domestic box office.

Recent NEON releases include Osgood Perkins’ horror film THE MONKEY which is based on the short story by Stephen King and marked NEON’s second biggest opening weekend at the box office following Perkins’ LONGLEGS, which is the highest grossing indie horror film in a decade and the top indie film of the year with a domestic box office of $75M. Other recent NEON releases include THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG from Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof, which NEON picked up out of last year’s Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for a BAFTA and selected as the German entry for Best International Feature at the 97th Academy Awards®.

Quinn’s acumen for finding films beloved by audiences and critics alike has led NEON to five consecutive Palme d’Or wins with ANORA, ANATOMY OF A FALL, TRIANGLE OF SADNESS, TITANE, and PARASITE. In Cannes, NEON will premiere Joachim Trier’s SENTIMENTAL VALUE and Julia Ducournau’s ALPHA as well as Raoul Peck’s ORWELL: 2+2=5 and Michael Angelo Covino’s SPLITSVILLE starring Dakota Johnson and Adria Arjona which NEON also produced.

Quinn is credited with having created a new distribution paradigm for such groundbreaking films as SNOWPIERCER, IT FOLLOWS and BACHELORETTE, while simultaneously championing a traditional distribution model for back-to-back Oscar winners 20 FEET FROM STARDOM and CITIZENFOUR. Having acquired, produced and distributed over 400 films spanning a 30-year career, Quinn is responsible for launching 2 distribution labels: the boutique label RADiUS and the groundbreaking genre label Magnet for Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner. He also played a key role in pioneering the use of VOD platforms as the Senior Vice President at Magnolia Pictures. He also created the Oscar Shorts Program and oversaw its distribution for the first 6 years of its existence. Prior to Magnolia, he served as the VP of Acquisitions at Samuel Goldwyn, where he was responsible for SUPER SIZE ME.

The Zurich Summit 2025

The Zurich Summit is a high-profile conference known as the «Davos of the film industry», where innovative leaders and forward-thinking innovators from around the world discuss the state of the entertainment business in relation to film financing, distribution awards and streaming. Taking place every year in the fall within the framework of the Zurich Film Festival in the 100 million German-speaking market, the exclusive and prestigious gathering is organized at the iconic and legendary 5-star The Dolder Grand Hotel in Switzerland. This year’s Zurich Summit will not only address relevant industry topics such as AI, streaming and film financing, but also timely global political questions and their impact on entertainment, which the conference aims to provide solutions for. Find out more about this year's program here.