‘Origin’ Film Calls Out Distributor For Not Inviting Ava DuVernay To Oscars Party
The distributor behind Ava DuVernay’s “Origin” is being called out for not inviting the director and other filmmakers to an Oscars party.
Neon, the film production and distribution company behind “Origin,” hosted a star-studded Oscars party at the Hollywood Athletic Club on Sunday to celebrate its Academy Award win for “Anatomy of a Fall,” which won best original screenplay and was also nominated for best picture, director, actress and editing, Variety reports. While many were in attendance, DuVernay and “Origin” producer Paul Garnes left the Oscars and attended the Vanity Fair party instead.
By Monday, a tweet from “Origin’s” since-deleted Twitter account called out Neon’s founders CEO Tom Quinn and Tim League for the apparent snub.
“Is it odd that the filmmakers of Neon’s current film in theaters weren’t invited to this Neon celebration? Nope. Standard operating procedure for [founder Tom] Quinn and team. That’s how Neon rolls. More on this later,” the tweet read.
“Origin” is DuVernay’s adaptation of Isabel Wilkerson’s 2020 non-fiction book “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents” that compares racism in the United States to Nazi Germany and the Indian caste system. While the film received critical acclaim, it failed to receive widespread attention or generate any award nominations.
Neon picked up the film for distribution before its premiere at the Venice Film Festival last September. While an awards-qualifying run was expected, it failed to happen following its January release.
The since-deleted Twitter account for “Origin” wasn’t run by Neon and in recent weeks had begun reposting tweets that accused the distributor of “fumbling” and “botching” the film’s release and awards potential. Other tweets questioned Neon’s lack of promotion for the film and that of Michael Mann’s “Ferrari,” which was released in December but also failed to attract Oscars buzz.
One tweet reposted a screenshot of a ShowBiz 411 article that claimed “Neon Pictures has already snuffed out Ava DuVernay’s ‘Origin’ and Michael Mann’s ‘Ferrari.’ What happened to this company? They certainly put all their eggs in the ‘Anatomy of a Fall’ Basket. And that one has not even made $5 million after 19 weeks!”
Neon has remained silent on the deleted Twitter account. On Tuesday, the company shared a highlight video celebrating the film’s star Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor for giving “one of the year’s most stunning performances.” The post also promotes “Origin” in theaters and being available digitally.
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