At CinemaCon, Warner Bros. finally flexed its muscles, announcing a new film-only label run by three creative executives from Oscar-winning indie studio Neon.
The new shingle, dubbed Clockwork, was unveiled by WB Film Heads Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdi at the annual convention of movie theater owners in Las Vegas. The new division will be led by former Neon CMO Christian Parks. He worked for Tom Quinn for about 10 years, working on campaigns for Parasite, Hereditary and Longlegs.
The first project is “Ti Amo!”. Four-time Oscar winner Sean Baker broke away from his regular indie distributors A24 and Neon, and rose to become a blockbuster following the historic success of his previous film, Anora. In February, Baker told Variety that the film was “my love letter to the Italian sex comedies of the ’60s and ’70s.”
Baker will write, direct, edit, cast and produce the film, reuniting with Anora producers Alex Coco and Samantha Quan. Produced by the team’s production companies Cre Film and Rapt Film, the film is financed by FilmNation Entertainment.
Parks’ fellow Neon expats Jason Wold and Sunar Collantes have also joined the new label as head of acquisitions and production and vice president of marketing and creative, respectively. TK’s mission is to develop, produce and acquire “smartly budgeted worldwide theatrical releases with innovative marketing campaigns.” Much like what Neon and A24 have released, creating a generation-defining brand in the process.
Initial directives call for Clockwork to be released two to three times a year. Mr. Parks will report to Mr. De Luca and Mr. Abdi.
