‘Parasite’ Child Actor Watched the Oscars at Home and Lost His Mind Over Historic Wins — Watch

Oscar viewers were treated to a historical moment this year when Bong Joon Ho and his “Parasite” cast took the stage at the Dolby Theater to accept the Academy Award for Best Picture, marking the first time a foreign-language film won the top Oscar prize. “Parasite” cast members Song Kang-ho, Park So-dam, and Lee Sun-kyun were all in attendance at the Oscars, but one part of the ensemble who was not on stage was 10-year-old child actor Jeong Hyeon-jun. Jeong was watching the Oscars from home in South Korea, and fortunately Jeong’s family members recorded him losing his mind as “Parasite” earned one history-making Oscar win after another.

“I thought it would be awesome to get it, and we actually won the award!” Jeong told the Associated Press in a video interview from home the day of the Oscars. “So I am wondering if I am in heaven. I think I was born to receive an Oscar.”

“Parasite” marked the first time a South Korean feature film competed for Academy Awards, and the drama was nominated in six categories: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best International Feature Film, Best Production Design, and Best Film Editing. The movie dominated the ceremony by winning the first four aforementioned categories, giving South Korea its first-ever Oscar wins for a feature and breaking through an Oscars glass ceiling. Jeong was too young to make the trip to Hollywood, but it’s clear from the videos below he shared in the world’s excitement over “Parasite’s'” victories.

For Jeong, “Parasite” was his first foray into acting in feature films. Prior to his experience working with Bong, Jeong got his start as an actor on South Korean television series such as “You Are Too Much,” “Through the Waves,” “At Eighteen,” and “Vagabond.” As part of the “Parasite” cast, Jeong received the Screen Actors Guild awards this year for Outstanding Ensemble in a Motion Picture. Watch Jeon flip out over the “Parasite” Oscar wins below.

PARASITE PARTY: 10-year-old #Parasite #기생충 star Jung Hyeon-jun might have been too young to go to the #Oscars – but he still enjoyed the excitement of the best picture win. #AcademyAwards pic.twitter.com/sbn71fJ44z

— AP Entertainment (@APEntertainment) February 18, 2020

‘Parasite’ Rakes in Box Office Even While Streaming, and That’s a Gamechanger

For “Parasite,” Oscars were not the end of its achievements. It will have the biggest post-win gross of any Best Picture since “The King’s Speech” in 2011. And, it will take in the majority of its box-office gross while streaming, selling more tickets as a first-run release while viewable at home than any release ever.

Before we dive too deeply into praise: With the Bonghive following post-Oscar grosses for “Parasite” as if they share personally in the bounty, there’s a risk of “Parasite” becoming the specialized version of last year’s “Avengers: Endgame,” which claimed to be the biggest all-time grosser. (No, “Parasite” is not the fourth-biggest subtitled release. That would require ignoring adjusted ticket prices, as well as films released before 1980 — the golden age of foreign-language films.)

With that out of the way: The real achievements of “Parasite” post awards are significant and worth celebrating. As of February 9, Oscar night, “Parasite” grossed $34 million. As of February 18, it stands at $44 million; after next weekend, $48 million. Given its current strength, it should keep most of its top theaters and cross $55 million. Even $60 million isn’t impossible (although less likely).

“Parasite”

Neon

Nearly $30 Million in Box Office While Home Viewing Available

As of January 13 (the morning Oscar nominations were announced), its gross stood at $25.5 million — nearly four times as big as any specialized subtitled release since 2011, and the best overall since 2006. On January 14, “Parasite” was available for streaming purchase; streaming rentals, along with DVD/Blu-Ray, followed on January 28. Never in history has a first-run release done this well in theaters in the face of these cheaper alternatives.

Boosted by nominations and wins, Oscar films can have extended releases that go past 90-day windows and create day-and-date theater/streaming. Even so, with many people choosing theaters for an event film even while it can be purchased for viewing for $3.99 on ITunes (#2 at the moment, behind “Frozen II”), that has to get the attention of studio executives eager to create more flexible theatrical windows. It’s proof that co-existence, under certain circumstances, works.

A film that can gross as much as $30 million and most of its take while streaming is a historic and important moment. Theaters probably won’t see it that way. Still: At some point, expect a distributor to announce that theaters have the option of playing their top release with possible home availability after 45 or 60 days.

Post-Oscar Box Office: $20 million

At $20 million, “Parasite” would make $5 million more than any Best Picture winner since “The King’s Speech.” If it gets to $25 million post Oscars, it will be the clear winner. Although “Green Book” added $14.5 million, the Best Picture norm is to add $5 million-$6 million (“Green Book” was also already streaming last year.)

“Parasite” is no ordinary Oscar winner, of course. It’s historic; the news coverage has been relentless (and, positive); its victory hit the top of page 1 of the New York Times The film was at the lower end of grosses when it won, so it had room to grow. Its sense as a particularly strong communal experience may have helped theaters. Perhaps the idea of seeing subtitles on a large screen rather than straining at home (particularly for older viewers) aids the surge. And it’s possible new viewers add to the strong word of mouth that boosted this since the start.

“Parasite”

Neon

“Parasite” generated massive numbers in its home country, terrific showings of around $12 million in France and Germany, and reasonable takes elsewhere in advance of the awards. But weirdly, the U.K. release came just two days before the Oscars. Now in its second weekend, “Parasite” doubled its still-limited theaters to 400 and it jumped to #2 in the country with $3.25 million, behind “Sonic the Hedgehog.” It’s grossed about $6.5 million to date — well on its way to taking the no. 3 slot in worldwide performance.

That, of course, comes with no U.K. home viewing yet available. Nine months after its Cannes premiere, it is still a hot title with many more viewers to come.

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‘Parasite’ Rakes in Box Office Even While Streaming, and That’s a Gamechanger

For “Parasite,” Oscars were not the end of its achievements. It will have the biggest post-win gross of any Best Picture since “The King’s Speech” in 2011. And, it will take in the majority of its box-office gross while streaming, selling more tickets as a first-run release while viewable at home than any release ever.

Before we dive too deeply into praise: With the Bonghive following post-Oscar grosses for “Parasite” as if they share personally in the bounty, there’s a risk of “Parasite” becoming the specialized version of last year’s “Avengers: Endgame,” which claimed to be the biggest all-time grosser. (No, “Parasite” is not the fourth-biggest subtitled release. That would require ignoring adjusted ticket prices, as well as films released before 1980 — the golden age of foreign-language films.)

With that out of the way: The real achievements of “Parasite” post awards are significant and worth celebrating. As of February 9, Oscar night, “Parasite” grossed $34 million. As of February 18, it stands at $44 million; after next weekend, $48 million. Given its current strength, it should keep most of its top theaters and cross $55 million. Even $60 million isn’t impossible (although less likely).

“Parasite”

Neon

Nearly $30 Million in Box Office While Home Viewing Available

As of January 13 (the morning Oscar nominations were announced), its gross stood at $25.5 million — nearly four times as big as any specialized subtitled release since 2011, and the best overall since 2006. On January 14, “Parasite” was available for streaming purchase; streaming rentals, along with DVD/Blu-Ray, followed on January 28. Never in history has a first-run release done this well in theaters in the face of these cheaper alternatives.

Boosted by nominations and wins, Oscar films can have extended releases that go past 90-day windows and create day-and-date theater/streaming. Even so, with many people choosing theaters for an event film even while it can be purchased for viewing for $3.99 on ITunes (#2 at the moment, behind “Frozen II”), that has to get the attention of studio executives eager to create more flexible theatrical windows. It’s proof that co-existence, under certain circumstances, works.

A film that can gross as much as $30 million and most of its take while streaming is a historic and important moment. Theaters probably won’t see it that way. Still: At some point, expect a distributor to announce that theaters have the option of playing their top release with possible home availability after 45 or 60 days.

Post-Oscar Box Office: $20 million

At $20 million, “Parasite” would make $5 million more than any Best Picture winner since “The King’s Speech.” If it gets to $25 million post Oscars, it will be the clear winner. Although “Green Book” added $14.5 million, the Best Picture norm is to add $5 million-$6 million (“Green Book” was also already streaming last year.)

“Parasite” is no ordinary Oscar winner, of course. It’s historic; the news coverage has been relentless (and, positive); its victory hit the top of page 1 of the New York Times The film was at the lower end of grosses when it won, so it had room to grow. Its sense as a particularly strong communal experience may have helped theaters. Perhaps the idea of seeing subtitles on a large screen rather than straining at home (particularly for older viewers) aids the surge. And it’s possible new viewers add to the strong word of mouth that boosted this since the start.

“Parasite”

Neon

“Parasite” generated massive numbers in its home country, terrific showings of around $12 million in France and Germany, and reasonable takes elsewhere in advance of the awards. But weirdly, the U.K. release came just two days before the Oscars. Now in its second weekend, “Parasite” doubled its still-limited theaters to 400 and it jumped to #2 in the country with $3.25 million, behind “Sonic the Hedgehog.” It’s grossed about $6.5 million to date — well on its way to taking the no. 3 slot in worldwide performance.

That, of course, comes with no U.K. home viewing yet available. Nine months after its Cannes premiere, it is still a hot title with many more viewers to come.

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Bong Joon Ho’s Translator Sharon Choi Publishes Essay on Her ‘Parasite’ Oscar Season Journey

Sharon Choi, Bong Joon Ho’s awards season translator and the undisputed MVP of Oscar season, had a front row seat to the legendary awards season run of “Parasite.” Choi attended the Cannes Film Festival alongside Bong and was front and center when “Parasite” made history as the first South Korean film to take home the Palme d’Or. Months later, Sharon would take the stage at the Dolby Theater as Bong received Oscars for Best Original Screenplay, Best International Feature Film, Best Director, and Best Picture. “Parasite” is the first South Korean film to win Oscars and the first foreign-language movie to ever be named Best Picture. In between Cannes and the Oscars, Choi traveled with Bong to various festivals and award ceremonies and experienced firsthand the adoration for both the director and “Parasite.” The translator and aspiring filmmaker reminisces on her whirlwind Oscar season in a new first-person essay published on Variety.

“The past six months has been a blur of new cities, microphones and good news, with endless orders of honey lemon tea as I tried to preserve my voice,” Choi writes. “Driven from one crowd to the next, I shook hands with hundreds of people whose eyes shone with the excitement of having watched a special film. Moments alone were still riddled with the absurdity that I was sharing hand sanitizers with a man whose films I’d organized movie nights for in college. Somehow, despite having only micro-short films to my name, I got sucked into the heart of Hollywood.”

Choi explains that she first met Bong when she was asked in April 2019 to interpret a phone interview with the director. Choi was in the middle of trying to start work on a new screenplay when the offer came in, and she had prior experience translating for Lee Chang Dong for a week during the press tour for “Burning.” Bong’s team ultimately asked Choi to travel to Cannes with him, and she vividly writes about the night “Parasite” was unveiled for the first time.

“There was palpable electricity in the Grand Theater Lumiere when the film premiered at Cannes,” Choi writes. “It was moving to see a film about my home country touch people from so many different cultures. The two years I spent in the U.S. as a kid had turned me into a strange hybrid — too Korean to be American, too American to be Korean, and not even Korean American…Two cultures are usually just one too many for a film to contain. And yet here was this story that seemed to effortlessly break through all barriers. Originally, I was only needed at the festival for two days to do English press, but I ended up backstage at the closing ceremony sweating with anticipation until ‘Parasite’ was the only one left on the list of films to win an award.”

As for what it was like translating for Bong, Choi writes, “My job was made easy by his consideration, and it helped that I was already familiar with his language as a filmmaker and a thinker, having written college papers about him. Yet I was constantly battling impostor syndrome, and an anxiety that I might misrepresent the words of someone so beloved in front of people I’d grown up admiring. The only cures for stage fright were ten-second meditations backstage, and knowing that I was not who they were seeing.”

Now that Oscar season is over, Choi is returning to her normal life and her aspiring filmmaking career. Choi told press backstage at the Oscars that she is currently writing a screenplay herself for a new movie. Visit Variety’s website to read Choi’s essay in its entirety.

Bong Joon Ho’s Translator Sharon Choi Publishes Essay on Her ‘Parasite’ Oscar Season Journey

Sharon Choi, Bong Joon Ho’s awards season translator and the undisputed MVP of Oscar season, had a front row seat to the legendary awards season run of “Parasite.” Choi attended the Cannes Film Festival alongside Bong and was front and center when “Parasite” made history as the first South Korean film to take home the Palme d’Or. Months later, Sharon would take the stage at the Dolby Theater as Bong received Oscars for Best Original Screenplay, Best International Feature Film, Best Director, and Best Picture. “Parasite” is the first South Korean film to win Oscars and the first foreign-language movie to ever be named Best Picture. In between Cannes and the Oscars, Choi traveled with Bong to various festivals and award ceremonies and experienced firsthand the adoration for both the director and “Parasite.” The translator and aspiring filmmaker reminisces on her whirlwind Oscar season in a new first-person essay published on Variety.

“The past six months has been a blur of new cities, microphones and good news, with endless orders of honey lemon tea as I tried to preserve my voice,” Choi writes. “Driven from one crowd to the next, I shook hands with hundreds of people whose eyes shone with the excitement of having watched a special film. Moments alone were still riddled with the absurdity that I was sharing hand sanitizers with a man whose films I’d organized movie nights for in college. Somehow, despite having only micro-short films to my name, I got sucked into the heart of Hollywood.”

Choi explains that she first met Bong when she was asked in April 2019 to interpret a phone interview with the director. Choi was in the middle of trying to start work on a new screenplay when the offer came in, and she had prior experience translating for Lee Chang Dong for a week during the press tour for “Burning.” Bong’s team ultimately asked Choi to travel to Cannes with him, and she vividly writes about the night “Parasite” was unveiled for the first time.

“There was palpable electricity in the Grand Theater Lumiere when the film premiered at Cannes,” Choi writes. “It was moving to see a film about my home country touch people from so many different cultures. The two years I spent in the U.S. as a kid had turned me into a strange hybrid — too Korean to be American, too American to be Korean, and not even Korean American…Two cultures are usually just one too many for a film to contain. And yet here was this story that seemed to effortlessly break through all barriers. Originally, I was only needed at the festival for two days to do English press, but I ended up backstage at the closing ceremony sweating with anticipation until ‘Parasite’ was the only one left on the list of films to win an award.”

As for what it was like translating for Bong, Choi writes, “My job was made easy by his consideration, and it helped that I was already familiar with his language as a filmmaker and a thinker, having written college papers about him. Yet I was constantly battling impostor syndrome, and an anxiety that I might misrepresent the words of someone so beloved in front of people I’d grown up admiring. The only cures for stage fright were ten-second meditations backstage, and knowing that I was not who they were seeing.”

Now that Oscar season is over, Choi is returning to her normal life and her aspiring filmmaking career. Choi told press backstage at the Oscars that she is currently writing a screenplay set in the world of Oscar season, which she has firsthand knowledge of now following her run with “Parasite.” Visit Variety’s website to read Choi’s essay in its entirety.

Parasite: Großer Besucherschub nach Oscar-Gewinn

Der Oscar wirkt — und im Falle von «Parasite» auch noch durchaus einträglich: Wie «The Hollywood Reporter» berichtet, verbucht der südkoreanische Comedy-Thriller seit der Oscar-Verleihung immer größere Erfolge. Insgesamt 200 Millionen US-Dollar (185 Millionen Euro) soll der Film von Bong Joon Ho (50) bereits eingenommen haben — gedreht wurde er mit einem Budget von zehn Millionen. Besonders beeindruckend ist dies, da der Film in vielen Ländern schon vor Monaten angelaufen ist und vielerorts auch schon als Video-on-Demand erhältlich ist.

Nachdem «Parasite» bei den Oscars als erster ausländischer Film in der Königskategorie «Bester Film» gewonnen hat, interessieren sich nun auch immer mehr Amerikaner für das Indie-Wunder. Vor der Preisverleihung wurde «Parasite» nur in etwa 1000 US-Kinos gezeigt, jetzt haben ihn 2000 US-Kinos ins Programm genommen. Das zahlt sich aus: Nach dem letzten langen Wochenende (15. — 17.2.) steht er in Amerika nun mit einem Einspielergebnis von 6,8 Millionen Dollar auf Platz sieben der Kino-Charts.

Behind the Scenes of Bong Joon Ho’s Oscar-Winning ‘Parasite’ PR Campaign

Publicist Mara Buxbaum is still in a good mood two days after the Oscars and staying up all night in Koreatown as Bong Joon Ho and the team behind “Parasite” celebrated their historic four-Oscar win. Did Director Bong drink as promised? “We all did, we all drank all night,” said Buxbaum on the phone Tuesday. “We had so much fun, drinking Soju and beer. We ate and laughed and gave speeches. It was very moving.”

You can’t blame Buxbaum for being emotional. She’s the first to recognize that success has many fathers, and that when it came to pushing Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite” to Best Picture, Director, Original Screenplay and International Feature Film, “it takes a village.”

But Buxbaum did jump on board the “Parasite” train early. I ran into her back in Cannes in May, envious that she was hanging out with the Competition jury as the guest of Yorgos Lanthimos, watching all 22 films without a care in the world. It was her reward for a job well done on “The Favourite,” which was nominated for 10 Oscars, including Best Director, and won Best Actress for Olivia Colman.

Bong Joon Ho and Mara Buxbaum.

Anthony Breznican

The president of Hollywood PR agency ID-PR, Buxbaum had been to Cannes many times, accompanying other clients including Sean Penn, Jake Gyllenhaal (who worked on Bong’s “Okja”), and Winona Ryder. But when she first watched “Parasite,” she she was left “speechless.” As the jury left the Palais after the late screening, they ran into Bong’s entourage. The jurors couldn’t say anything, but Buxbaum locked eyes with him and bowed: “Oh my God! Amazing!”

She saw what could happen. As she said, “I chased Bong.” In the next days she reached out to Bong’s agent and manager, his producing partner, and his Korean distributor, CJ Entertainment. (She later connected with its North American distributor, Neon’s Tom Quinn, who acquired the film at the script stage.)

“You felt you were in the hands of a great auteur filmmaker,” she said. “He had a clear vision with that perfect screenplay. The actors were working together at the highest level. The crafts were at the highest level. It was so disciplined, so entertaining. I forgot I was reading subtitles, I was so taken away by his storytelling and filmmaking prowess. The movie felt original, fresh, relevant, and universal. I couldn’t believe that an arthouse foreign-language movie could be so accessible and commercial. It felt like something I hadn’t seen before.”

“Parasite”

Neon

A few months after Cannes, when the film won the Palme d’Or, Buxbaum got on a Skype call with Bong in Korea to finalize the deal to represent him and his movie, starting in Telluride.

She told him: “I see a Best Director, Picture, Screenplay campaign. I believe you deserve to be on that path. I passionately want to help ensure that.” Buxbaum was going with her gut, that what she experienced other people would share. And at Telluride, that faith was borne out. “I’ve been on tons of campaigns and projects where that is not always the case, and you wind up feeling alone because people don’t always love it the way you do.”

She politely refused to listen to the conventional wisdom that a foreign-language film couldn’t win Best Picture because no movie ever had, not even “Roma.” “The rules don’t say you can’t do it this way,” she said. “You can, if you love it that much, if you think it’s deserving. All you can do is get the movie seen, get people thinking beyond Best International Feature Film.”

By Telluride, Neon had a promotional schedule for Bong around the film’s October 11 opening in North America. Of course, it all came down to Bong’s willingness to work hard, beyond the Toronto, New York, and London festivals; he and his family moved into a Los Angeles apartment. “He worked tirelessly not just for North America,” said Buxbaum, “but throughout the world to bring this movie everywhere.”

Director Bong Joon Ho, center, and the cast of “Parasite.”

David Fisher/Shutterstock

Neon pursued the beats of the campaign step by step, which included hiring Oscar consultants Perception PR and launching the awards campaign with the Hollywood Film Awards. The campaign evolved as the opening weekend delivered strong box office, with lines around the block.

“This movie had a grassroots feel to it,” said Buxbaum. “It was special, equally because as we believed it, others believed it too. The love for movie kept building like a snowball that got bigger.”

Early press champions out of the festivals, from Vanity Fair to IndieWire, clued the rest of the media to check out the film. “People came on board,” said Buxbaum. “There was an underdog quality of this movie. Others felt they could champion it and be part of this history, too.”

The SAG Ensemble nomination was the gamechanger for Buxbaum, who was in London with Bong and broke down crying when she heard the news. “This is real,” she told him. At the show, the audience stood and cheered when “Parasite” was first introduced with a clip. When “Parasite” won, the room erupted.

Taika Waititi and Bong Joon-Ho at Entertainment Weekly’s ‘The Must List’ party, Toronto

Christopher Polk/Shutterstock

That meant the movie had support from the actors, but “Parasite” did not win the DGA or PGA. It did win Original Screenplay at the WGA and BAFTA. Bong himself was the special sauce.

“You have to make the journey easier so that people want to wrap their arms around you,” said Buxbaum. “Bong is that person. People kept falling in love with him and his voice throughout his process.”

Even his rivals adored him, from old fan Quentin Tarantino and new friends Todd Phillips, Taika Waititi, and Martin Scorsese, who Bong movingly tributed on Oscar night. “They all loved him, but they also had such a good time,” said Buxbaum. “He wants to talk movies with them.”

During the long campaign, Bong relied on his adept translator, filmmaker Sharon Choi, who’s writing a book about her unexpected journey from Cannes through the Oscars. One night when she got sick and couldn’t show up for the Academy’s International Feature Film panel, Bong used a different translator — and spoke more English than he had all season.

The director always wrote his own speeches, delivered with a genuine smile, throughout. “He was tired,” said Buxbaum. “But he showed up 100%. He doesn’t look to anyone, doesn’t fabricate any of it. He’s a man wholly authentic and himself.”

That’s the magic of what happened with “Parasite.” In the end, everyone just wanted to ride that train.

‘Parasite’ Broke Oscar Barriers and So Did the Woman Behind the Neon Release

Elissa Federoff’s first trip to the Oscars panned out pretty well. The Neon executive VP attended her first Academy Awards February 9 and the boutique distribution label walked away with four major wins for Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite,” including a history-making Best Picture win. She’s still reeling from the experience, but already recognizes the value of the film’s barrier-breaking wins.

“There was just a really genuine groundswell for this film, and such enthusiasm telling me that everybody was ready for this and everybody wanted that and everybody was so moved by this moment,” Federoff said. “There is starting to feel like a genuine shift of recognition of, this isn’t just the same industry that we’ve historically seen and we want more change within it.”

Federoff is part of that change: As the head of Neon’s theatrical distribution team, she’s one of few women who hold the top exhibition job at a studio, past or present. (At Focus Features, Lisa Bunnell serves as president of distribution, and Federoff’s second in command, senior VP of marketing and distribution Sumyi Khong Antonson, is also a woman.) She’s in even more limited company when it comes to winning a Best Picture while on the job.

“I’m certainly in the minority, that is for sure,” Federoff said. “When I’m actually just doing my job, I never really notice or really think about it. I have a really, really great relationship with exhibition and there’s never a limitation to me getting my work done.” Still, she admitted, “I do feel it when I am in a room with other heads of studios. I really recognize that I look different, that I am different, that I’m of a younger generation. That people are like, ‘You were born in the eighties.'”

For Federoff, “Parasite” signals that change is coming to all corners of the industry, including her own. “Female voices have been historically underrepresented in film, and on the studio side, distribution is no different,” she said. “It feels amazing to be part of a tide that’s turning in our industry. I feel a groundswell around me that’s yearning for fresh new perspectives and I’m thrilled to be part of it.”

The exec has been with Neon since its January 2017 launch at Sundance, joining the upstart shingle after tenures at The Orchard, The Weinstein Company, and Oscilloscope. “I really love that I can offer something different, that I’m not the same look of everybody else out there,” Federoff said. “The old way of doing business can change and can be less, for lack of a better word, stodgy. When I say stodgy, I mean a very literal sense of the word that we have been doing the same things, and it has felt the same way, and it’s been stuffy for so long because of that. I’m just really happy to see that there’s something different out there, that we can do work differently, that it doesn’t have to be the same people making these decisions every single time, and therefore they are the same decisions every time.”

Armed with a Palme d’Or win and affection for director Bong, Neon had plenty to recommend the film to the arthouse audience, but they knew it could do much more.

“We didn’t want it just being seen as a subtitled film, or an international film, or Korean cinema,” she said. “We always knew from the very beginning that this movie is an incredible cinematic experience, that this movie should be seen by everybody. It’s as a thriller, it’s a comedy, it’s a mystery, it’s phenomenal acting, all of these things that we could build an Academy campaign around for Best Picture, for Best Director. We knew that it was going to have to be sort of slow and paced and methodical, and you would have to build it.”

The cast and crew of “Parasite” winning Best Picture

ABC

The film has already earned $37 million in North America (internationally, it just crossed $130M), making it Neon’s highest-earning film yet. To celebrate the film’s Oscar wins, the film will add nearly 2,000 theaters this weekend, giving “Parasite” its biggest theatrical footprint in its 18th weekend.

“With a Best Picture Oscar, and all of the buzz around this film, and all the publicity and excitement, [we hope] that we’ll just get more people to realize that the one-inch barrier of subtitles is not something to be scared of,” she said. “We just want this film to be something that exposes people to that notion and allows them to expand their breadth of cinema.”

Comparing the film’s crossover success to “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” the 2000 smash hit for Sony Pictures Classics that also won four Oscars (and a Best Picture nomination), Federoff said she wants these foreign-language successes to transcend anomaly. “I don’t want it to be something that happens every 15 years or 20 years,” she said. “I want it to be become more normalized so that it can happen every year.”

In the coming months, the Neon team will see the release of Celine Sciamma’s “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” (another Cannes favorite hitting wide release this week) and Francis Lee’s upcoming “Ammonite.” They will return to Berlin and Cannes with Federoff set on “picking up more films and working on more films by female filmmakers, by filmmakers of color, and seeing seeing more diversity behind and in front of the camera.”

Seeking diversity and inclusion on all sides of production is paramount to Federoff, who knows first hand that change comes from within. “The more people that you put in positions of power who are not the establishment, or not the current establishment, like more people of color and more women and younger people, the more those people really do recognize that they have to keep putting new people in positions of power,” Federoff said. “When we see new people making decisions at a studio level, we will see more diverse voices in cinema.”

“Parasite” is playing in (many!) theaters right now.

‘Parasite’ Broke Oscar Barriers and So Did the Woman Behind the Neon Release

Elissa Federoff’s first trip to the Oscars panned out pretty well. The Neon executive VP attended her first Academy Awards February 9 and the boutique distribution label walked away with four major wins for Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite,” including a history-making Best Picture win. She’s still reeling from the experience, but already recognizes the value of the film’s barrier-breaking wins.

“There was just a really genuine groundswell for this film, and such enthusiasm telling me that everybody was ready for this and everybody wanted that and everybody was so moved by this moment,” Federoff said. “There is starting to feel like a genuine shift of recognition of, this isn’t just the same industry that we’ve historically seen and we want more change within it.”

Federoff is part of that change: As the head of Neon’s theatrical distribution team, she’s one of few women who hold the top exhibition job at a studio, past or present. (At Focus Features, Lisa Bunnell serves as president of distribution, and Federoff’s second in command, senior VP of marketing and distribution Sumyi Khong Antonson, is also a woman.) She’s in even more limited company when it comes to winning a Best Picture while on the job.

“I’m certainly in the minority, that is for sure,” Federoff said. “When I’m actually just doing my job, I never really notice or really think about it. I have a really, really great relationship with exhibition and there’s never a limitation to me getting my work done.” Still, she admitted, “I do feel it when I am in a room with other heads of studios. I really recognize that I look different, that I am different, that I’m of a younger generation. That people are like, ‘You were born in the eighties.’”

For Federoff, “Parasite” signals that change is coming to all corners of the industry, including her own. “Female voices have been historically underrepresented in film, and on the studio side, distribution is no different,” she said. “It feels amazing to be part of a tide that’s turning in our industry. I feel a groundswell around me that’s yearning for fresh new perspectives and I’m thrilled to be part of it.”

The exec has been with Neon since its January 2017 launch at Sundance, joining the upstart shingle after tenures at The Orchard, The Weinstein Company, and Oscilloscope. “I really love that I can offer something different, that I’m not the same look of everybody else out there,” Federoff said. “The old way of doing business can change and can be less, for lack of a better word, stodgy. When I say stodgy, I mean a very literal sense of the word that we have been doing the same things, and it has felt the same way, and it’s been stuffy for so long because of that. I’m just really happy to see that there’s something different out there, that we can do work differently, that it doesn’t have to be the same people making these decisions every single time, and therefore they are the same decisions every time.”

Armed with a Palme d’Or win and affection for director Bong, Neon had plenty to recommend the film to the arthouse audience, but they knew it could do much more.

“We didn’t want it just being seen as a subtitled film, or an international film, or Korean cinema,” she said. “We always knew from the very beginning that this movie is an incredible cinematic experience, that this movie should be seen by everybody. It’s as a thriller, it’s a comedy, it’s a mystery, it’s phenomenal acting, all of these things that we could build an Academy campaign around for Best Picture, for Best Director. We knew that it was going to have to be sort of slow and paced and methodical, and you would have to build it.”

The cast and crew of “Parasite” winning Best Picture

ABC

The film has already earned $37 million in North America (internationally, it just crossed $130M), making it Neon’s highest-earning film yet. To celebrate the film’s Oscar wins, the film will add nearly 2,000 theaters this weekend, giving “Parasite” its biggest theatrical footprint in its 18th weekend.

“With a Best Picture Oscar, and all of the buzz around this film, and all the publicity and excitement, [we hope] that we’ll just get more people to realize that the one-inch barrier of subtitles is not something to be scared of,” she said. “We just want this film to be something that exposes people to that notion and allows them to expand their breadth of cinema.”

Comparing the film’s crossover success to “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” the 2000 smash hit for Sony Pictures Classics that also won four Oscars (and a Best Picture nomination), Federoff said she wants these foreign-language successes to transcend anomaly. “I don’t want it to be something that happens every 15 years or 20 years,” she said. “I want it to be become more normalized so that it can happen every year.”

In the coming months, the Neon team will see the release of Celine Sciamma’s “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” (another Cannes favorite hitting wide release this week) and Francis Lee’s upcoming “Ammonite.” They will return to Berlin and Cannes with Federoff set on “picking up more films and working on more films by female filmmakers, by filmmakers of color, and seeing seeing more diversity behind and in front of the camera.”

Seeking diversity and inclusion on all sides of production is paramount to Federoff, who knows first hand that change comes from within. “The more people that you put in positions of power who are not the establishment, or not the current establishment, like more people of color and more women and younger people, the more those people really do recognize that they have to keep putting new people in positions of power,” Federoff said. “When we see new people making decisions at a studio level, we will see more diverse voices in cinema.”

“Parasite” is playing in (many!) theaters right now.

‘Parasite’ Wins Made Oscars 2020 the Most Satisfying in Years — IndieWire’s Movie Podcast

When “Parasite” made history on Oscar night, the enthusiasm for the outcome reached unparalleled heights. One year after the divisive “Green Book” victory, Bong Joon Ho’s dark story of class warfare swept the ceremony, taking home a record four awards for one man and becoming the first non-English-language film in history to win Best Picture. The energy was like a rock concert in the room at the Dolby Theatre. But what did it take for the movie to get across the finish line? And why did so few people tune in?

In this week’s episode of Screen Talk, Eric Kohn and Anne Thompson recap a short season and explain why the winners made for the most satisfying Oscar season in years, regardless of what happened with the ratings. They also talk about campaigns that fizzled out and what comes next.

Listen to the full episode below.

 

Screen Talk is available on iTunes, Stitcher, and Soundcloud. You can subscribe here or via RSS. Share your feedback with Thompson and Kohn on Twitter or sound off in the comments. Browse previous installments here, review the show on iTunes and be sure to let us know if you’d like to hear the hosts address specific issues in upcoming editions of Screen Talk. Check out the rest of IndieWire’s podcasts on iTunes right here.

Bong Joon Ho Statue and Museum Proposed in South Korea After ‘Parasite’ Oscar Wins

Who’s ready to kneel at the statue of Bong Joon Ho? The New York Times reports that conservative political candidates in the South Korean city of Daegu have proposed to build a museum and statue to Bong following his history-making Oscar wins for “Parasite” at the 92nd Academy Awards. People are also lobbying for Daegu to rename streets in honor of the South Korean filmmaker, whose additional credits include “Memories of Murder,” “The Host,” and “Mother.” Bong was born in Daegu in 1969 and lived there before his family moved to Seoul while he was in elementary school.

The proposal to erect a Bong Joon Ho statue is somewhat of a change of pace for conservatives and their relationship with the filmmaker. According to the Times, South Korea’s right-wing leaders have been highly critical of Bong’s films throughout his career. Conservative presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye even called out Bong’s “Memories of Murder” and “The Host” for spreading “anti-American” and “left-wing messages.” These films were also criticized for showing “government incompetence.” Not even Bong’s adored “Parasite” converted critics into fans after it won the Palme d’Or at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, the first time a South Korean film took home top honors at the prestigious film festival. The Times reports that conservative politicians slammed “Parasite” as a “commie flick” not worth watching.

The Oscars has reportedly shifted Bong’s image into a more favorable light among the right there. “Parasite” won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. These are the first Oscars ever awarded to a South Korean feature film in the Academy Awards’ 92-year history. Park Yong-chan, a spokesman for South Korea’s far-right Liberty Korea Party, told the Times in a statement: “‘Parasite’ has written new history. This is a monumental achievement that spread the power of South Korean movies and culture around the world.”

While the Bong statue and museum is just a proposal for now, one thing that is definitely happening following the “Parasite” Oscar wins is Bong joining The Criterion Collection. Criterion has announced “Memories of Murder” and “Parasite” are set to join its library later this year.