Nicolas Winding Refn Shares How ‘Neon Demon’ Influenced NEON’s Name and His Connection with the Founder
Director Nicolas Winding Refn is collaborating with NEON for his upcoming film, *Her Private Hell*, which will debut at the Cannes Film Festival on May 18 before its U.S. premiere on July 24. This project signifies a key partnership for NEON as it approaches its 10th anniversary.
Refn, who co-wrote and directed *Her Private Hell*, shared insights into how his earlier work, *The Neon Demon*, influenced the foundation of NEON, the production and distribution company established by Tom Quinn and Tim League.
“Well, Neon is called Neon because of *Neon Demon*,” Refn remarked in an interview with IndieWire, referring to the stylish 2016 film that stars Elle Fanning and was co-written with Mary Laws and Polly Stenham.
Following its premiere at Cannes, NEON—the buyer behind the film—made a notable debut by acquiring Nacho Vigalondo’s *Colossal* from the Toronto International Film Festival.
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Recalling his relationship with Quinn, Refn stated, “Tom Quinn has been very instrumental in my life. Because he brought the *Pusher* trilogy to the U.S., and we did *Only God Forgives* together, which was a very, in a way, pivotal point in my own creative endeavor. We have always remained very close over the years, and so when I wanted to make a movie again, he was the one and only that I reached out to … he’s just amazing, and he was like, ‘What do you need?’ And I explained what I needed, and he was like, ‘I’m in.’”
Sophie Thatcher in ‘Her Private Hell’
Refn further drew parallels with his earlier work, noting, “That kind of reminded me of the experience with *Pusher One*, where I was like, ‘What do I need? Well, I need this.’ And the government just gave it to me. [Pulls up blank paper] My CV was as blank as this piece of paper. I had no prior anything. And with Tom, it was like, ‘What do I need? This is my CV.’ It has a few little things on it, but he was still, you know, ‘I’m in.’ That kind of gave me a re-evaluation of everything around me, but also an incredible amount of joy and pleasure in wanting to make a movie in how I see movies are for me now.”
Co-written by Refn and Esti Giordani, *Her Private Hell* features Sophie Thatcher as Elle, a young woman navigating a futuristic metropolis shrouded in a deadly mist, while searching for her father and encountering Private K (Charles Melton), an American GI on a rescue mission for his own daughter.
