GAUMONT, WILD BUNCH AND NICOLAS WINDING REFN Present A Space Rocket Production In association with Vendian Entertainment LLC and Bold Films LLC THE NEON DEMON A FILM BY NICOLAS WINDING REFN Official Selection: TBD PRESS NOTES (DRAFT – 3/21/16) XXX mins | Rated TBD | Opens XX/XX/XX (NY/LA) Distributor Contact: Press Contact NY/Nat’l: Press Contact LA/Nat’l: Name Name Name Name Company Company Company Address 1 Address 1 (xxx) xxx-xxxx phone Address 2 Address 2 email (xxx) xxx-xxxx phone (xxx) xxx-xxxx phone email email SYNOPSIS When aspiring model Jesse moves to Los Angeles, her youth and vitality are devoured by a group of beauty-obsessed women who will use any means necessary to get what she has in The Neon Demon, the new horror thriller from Nicolas Winding Refn. The Neon Demon stars Elle Fanning (Maleficent, Super 8), Jena Malone (Inherent Vice, The Hunger Games series), Bella Heathcote (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Dark Shadows), Abbey Lee (Gods of Egypt, Max Max: Fury Road), Karl Glusman (Love, Stonewall), Keanu Reeves (John Wick, The Matrix series), Christina Hendricks (“Mad Men,” Drive), Desmond Harrington (“Dexter,” The Dark Knight Rises), Alessandro Nivola (A Most Violent Year, American Hustle), and Charles Baker (“Breaking Bad,” Wild). The Neon Demon is directed by Nicolas Winding Refn (Bronson, Valhalla Rising, Drive, Only God Forgives) and co-written by Nicolas Winding Refn, Mary Laws and Polly Stenham, based on a story by Nicolas Winding Refn. It is produced by Lene Børglum (Dogville, Only God Forgives), Sidonie Dumas, and Vincent Maraval. Executive producers are Christophe Riandee, Brahim Chioua, Christopher Woodrow (Birdman, Killer Joe), Michael Bassick (Bernie, The Ten), Steven Marshall, Michel Litvak (Whiplash, Drive), Gary Michael Walters (Whiplash, Drive), Jeffrey Stott (2 Guns, Drive),Rachel Dik (Old Fashioned), Victor Ho (The World Made Straight, Fast Food Nation), Manuel Chiche, Matthew Read, and Thor Sigurjonsson . Co-Producers are K. Blaine Johnston and Elexa Ruth. It features cinematography by Natasha Braier (The Rover, The Milk of Sorrow), editing by Mat Newman (Drive, Only God Forgives), production design by Elliott Hostetter (Spring Breakers), costume design by Erin Benach (Drive). Music is by Cliff Martinez (Drive, Spring Breakers, Only God Forgives), casting by Nicole Daniels and Courtney Bright and Sound Design by Eddie Simonsen and Anne Jensen. 2 A Space Rocket production in co-production with Gaumont and Wild BunchThe Neon Demon is a co-production between Denmark and France. The Neon Demon is rated XXXXX by the MPAA for YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY. The running time is 117 minutes. ABOUT THE FILM THE DEMON RISES In 2010, director Nicolas Winding Refn dazzled viewers around the world with his Los Angeles-set crime thriller Drive. Now, NWR returns to the “city of dreams” for an incisive and unsettling look at its intense and often vicious culture of beauty in the bold new horror thriller The Neon Demon. The second film in a two-picture deal between Space Rocket, NWR’s production company with producing partner Lene Børglum, and French film financing entities Wild Bunch and Gaumont, The Neon Demon first arose in NWR’s mind long before production commenced on the first film in their deal, 2013’s Only God Forgives. “For a number of years, I’ve had this interest in making a film about beauty, because, [in my life], I’m surrounded by it,” NWR says, referring to his wife, filmmaker Liv Corfixen (My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn), his two young daughters, and, presumably, the myriad actresses and models he’s encountered directing both feature films and fashion advertisements for brands like Gucci, YXL, H&M and Hennessey. “And I see a lot of female empowerment with beauty.” In addition to his desire to make a film about beauty, NWR also held a long-gestating interest in the horror genre, something he was naturally led to upon further meditation on the subject of the power of beauty, particularly its darker side. “The currency of beauty continues to rise and never falls. And, as we evolve the lifespan of beauty becomes more limited, while our obsession with it 3 becomes more and more extreme.” According to NWR, this obsession can often lead to a unique kind of madness. To illustrate this, NWR references Narcissus, the subject of ancient Greek myth who became so enamored with his own beauty he drowned in its reflection. NWR describes the current digital revolution as representing “the liquid Narcissus sees himself in and falls into.” Its resulting images, often achieved though digital enhancement, are impossible to achieve and yet “people create their own insanity in the search for it.” Fertile ground for exploring tales of madness and obsession, the horror genre emerged the perfect vehicle for NWR’s blossoming tale. But before beginning his initial foray into the genre, the director would undergo a thorough examination of it – a task he undertook with guidance from his friend, BBC executive and Only God Forgives executive producer Matthew Read. “With [Matthew], we started to really try and understand why horror films work and why they don’t work and the various sub-genres. And then to really break [the horror film] down into a mathematical equation,” says NWR. Known for both embracing and subverting such well-worn genres as the prison drama (2008’s Bronson), the historical adventure (2010’s Valhalla Rising), the action thriller (2011’s Drive), and the revenge drama (2013’s Only God Forgives), NWR was similarly curious to see if he could both honor and defy the “horror movie” equation with his developing story. “Was there a way to hit all of the basic genre beats, but not necessarily in the right order?” And could he “make a horror film without the horror?” Another challenge was crafting his first female-centric narrative. Although NWR’s past films have included strong supporting female characters - like Carey Mulligan’s vulnerable young mother in Drive and Kristin Scott Thomas’s manipulative one in Only God Forgives - NWR had never developed a film with a female lead, let alone four of them. To help give voice to The Neon Demon’s quartet of young female characters, NWR sought collaboration with a young female writer – preferably one with a background in the more dialogue-intensive world of theater. After 4 directing three films he describes as “silent,” NWR sensed The Neon Demon would be a more dialogue-driven affair and wanted someone strong in that area. NWR found all three qualities in two female writers from opposite sides of the Atlantic: one a well-known British playwright, the other an up-and-coming American one. His first collaborator was London-based playwright Polly Stenham, who came to international theater-world attention at the precocious age of 21, when her debut play “That Face” premiered at London’s Royal Court Theatre in 2007 to rave reviews and earned her the Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright and the Critics' Circle Award for Most Promising Playwright (2008). The second was Texas-born playwright Mary Laws, a recent graduate of the prestigious Yale Drama School already gaining traction in the industry for her bold and innovative student plays. On the recommendation of his agent, NWR read Laws’ work and, impressed, reached out to her. Although NWR had basic story and character ideas in mind at the outset of the script’s development, Stenham and Laws helped him build a full-bodied – and full-blooded – narrative around them. Reflecting on the experience of working with two different writers at distinct phases of their careers – and from differing parts of the world, NWR says, “Both women were absolutely wonderful to work with because of their differing approaches. And each brought a distinct perspective that helped mold the script in very interesting ways." Once production began on The Neon Demon, the story continued to evolve, a process common on all of NWR's films and a unique creative benefit of shooting in chronological order. NEON BEAUTIES While serving on the 2014 Cannes Film Festival jury, NWR told fellow juror and filmmaker Sofia Coppola about his next project: the female-driven horror thriller The Neon Demon. She, in turn, advised him to get in touch with Los 5 Angeles-based casting directors Nicole Daniels and Courtney Bright (Afternoon Delight, The Guest, The Bling Ring), whom she cited as having a knack for finding exciting up-and-coming young talent. During their first meeting, Bright recalls NWR stating that the most important thing to him was getting the best actor for the job. “He really was not tied to having A-list stars for any reason. If that ended up happening, he was thrilled; but if it didn’t, he was equally as happy. So he really just wanted us to introduce him to the best actors out there.” The first and most pivotal role to cast with Jesse, a seemingly innocent young beauty from small town Georgia whose character slowly starts to transform as her modeling career takes off. NWR immediately had Elle Fanning in mind for the part. “To me, Elle Fanning is a blend of the greatest silent movie stars of the past and the most cutting edge actresses of today. She has this magnificent ability to transform herself. NWR adds: “And the camera just loves her." Fanning was equally thrilled about the proposition of working with director NWR. “I was a huge fan of Nic’s already. I’d only seen Drive but I knew [it] very well because when I was making a film in South Africa…they didn’t have many channels and there was one movie channel and [Drive] was the only movie they played, so I can pretty much quote that movie.