Neo Sora, Artist and ‘Happyend’ Filmmaker, Signs With Cinetic Management (EXCLUSIVE)

Brent Lang

14 January 2025 at 9:30 am·2-min read

Neo Sora, the filmmaker and artist behind “Happyend,” has signed with Cinetic Media.

The move comes after “Happyend,” which Sora wrote as well as directed, premiered at the 2024 Venice Film Festival. It went on to screen at the Toronto International Film Festival, New York Film Festival and Busan International Film Festival, earning positive reviews at each stop. The coming-of-age story is set in a near-future Japan, where a group of high schoolers fights for a better future against a techno-fascist world fueled by the fear of the next great earthquake.

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Metrograph picked up the film for North America distribution after it screened in Venice and will release the film in theaters in 2025. Magnify is handling the rest of the world. The film was produced by Albert Tholen, Aiko Masubuchi, Eric Nyari, Alex C. Lo and Anthony Chen, and supported by the likes of the Sundance Institute, Gotham Project Market and Talents Tokyo.

Sora’s previous feature, “Ryuichi Sakamoto|Opus,” premiered at the 2023 Venice Film Festival and 2023 New York Film Festival, and was released by Janus. The film received wide-spread critical praise and currently has a 100% critic’s score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Cinetic Media’s management practice represents directors, writers and producers, including Richard Linklater, David Gordon Green, Todd Haynes, Killer Films, World of Wonder, Lana Wilson, Betsy West & Julie Cohen, Yance Ford, Matthew Heineman, Petra Costa and Kevin Macdonald.

The management and media company’s other services include content sales, financing, marketing and publicity, as well as corporate advisory, the latter of which is responsible for representing and advising media companies, brands, financiers and publishers who are developing and executing entertainment strategies.

Cinetic Media will represent Sora across all media.

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