Neon in Talks to Sell Major Stake to Production Company Department M

Production outfit Department M is in talks to acquire a major stake in Anora distributor Neon.

Mike Larocca and Michael Schaefer’s Department M is being backed by a consortium of private investors, including Forta Advisors, which backed Department M at its launch two years ago.

Larocca and Schaefer spent years as producers before breaking off to raise financing to form Department M. Larocca was a longtime right hand to the Russo Bros, co-founding their banner Agbo and producing films such as Extraction, The Grey Man and Cherry before departing. Schaefer worked for Ridley Scott at Scott Free, earning an Oscar nomination for producing The Martian, and spent almost seven years at New Regency before co-founding Department M.

Department M’s slate of films includes horror The Hand That Rocks the Cradle and Steven Soderbergh’s latest The Christophers, the latter of which was picked up for distribution by Neon…