Katz: Tuesday morning, I remember, we had a little whiskey for him. I dunno! I mean, it made sense at the time. The optimistic way to view this situation is that A24 is getting much better at buying good movies for its DirecTV deal, rather than filler like Barely Lethal. Radcliffe (actor, Swiss Army Man): I could see them saying, like: Weve got a reputation now, and have money now. A lot of people in that position would then go, Okay, lets become quite conservative in our choices. And whats lovely is they are choosing to still channel that stuff back into supporting weird, different, ambitious ventures. But we got A Glimpse Inside the Mind. I didnt think it was terrible. Its exciting. And I think it is down to companies like A24. The fact theyre vampires might just be an excuse for them to wear sunglasses indoors. An A24 project is far more likely to be female-driven than a film released by another company, and it is typically directed by a major filmmaker (Sally Potter, Sofia Coppola, Noah Baumbach) or a filmmaker on the cusp of becoming one (J.C. Chandor, James Ponsoldt). Katz: I was very concerned that people were gonna think Room kind of stepped into shit and got lucky with awards. For Ponsoldts latest, A24s marketing efforts followed the films example of approaching a highbrow topic with a low bar for entry, partnering with Medium.com for a project called Just Words, for which writers, artists, and other intellectual types collectively celebrated the life and work of David Foster Wallace. I think when we started [2016], it was another, like, what Id consider a building year. Hodges has been an integral part of the studio since its inception in 2012. And there are studio subdivisions, like Fox Searchlight, that have consistently guided films like 12 Years a Slave and Birdman to Academy Awards and box office success over the past twenty years. Youre incredible. The films backers will be made whole, its makers will get another chance at bat, and its distributors will continue to enjoy the financial solvency provided by the DirecTV dealnot to mention the $50 million line of credit the company secured last fall. And they were like the third guy at the company. The best scares always come from unexpected places. Gif excerpt from the film Slow West via A24 Films. On a notepad and Post-Its. Like, you believe in something, you fall in love with it, and then you work for three months on trying to make it work. [16] The company, with cooperation from Bank of America, J.P. Morgan & Co. and SunTrust Banks, also raised its line of credit from $50 million to $125 million a month later to build upon its operations. (For context, the Spring Breakers Facebook page has 1.1 million likes, while that for Fox Searchlights Best Picture-winning Birdman has only 289,000.) Its a film about guilt that forever haunts you and the fear of being watched. "I'm thrilled to be joining the team at Jax,". The latest is Hereditary, the debut film of Ari Aster that premiered at Sundance and is quickly earning a reputation as one of the scariest movies ever. A24's television division has produced The Carmichael Show, At Home with Amy Sedaris, Ramy, Euphoria and Mr. Corman. And A24 was the place that took the risk. Other 2013 theatrical releases included Sally Potter's Ginger & Rosa, Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers, Sofia Coppola's The Bling Ring, and James Ponsoldt's The Spectacular Now. Dave Franco & Alison Brie Take a Couples Quiz, Heres a First Look at Daniel Lees Burberry, Bubba Wallace and Daniel Suarez Are Shaping NASCAR's Future, Inside Daniel Lee's Burberry Debut, London Fashion Week's Biggest Show. Its coveted because six of the past seven winners were nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, and the harrowing, emotional Room looks poised to follow in their footsteps after it opens in October. His relationship with talent and creators is exceptional and we look forward to having him make Jax his new home.. Hodges. Igoe: At SXSW, we had Spectacular Now, and Spring Breakers showed there. Katz came from a film finance group, while Fenkel and Hodges both left positions at other independent film companies. Fenkel: We knew we were releasing the movie. Fenkel: Well, of course Selena Gomez in a bikini worked. So what is an A24 film? The gross guysand hes like, All right. Description. A24 is responsible for such films as Lady Bird, Moonlight, Eighth Grade, Hereditary, The Witch, The Lobster, Ex Machina & more. Nandan: I remember seeing a screener of [The Witch], and yeah, it was like, oh, right, howd that movie not sell for more money? A24 was set up ten years ago by David Fenkel, John Hodges and Daniel Katz, all veterans of New York's independent film business. In 2021, A24 won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress (Yuh-jung Youn in Minari, who became the first Korean actress to win an Oscar). Theres music labels I can think of as well. The Rover found a mentally deficient Robert Pattinson singing Keri Hilsons Pretty Girl Rock in the deserts of post-apocalyptic Australia. [29][30], "A24 Films" redirects here. Katz: Tusk, we were like, oh, Kevin Smith! Dede Gardner (producer, Plan B, Moonlight): When we and Barry said it was absolutely critical that we shoot in Miami, they said, Of course it is. And you know, many, many others wouldve said, Well, you can get the rebate if you go to Atlanta. But anyone whos read it knows that Liberty Square and that particular light and that particular culture was a character. The company has laid the groundwork to evolve from just another upstart distribution label into a multiheaded ministudio capable of developing its own contentand so far theyve done it by releasing movies that tend to earn more cultural cachet than they do money. It wasnt going to get lost in the shuffle. If its gonna be released the same way by another company, we usually dont go after it. Eggers: People always want to do bigger and better the next time, you know? In pretty decent seats, actually. If anything, it was the bastard stepchild at that point. A mile and a half. So we ran there. At the same time, we get a call saying that Selena and Ashley [Benson], their hair and makeup team hadnt gone on the private jet we had got for them, because they didnt think it was big enough or secure enough. And we still have a great relationship now. Karyn Kusama is a rapidly rising female director, and for good reason. Aizenberg: I was at the Q&As at the ArcLight [in Los Angeles], and I remember taking a picture of the screen, and then all of a sudden it was like every screen at the ArcLight: Spring Breakers, Spring Breakers, Spring Breakers. [24], On November 15, 2018, A24 and Apple announced that they had entered into a multi-year partnership where A24 will produce a slate of original films for Apple. It premiered at Sundance in January, where it deservedly won the World Cinema Dramatic Competition. The company said he will exit to focus on future opportunities, but did not clarify beyond that statement. Theyre on the tarmac, and were having to find a new jet for them within twenty minutes. All Rights Reserved. Over the past six years I have been fortunate to work with a diverse group of talented storytellers across film and TV and look forward to continuing those collaborations in my future endeavors.. Stay plugged in to the industry with our free newsletter. The End of the Tour freed Jason Segel from the succubus of network sitcoms by allowing him to inhabit the image of an iconic American writer. For a start, it was founded on the wrong coast - New York, not Los Angeles - by three relatively young arthouse film executives, Daniel Katz, David. Katz: Yeah! The Bling Ring provoked Emma Watson to cast off the shadow of Hermione Granger and step into the pink Juicy Couture sweatpants of a spoiled teen criminal in contemporary Hollywood. There was this weird time. Art and Experience : John Hodges is leaving A24, the Oscar-winning indie studio that he co-founded. Probably the best place to screen-test the movie. She looked great. Did Moonlight just win Best Picture?. Denis Villeneuve (director, Enemy): I never saw them as businessmen. Like, there was one that was like the shotit was [Francos character] Alien with the two girls, and hes holding machine guns or something. Deploying for Major CAT Events, tornadoes . When your audience does the work for you. It was like two hours before, and they were like, Hes not gonna make it. BREAKING: John Hodges, one of the founding members of A24, has announced his departure from the production and distribution studio to focus on future opportunities. Sacco: I show up at the airport. Set in 1630s New England, a family is banished from their village and starts to unravel when their baby vanishes. Katz: We get there. Right after we did those three films, I dont think we had really purchased a film for the following year. Annapurna Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection, Moonlights Mahershala Ali Picks His Own Oscar Winners. But if it is, a monastic degree of focus will be required to recognize which A24 titles might fare better on VOD. Jennifer Kents drama is a psychological heavyweight that examines how parents feed their demons to quell the pain. With Hodges leaving, the. Across 96 films released at the time of this article, the average Production Budget on each film rounds out to a cool $6 million, with the Box Office revenue across the 96 films adding up to $798 million. The division of labor is clear, but there arent any titles for the companys employees, who all work elbow to elbow in a single room. I think my sisters still only seen one A24 movie: Spring Breakers. If the companys success continues apace, it might not be long before a profitable mid-budget movie no longer seems like a unicorn, and it might not be much longer until being an A24 film is the only hook a film needs. John Hodges is leaving A24, the Oscar-winning indie studio that he co-founded. John has been a trusted partner who helped conceive A24 and for that we will always be grateful, A24 noted. [laughs] I mean, I doubt that, because I know the people that work there. We all go nuts for a few minutes, and then were all like, Okay, what do we do?. Beyer: There were like a few ads that we made. And we got Best Picture [also for Room]. I think theatrical will always be there, but most of my biggest experiences of cinema have been in front of a TVno one was screening Fellini films in Ireland when I was 19 or 20.. But it was word of mouth. I dont even look at him. Like Under the Skin, Locke, Enemy. When the film comes out in early 2016, it will arrive exclusively in theaters, and its trial by fire will be exclusively in theaters. 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Subsequent DirectTV titles havent fared much better (in fact, most have fared much worse), and it soon became clear that these early acquisitions were the unloved stepchildren of the A24 family. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. And that was our communication for booking theaters. Fellow founding partners Daniel Katz and David Fenkel will continue to oversee the NYC-based indie studio, which has seen great success with Oscar-winning films such as Room, Ex Machina and last years surprise Best Picture winner Moonlight.. Johns experience and taste is evident in the films he has developed and produced over the years. Fenkel: Id love to say from the first cut we knew. Zach Baron is GQs staff writer. Put it on screens. [20], On February 20, 2018, A24 launched a podcast titled The A24 Podcast. Eggers: In the very beginning, when we went to Sundance initially, I didnt think that this was going to have such a large audience. From award-winning writing and photography to binge-ready videos to electric live events, GQ meets millions of modern men where they live, creating the moments that create conversations. It is currently unknown if this slate of films will have a theatrical release or be exclusive to Apple's Apple TV+ streaming service. See what happens.. Not like we should have paid more. Other indie labels, like Megan Ellisons Annapurna Pictures (which co-produced Spring Breakers), tend to go in the other direction, releasing a minuscule handful of movies into the currents of Oscar season in the hopes that the waters will carry them toward a crowd. A24s biggest success, Lady Bird, grossed $49 million domestically, so can that ceiling support the duos ambitions, or will a larger distributor make them an offer they cant refuse? Larson: I couldnt be more grateful for an experience that changed the course of my life and career immeasurably. We spoke with the companys friends, collaborators, and employees to make sense of how A24 became the most interesting, creative, and reliable film company of the 21st century. we don't have a good idea of their yearly revenue either as the most recent stats were from 2012 estimating around $20 million, but that wasn't putting into account pure profit only the overall gross of all the films released that year. You know more than me.. Kapadia: There were other films that had a lot more money in their campaign and were everywhere. Fenkel: So hes booking, what, fifteen hundred screens? But more independent existed then. And I was ready to say: It was me! I was thrilledwhen the news broke that A24 had acquired the domestic rights, and then gutted to learn that it was part of the DirecTV pact. A24s television division released The Carmichael Show.. Drinking champagne at nine in the morning. It was like being in some kind of arena. We literally didnt know what to do. The Oscar-nominated actor gives us his all-time favorites of film. They were thinking in a different way, trying something newer and maybe more radical with their approach. But its present success and continued survival are dependent on a massive deal that seems to directly contradict everything thats made the company so special. Aizenberg: Nine to ten people walked out. To revisit this article, visit My Profile, thenView saved stories. A24, which was founded in 2012, said that no additional changes in management will be made. Hollywood is run by accountants at this point. Ask for forgiveness. I think it just showed that we cared about these movies so much. When an A24 acquisitions exec pitched the story to me, excitedly laying out the plot in broad but heartbreaking strokes, he asked if it sounded like an A24 film. And that question is the birth of fandom. Jenkins: We shot for five weeks, and they came down during the first week. In recent years, the recession and the concurrent rise of VOD streaming services have already torpedoed the midbudget movie. Get it now by subscribing here. When historians of the future try to pinpoint the precise moment that the film industry crawled out of its deathbed and back onto its feet, theres a good chance theyll land somewhere in March 2013, when a fledgling distribution company called A24 Films transformed a Harmony Korine movie starring a cornrowed James Franco into a genuine cultural event. Your eyes dont gloss over James Franco as a trap music Jesus. I woke up one morning to an e-mail from Daniel that was sent at three in the morning: Can you go to Pittsburgh? I come into the office, and there are interns running around like in some crazy factory. So whos to say that, you know, A24 wont become Warner Brothers five years from now? Over the past six years I have been fortunate to work with a diverse group of talented storytellers across film and TV and look forward to continuing those collaborations in my future endeavors.. We werent a fully formed company yet. Hes not gonna be able to do this right now. Our first release. Fenkel: I just cannot stop. And theyre aiming at them. Starring Kate Berlant + John Early, "A24 Open Doors For Film Production, Finance, And Production - Movie City News", "The rise and rise of A24, a champion of storytelling on screen", "A24 Teams With Plan B & Adele Romanski To Produce And Finance Barry Jenkins', "A24 Tops All Other Single Movie Studios With 18 Oscar Nominations, Taking a Victory Lap 10 Years in the Making", "Hollywood, Disrupted: Inside the Scrappy Film Company that Made "Moonlight" and "The Witch", "Upstart Distributor A24 Is Making Indie Films Exciting Again", "Nicolette Aizenberg Joins A24 As Head Of Publicity", "A24: the brains behind 'The Bling Ring' zing", "Amazon Prime, A24 Announce Exclusive Multi-Year Streaming Deal", "Sasha Lloyd Takes Top International Post At A24", "A24 Says It Will Boost Film And TV Operations With Raise in Bank Credit Line", "A24 To Handle 'Swiss Army Man' Global Release In Company's First World Rights Move; New U.S. Release Date Update", "A24, Oscilliscope, Honora Join New BitTorrent Now Program", "A24 Lands Sundance Film 'Menashe;' First Foreign Language Film For 'Moonlight' Distributor", "The A24 Podcast by A24 on Apple Podcasts", "A24 Founder John Hodges To Part Ways With The Company", "Apple Taps A24 to Produce Slate of Films", "Showtime Networks Inks Output Film Deal With A24", "Indie Film and TV Studio A24 Explored Sale With $3 Billion Asking Price (EXCLUSIVE)", "The Highest Grossing A24 Movies Of All Time", "Netflix Wins A24 Series Package 'Beef' With 'Minari' Oscar Nominee Steven Yeun & Ali Wong From Creator Lee Sung Jin", "A24 Checks in to VivziePop's Hellish 'Hazbin Hotel', "check in at hazbinhotel.com #hazbinhotel", "Suzanna Son Joins The Weeknd & Lily-Rose Depp In 'The Idol' As HBO Hands Music Industry Drama Series Order", "Ramy Youssef Amazon Animated Series Sets Main Cast, Including Alia Shawkat, Mandy Moore, Chris Redd (EXCLUSIVE)", "Jodie Comer To Star In Series Adaptation Of Jen Beagin's Sex Therapy Novel 'Big Swiss' For HBO From A24 & Adam McKay's Hyperobject Industries", "Janelle Mone To Star As Icon Josephine Baker In A24 Series 'De La Resistance'; Streamers In The Hunt For Buzz Package", "Emma Stone's Fruit Tree, A24 to Develop 'Flicker in the Dark' Series at HBO Max (EXCLUSIVE)", "A24 Boards Shane Meadows' BBC Drama 'The Gallows Pole,' George MacKay Among Cast", "A24 Teams With Judith Godrche And ARTE For TV Comedy Series 'Icon of French Cinema', "Amazon Pilots Shoplifting Comedy 'Lifted' Starring Ivy Wolk, Veronica Taylor, Kate Godfrey & Annie Marie Elliot From Liza Mandelup, Mary Bronstein & A24", "A24, Square Peg to Develop Adrian Tomine's 'The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist' as TV Series (EXCLUSIVE)", "A24 Wins Hot Novel 'Memorial' By Bryan Washington For TV Division", "Greta Lee To Star In, Write & EP Series Adaptation Of Cathy Park Hong's Book 'Minor Feelings' With A24", "A24 Sets Kelly Reichardt and Michelle Williams Reunion, Plus Amy Adams TV Project", "Robby Hoffman Comedy 'Rivkah' In Works At Showtime", "Rashida Jones To Headline Dark Comedy Series 'Sunny' Ordered By Apple TV+ From A24", "Michelle Buteau Lands Comedy Series 'Survival Of The Thickest' At Netflix As Part Of Expanded Relationship", "Robert Downey Jr. To Co-Star In Drama Series Adaptation Of Viet Thanh Nguyen's 'The Sympathizer' For HBO And A24; Park Chan-wook Directing", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A24&oldid=1142754185, This page was last edited on 4 March 2023, at 05:10. Like, standing ovation, fucking applause in the middle of the movie. Fenkel: I stare straight ahead. Colin Farrell (actor, The Lobster, The Killing of a Sacred Deer): They have such a great eye for these small little films and rich and unique stories that may have not found it to the big screen if it wasnt for them. IP & Literary Intern, Literary & IP Acquisitions at Amazon Studios, Assistant, Physical Production at Lionsgate, Executive Assistant/Production Office Coordinator for iONE Digital (NY), Manager, Scripted Film and Television, Cond Nast Entertainment. Rather than focusing on acquisitions, as was its early strategy, A24 is now producing its own movies, as well as its own podcast. The company offered no additional details other than to say his vacancy would not lead to any additional changes in management. When you can get a distribution company that likes the film for the same reasons that people that made it like the filmIve found that rare. Barry Jenkins (director, Moonlight): A24s the kind of company where they say, Yeah, they dont need to know what its about. And then its like on the biggest stage, I didnt thank anybody! And the guy asked me, Is there anything we might find suspicious in there? I said, Theres an art piece inside in the shape of a gun. And literally the entire security department was like, What is wrong with you? Long story short, it made it through. The tech titan is reportedly in the midst of dropping $1 billion on original content, but has yet to make a major film market move. You know what? We want to hear from you! Franco: I actually did win some awards. When we started, we wanted it to be about the films and filmmakers, not us, Katz told the Hollywood Reporter at the end of 2013, and that culture remains evident in all aspects of their business. We were about to have two movies [Ex Machina and While Were Young] with him. I Was Like, Fuck Yeah!Barry Jenkins. The next day it was like, Anythings possible.. Starring Splits Anya Taylor-Joy, Robert Eggers creates a world devoid of God in this thunderous and bleak religious melodrama. All Rights Reserved. [15], In January 2016, Sasha Lloyd joined the company to handle all film, television distribution and business development in the international marketplace. I legitimately watched people almost pass out. Their hair and makeup people, actually, are the people that had an issue with this. Katz: Maybe even greater. The company said he will exit to focus on "future opportunities," but did not clarify beyond that statement.. James Franco (actor, Spring Breakers, The Adderall Diaries): This is one of the things theyre great at: taking something small and delicate and giving it the kind of support that other people cant. Its like, oh, this person has no idea what Moonlight is, and it just won Best Picture. James Ponsoldt (director, The Spectacular Now, The End of the Tour): Ive heard people refer to Miramax. And I think that really helped the movie. Its super inspiring. We just had to catch up to that idea. Other similarly sized outfits tend to flood the flooded marketplace with a steady barrage of quality independent and foreign fare in a way that can feel indiscriminate: Send the DCPs to Film Forum and let God sort em out. When I arrived at A24s office, in an anonymous building so close to the western lip of lower Manhattan that it can practically taste New Jersey, my fears that the company might be growing too fast werent exactly assuaged by learning that within weeks it was moving to an enormous office closer to midtown. And we just hounded him. What are you working on? Whatever lingering reservations I had about the VOD side of A24s business were dismantled by the recent rumblings of a demonically possessed goat: The DirecTV logo may still be lurking toward the bottom of The Witchs teaser poster (which accurately identifies and champions Black Phillip as the movies breakout star), but at some point along the way it was decided that this crowd-pleasing, pants-ruining work of art has the makings of a communal sensation, and A24 pivoted. Jon Hodges CEO at Evergreen North America Industrial Services League City, Texas, United States 2K followers 500+ connections Join to connect Evergreen industrial services and GEM mobile. This monster slowly stalks you when you sleep with the wrong person, and the only way to pass it on is to bed another partner. The only monsters we ever see in "It Comes at Night" are the ones that live under one roof. Producer: Safety Not Guaranteed. But as A24 initiates the second phase of its existence, a transition that includes financing its own films and branching out into television, the companys exponential growth may find it becoming part of the problem it had once seemed destined to solve. Gif excerpt from the film Under the Skin via A24 Films. Films distributed by A24 ended up getting nominated for seven Academy Awards that year, including Best Picture (Room), Actress (Brie Larson), Documentary (Amy), and Original Screenplay (Ex Machina). And it just kept getting better and better and better. Place Beyond the Pines, wed worked with the producers before. You lost. John Heavey (distribution, A24): Especially the first two years, we fell in love with every movie. Moonlight we hadnt seen yet. All contents 2023 The Slate Group LLC. Katz: I think if you had asked us beforehand, we would have said, you know, La La Lands gonna win. [17] In April, the company acquired all foreign rights to Swiss Army Man, distributing the film in all territories, and partnering with distributors who previously acquired rights to the film, a first for the company. Since the small blast of trade articles that greeted the companys inception, theyve remained unusually quiet. Its DirecTV/A24 release grossed $229,094 and never played on more than 54 screens. Im thrilled to be joining the team at Jax, Hodges said. Katz: Theres an A24 audience, and sometimes a movie connects with the A24 audience. They dont have the personality of movie executives. junio 12, 2022. cottage for sale in timmins on . Like I had glandular problems. Gif excerpt from the film Room via A24 Films. A24 thinks hard about the landscape of distribution, and they think hard about the models, and the models are changing. Variety and the Flying V logos are trademarks of Variety Media, LLC. Katz: David and I are sitting next to each other. Theyre one of the few companies that have shown that indie films can still be viable. A24 is an American independent entertainment company that specializes in film and television production, as well as film distribution. Signup for Breaking News Alerts & Newsletters. And then you meet Barry and hear Barry talk, and its like, Of course! Sacco: It was my first festival ever.

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