A24 is an American independent entertainment company founded on August 20, 2012, by Daniel Katz, David Fenkel, and John Hodges and based in New York City. The exceptionand basically the only part of A24 that has any public profile at allis the companys social media presence. Beyer: I remember when we had Room, like, six months after Ex Machina or something, Fenkel was like, Whats the Tinder for Room? And I was like, No, no! The company said he will exit to focus on "future opportunities," but did not clarify beyond that statement.. Ali Herting (acquisitions and development, A24): We were never gonna get Place Beyond the Pines. Said Korine: They saw that marketing was a creative act that could be entertaining in and of itself. In 2016, films distributed by A24 won Academy Awards for Best Actress (Brie Larson in Room), Best Documentary Feature (Amy), and Best Visual Effects (Ex Machina). It was social media. There has been speculation for the past six months that the company is for sale. [11][12], In September 2013, A24 entered a $40 million deal with DirecTV Cinema, where DirecTV Cinema would offer day-and-date releases 30 days prior to a theatrical release by A24; Enemy was the first film to be distributed under the deal. 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. I felt like there was a huge opportunity to create something where the talented people could be talented. John Hodges is leaving A24, the Oscar-winning indie studio that he co-founded. Oh my god, its new! Katz: I think if you had asked us beforehand, we would have said, you know, La La Lands gonna win. Which is vanishingly rare in the film industry. Like, you believe in something, you fall in love with it, and then you work for three months on trying to make it work. Fenkel: We test-screened [Spring Breakers] in downtown Manhattan. Variety is a part of Penske Media Corporation. Did Moonlight just win Best Picture?. Deploying for Major CAT Events, tornadoes . In the fall of 2012, A24 arrived at the Toronto International Film Festival with a plan to acquire several movies. And suddenly its all over, and you think, Of all people, I knew the most about my film, so why was I was on the periphery of its release? But working closely with A24 throughout Rooms pre-release has altered his philosophy on film marketing: I used to think that the publicity process was both morally questionable and smoke and mirrors, that it was one of those invented jobs. And then over the course of, like, four months, we bought a lot of movies. Its DirecTV/A24 release grossed $229,094 and never played on more than 54 screens. Judging by the fact that the trailer racked up more than 3 million views in its first week online, the crowds are ready with their pitchforks. No one in the office is older than 42, including co-founders John Hodges, David Fenkel, and Daniel Katz. 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. We closed the deal on The Bling Ring on the way to Sundance. I still think that its morally questionable, but now I realize that the publicity people do stuff, and that stuff is real.. A24 is an American independent entertainment company founded on August 20, 2012, by Daniel Katz, David Fenkel, and John Hodges and based in New York City. I actually tied with Jared [Leto], who obviously won the Oscar that year, for L.A. Film Critics. Their whole point was, We dont know this world. You were in the A24 offices. Rather than carpet-bomb the whole country with prohibitively expensive television ads, A24 partnered with a social marketing agency called theAudience in order to more precisely reach its target demographic. I think that was Nicolette, actually: Consider This Shit.. Company Details: It was such an out-of-body experience. And that takes time. You know, theyre big-time. A24 Films - Production List | Film & Television Industry Alliance Its infamously irreverent official Twitter account, run by an employee named Zoe Beyer, is as likely to tweet about the Spice Girls or trash-talk Tom Cruise as it is to tweet about one of the companys own movies. Drinking champagne at nine in the morning. Like, no way in hell. 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. But then also do things that other companies arent doing. The only monsters we ever see in "It Comes at Night" are the ones that live under one roof. Fifty-six-year-old guy. Youre incredible. The question with any company that lavishes attention and resources upon a modest amount of product is, of course, where does the money come from? There was nothing bad-spirited about it. There are more glamorous things to be, in Hollywood, than an independent distribution company. First movies gonna be so exciting! And I remember everyone came back from that test screening. But in a shift from its typical way of doing business, A24 acquired Room based on its script, before shooting had even begun. Sasha Lane (actress, American Honey): They were like, You guys are who you are and were not going to change that. No one had to be perfected for anything. But if it is, a monastic degree of focus will be required to recognize which A24 titles might fare better on VOD. You want to have a grown-up conversation about the best way to get your work to the people who would spend money to see it, Abrahamson concludes. A24 was set up ten years ago by David Fenkel, John Hodges and Daniel Katz, all veterans of New York's independent film business. We tried to put together a slate in, like, four months, as opposed to just really growing it, building it in the right way. Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Description. So it was strange, if you were a moviegoer in 2013, to see the A24 logo pop up again and again before movies as varied and weird as Harmony Korines Spring Breakers and Sofia Coppolas The Bling Ring, James Ponsoldts The Spectacular Now and Roman Coppolas A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III. A24 took Ex Machina to the 2015 South by Southwest festival and built a Tinder chatbot with the face of Alicia Vikander to help promote the film. It took us ten minutes to get a block. A mile and a half. So we ran there. 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. A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III, Frankenstein's Monster's Monster, Frankenstein, Would It Kill You to Laugh? A24 co-founder John Hodges to depart - IMDb The Hollywood Reporter is a part of Penske Media Corporation. John has been a trusted partner who helped conceive A24 and for that we will always be grateful. So everything had to be explained to me, and by the time it was explained, it was over. Under the Skin reintroduced Scarlett Johansson as a killer alien from outer space (and, more jarringly, a shockingly brave improv performer). Fenkel: We had a meeting. Fenkel: Look at The Witch. Greetings From the Vortex of Unpredictability, Robert Pattinson singing Keri Hilsons Pretty Girl Rock. They wanted, like, the Disney, massive one. The story behind the studio that brought you Moonlight and It Comes At Night, as told by Barry Jenkins, Sofia Coppola, James Franco, Robert Pattinson, and the founders of A24 themselves. The second title was Life After Beth, the domestic theatrical haul of which was a paltry $88,273. Scarlett Johansson gives the most daring performance of her career in Jonathan Glazers surreal, experimental film. 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. And, you know, partly as a filmmaker, youre like, My God! I open the curtains when Im in L.A., and everywhere I see films on billboards. And then we drank a huge amount of red wine. Karyn Kusama is a rapidly rising female director, and for good reason. Katz: David and I are sitting next to each other. It was another way of getting the message out there. 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. Theyre just on it. Gif excerpt from the film Slow West via A24 Films. A24 co-founder John Hodges is exiting the indie company to "focus on future opportunities," he and the company jointly announced on Monday. Katz: They were kind of comfortable with the Under the Skin release. Theres aesthetic and political values to the people behind the company. A24 (company) net worth 174 Million Millions of dollars 99% Net worth score Disclamer: A24 (company) net worth displayed here are calculated based on a combination social factors. Were always cognizant of trying to sell the film by not selling it, said marketing exec Jesse Patrone-Werdiger, speaking to A24s rare faculty for promoting around the product its trying to push, shifting the tectonic plates of culture in the hopes of giving rise to a mountain. I think we all were kind of a bit shell-shocked. Beyer: It was all about this tension between, like, trying to legitimize ourselves as a real company that can handle working with, like, big. Fenkel: I was at the Union Square theater, and they couldnt have had enough theaters. The Rover found a mentally deficient Robert Pattinson singing Keri Hilsons Pretty Girl Rock in the deserts of post-apocalyptic Australia. We were watching it the whole time. Uncut Gems ($50 million). Daniel Katz, David Fenkel and John Hodges have unveiled New York-based A24 as a distribution, financing and production company with plans to release eight to 10 titles annually. Johansson plays something between an android and alien symbiote who seduces men in order to envelop them in a dark, infinite pool of nothingness. Distribution: Theatrical, TV, DVD-video, VOD, USA. Fenkel: I think we had to sell them on, like, Hey, were gonna push this thing.. Wouldnt call us back. Daniels like, Okay. And then its like on the biggest stage, I didnt thank anybody! SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE DAILY NEWSLETTER, FIRST TAKE, Sundance, SXSW Comedy 'Never Goin' Back' Sells to A24. John Hodges - IMDb Rather than focusing on acquisitions, as was its early strategy, A24 is now producing its own movies, as well as its own podcast. Three were winners. But I remember vividly that they had chosen some specific movies, one of which was Under the Skin. We step up to a guy we really respect. When Ex Machina director Alex Garland was asked what he liked about working with A24, he compared the major studios to ocean liners: To change direction it takes them two days to even start to make that turn. Katz: I always had dreams of [starting a company]. A24 has also been nominated and won many Golden Globes, British Academy Film Awards, and Critics' Choice Movie Awards. [23], On March 26, 2018, co-founder John Hodges announced that he was exiting the company. The Little Movie Studio That Could - The New York Times The Oscar-nominated actor gives us his all-time favorites of film. The next day it was like, Anythings possible.. They came on strong in the late 90s, really. A mother undergoes reconstructive facial surgery, but her two twin boys dont recognize the woman beneath her bandages. With how bad it tested. If its gonna be released the same way by another company, we usually dont go after it. They dont have the personality of movie executives. Animated photo illustration by Lisa Larson-Walker. Apple Not Buying A24, but Silicon Valley Increasingly Shapes Hollywood Zach Baron is GQs staff writer. Buying and burying not-great movies isnt necessarily a problem if it grows the business without harming the brand. Katz: There was still, I think, the element ofthey thought we got lucky. Fenkel: Charlie Sheen was in this interesting place where maybe he was on the verge of a comeback, and Im saying that with a straight face. 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.. Sacco: We probably saw 20 versions. And although it describes itself as Midnight Madness, the film didnt start until close to one oclock in the morning. It was millions in one day. By subscribing, I agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Harmony Korine (director, Spring Breakers): They have balls. And I think theyre creating a kind of renaissance in filmmaking. 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. Its a film about guilt that forever haunts you and the fear of being watched. David Fenkel and I have had some great conversations about film - the whole A24 team have a great and deep love for cinema. Please, just let those two!. We wish Hodges the best of luck with his next endeavor, since the indie landscape has certainly benefited from his contributions. Sacco: To engrave the Spring Breakers logo onto the glass-gun bong. Put it on screens. And that was our communication for booking theaters. You know what? Trench coat was enough. Fenkel: We may have had to fire a fake intern for that. Aizenberg: Ex Machina winning for visual effects was the most shocking thing. 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. This is a growing company, not a struggling one. I felt like we were all on the same team. Katz: Yeah! I just started talking. We get credit for it even when we have nothing to do with it. Korine: I could tell that they were on some new shit, you know? Scott didnt say anything. We get movies. And the only thing we could put it in was a cardboard box with duct tape. It wasnt going to get lost in the shuffle. John has been a trusted partner who helped conceive A24 and for that we will always be grateful, noted A24 in a statement. Anything in between is dead in the water. Many of the countrys most vital filmmakers, unwilling to accept that their next movie would have to be either shot on an iPhone or connected to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, have begun to abandon ship. Selena and Ashley had no issue with this. So when I saw that, I was like, Okay, those guys, they know what they are doing.. Theyre making people want to go to the cinema again to see this kind of stuff, rather than staying at home. TV production powerhouse Jax Media is expanding into film and tapped John Hodges, one of the founding partners of A24, as its new head of film. The company, improbably, was based in New York, not Los Angeles. This was not a first-look deal, meaning that A24 can continue to produce and acquire films to release outside of the deal, and that it would not affect previous deals that A24 had signed with other companies. Sacco: And people on planet Earth, you know, they go see movies that they need to want to see or hear about. (Joy, Annapurnas only 2015 title, arrives in theaters on Christmas Day.). Sacco: It was my first festival ever. Notable guests on the show have included Bo Burnham, Paul Schrader, Sofia Coppola, Alia Shawkat and Martin Scorsese. It wasnt disrespectful. 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. All Rights Reserved. Hodges had run A24 with David Fenkel and Daniel Katz as a ruling troika, albeit one that operated without offices (located in Chelsea, the company was known for its open space and banquette tables). John. His net worth has been growing significantly in 2021-2022. In the last few years, there have been a spate ofindie horror films that have broken into the mainstream. What are you working on? Katz: Tuesday morning, I remember, we had a little whiskey for him. Asif Kapadia (director, Amy): I had never heard of A24. Only Lovers Left Alive drips with style, wisdom and ironic humor as Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton play hip, immortal layabouts. I think he was in Hawaii on his honeymoon or something while it was all going down, so I felt terrible. Johnny Hodges Biography, Age, Height, Wife, Net Worth, Family And yeah, I just think that it takesit doesnt happen that often that a new studio starts. Gif excerpt from the film Ex Machina via A24 Films. But more independent existed then. Hollywood is run by accountants at this point. Fenkel: [Katz] is a better runner than I am. But the back end was so crazy. 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.. If you were paying attention, you had to wonder: Who were these strange upstart New Yorkers who were making Hollywood a little bit great again? Send us a tip using our annonymous form. 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. We werent doing anything like that. Like, there was one that was like the shotit was [Francos character] Alien with the two girls, and hes holding machine guns or something. Losing a movieI wanted to jump off a bridge. It could be the CEO or an intern.. Daniel Katz and David Fenkel will continue to oversee the NYC-based indie. But what happens when the titles involved in this deal get bettera lot better? Hodges had been an integral part of the studio since its inception in 2012, along with co-founders David Fenkel and Daniel Katz. The first: Barry Jenkins Moonlight, which chronicles a gay mans coming of age across three stages of his life in war on drugsera Miami. Thats the chief message of an A24 campaign, really, from elegant design to sharp social media to clever co-branding choices: This is a company that gets it. Katz: Tusk, we were like, oh, Kevin Smith! I felt bad that David had to be put through that. [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. 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. An Industry Arts Company. In this newly created role, Hodges will be tasked with overseeing and growing all of Jax Medias film projects. We wanted to deliver in a meaningful way. I was like, I think I need to find another job., Aizenberg: They were basically like, Dont release this movie.. Where its like: Im in. a24 john hodges net worth. Jeremy Kleiner (producer, Plan B, Moonlight): It wasnt like, Oh, this is low-hanging fruit, lets grab on to this one. It was a passionate embrace of the movie. Katz: And we were all like, You know what? I say, Dont go there. Because what happened was, someone ran out with a red envelope. Fenkel: It actually went very well, for what the movie was. 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. He booked the theaters over the phone. January, February, we didnt know we had The Lobster. Aizenberg: I was already, like, putting together the distribution plans for Frances Ha. Signed on as producer beginning with the third season. Not like we should have paid more. John has been a trusted partner who helped conceive A24 and for that we will always be grateful, A24 noted. By the end of its opening weekend, it had raked in more money than all of Korines other films combined. 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