Under the Skin reintroduced Scarlett Johansson as a killer alien from outer space (and, more jarringly, a shockingly brave improv performer). In 2012, Fenkel, Hodges, and Katz left their jobsat Oscilloscope, Big Beach, and Guggenheim Partners, respectivelyto start A24. We tried to get the Union Square movie theaterwe didnt have a theatrical booking yet. 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, added Hodges. When your business model is predicated on treating each movie like an event, how do you get bigger without changing who you are? Jenkins: They were like, Look. Katz: Tusk, we were like, oh, Kevin Smith! Scott didnt say anything. So when I saw that, I was like, Okay, those guys, they know what they are doing.. They entered into deals with DirecTV Cinema and Amazon Prime in late 2013, with some films distributed through them, and the name was changed to A24 in 2016.[3]. Theyre super-smart people. They kept shutting us down. Since then his contributions to growing the company have been invaluable and we cant wait to see what he does next., Added Hodges, I am incredibly proud of the company we created and of the amazing team at A24 that has been integral to its success. If its gonna be released the same way by another company, we usually dont go after it. But more independent existed then. 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. Fenkel: Well, of course Selena Gomez in a bikini worked. Fenkel: I remember we were just getting to know Scott Rudin. The company said he will exit to focus on "future opportunities," but did not clarify beyond that statement.. At the time of my visit, however, A24 still looked more like a startup than a movie studio, and you could find the countrys fastest-growing film companys actual HQ only by following the flimsy paper signs that had been taped up along the 17th-floor hallway outside its headquarters. Jenkins: We shot for five weeks, and they came down during the first week. [laughs] I remember I had to have a conversation with Alicia about it, where she was saying, What the hell? and I was saying, I dont know. [20], On February 20, 2018, A24 launched a podcast titled The A24 Podcast. 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. Fenkel: We may have had to fire a fake intern for that. Saulnier expertly contains conflict, depth and gore within small confines. All Rights Reserved. When your audience does the work for you. Nathan (Oscar Isaac) and Kyoko (Sonoya Mizuno). Alex Garland (director, Ex Machina): They make things work that according to standard procedures really shouldnt work. We were watching it the whole time. 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. From It Follows to The Babadook, these horror gems didnt have blockbuster budgets. 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. Theres aesthetic and political values to the people behind the company. Karyn Kusama is a rapidly rising female director, and for good reason. That Oscar win came within five years of A24s launch, but so did Open Roads win for Spotlight, and now that company is part of the larger entity Global Road. No additional changes in management will be made, said A24, which will continue to develop and produce a growing slate of content across film and television. The Rover found a mentally deficient Robert Pattinson singing Keri Hilsons Pretty Girl Rock in the deserts of post-apocalyptic Australia. Take its efforts on Spring Breakers, for example. Larson: I couldnt be more grateful for an experience that changed the course of my life and career immeasurably. We get movies. And the only thing we could put it in was a cardboard box with duct tape. Aizenberg: Yeah. Variety and the Flying V logos are trademarks of Variety Media, LLC. Katz: Tuesday morning, I remember, we had a little whiskey for him. [Sofia] was like, Oh, will you at least partner with Harvey? We were like, No!. Theyre one of the few companies that have shown that indie films can still be viable. 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. January, February, we didnt know we had The Lobster. But we liked them. Whether thats old white people in the Academy, or people all over the country, or frankly the rest of the world. His relationship with talent and creators is exceptional and we look forward to having him make Jax his new home.. Wouldnt call us back. It was crazy. Despite lacking any pre-defined structure, episodes generally contain discussions around recent works of the two guests, allowing for branching discussions to other areas. Katz: Theres an A24 audience, and sometimes a movie connects with the A24 audience. [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. 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And in that moment I was like: Now its time to go do this. But A24 has the money to acquire a steady slate of releases, the model to support them, and the chutzpah to make nearly each one into a mini-phenomenon. Its not remarkable that A24 had set such a goalits remarkable that the company is accomplishing it. A24 will. 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And so with [The Rover], they took that into account, and instead of blowing loads of money, [they did] more targeted marketing and also really sophisticated online campaigns and stuff. More recently, it expanded from being an acquisitions-only distributor to producing home-grown fare as well as branching into TV. Information. But we got A Glimpse Inside the Mind. I think he would say something now. As of April 2022[update], twenty-seven episodes had been released. To revisit this article, visit My Profile, thenView saved stories. It is based in New York City. A24 founding partner John Hodges announced that he will be leaving the indie studio that he helped launch nearly six years ago, the company announced Monday. [8] In October 2012, Nicolette Aizenberg joined as head of publicity from 42West where she was senior publicity executive. Not necessarily, like, to win Best Picture and ten Oscar nominations. Please! That kind of audience. The gross guysand hes like, All right. 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. Activity. But A24, it became clear when I spoke to the companys employees, saw Spring Breakers as a Trojan horse for progressive cinemathe company less concerned about the nine kids who found the film too weird than they were the one kid who went home and rented Gummo. A24 is responsible for such films as Lady Bird, Moonlight, Eighth Grade, Hereditary, The Witch, The Lobster, Ex Machina & more. But I remember vividly that they had chosen some specific movies, one of which was Under the Skin. With how bad it tested. Since then his contributions to growing the company have been invaluable and we cant wait to see what he does next., Added Hodges, I am incredibly proud of the company we created and of the amazing team at A24 that has been integral to its success. You look at the underdog story, I think thats not by accident. It was me! Here's who: Daniel Katz, David Fenkel, John Hodges and James Schultz. NetWorthSpot.com's industry expertise thinks A24's net worth at $1.89 million, but A24's finalized net worth is still being verified. With Hodges leaving, the. The Oscar-nominated actor gives us his all-time favorites of film. Also Read: Sundance, SXSW Comedy 'Never Goin' Back' Sells to A24, John has been a trusted partner who helped conceive A24 and for that we will always be grateful, the studio said in a statement. 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. The company said he will exit to focus on "future opportunities," but did not clarify beyond that statement.. It was, like, every time another person walked out, I was like, Oh, there goes another one!, Sacco: All my friends and family, they kept asking about this new company. Our site's data suggests A24's net worth to be about $1.89 million. And it was on the A24 [motorway]. Stay plugged in to the industry with our free newsletter. Lets run there. And then we opened. 2023 Variety Media, LLC. Sofia Coppola (director, The Bling Ring): I really like those guys. 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. And they did. Thats an achievable budget number for me. You know what I mean? Aizenberg: I was already, like, putting together the distribution plans for Frances Ha. So everyones wrapping up this gift basket that Im supposed to deliver to Megan [Ellison, one of the producers of Spring Breakers, who was on location in Pittsburgh] and say, like, This is why you should go with us. I think Spring Breakers really put them on the map, as far as I could tell. When I was explaining to people what I was doing, it felt like a political campaign. Genre hounds stoked by the Sundance hype would surely seek it out, but Eggers extraordinary debutabout a family of early American pilgrims who get banished to the wrong forestwould never be given the opportunity to meaningfully connect with its audience and worm its way into the culture. Fenkel: The world kind of shifted in its direction, where the film was for an audience, and then you realize, Whoa, the movie is needed by other people.