On the most literal level, an A24 film is budgeted from anywhere between $1 million (Obvious Child) and $20 million (A Most Violent Year). Since its inception in 2012, A24 has become one of the hottest destinations for indie filmmakers, ushering such edgy films to theaters as The Bling Ring and Spring Breakers. Gif excerpt from the film Room via A24 Films. A24 has also been nominated and won many Golden Globes, British Academy Film Awards, and Critics' Choice Movie Awards. A24 knew that Slow West was great well before it premiered to rave reviews, but the company also recognized that it was an odd duck, neither broad enough to be a prestige picture nor strange enough to galvanize a legion of fans. Nathan (Oscar Isaac) and Kyoko (Sonoya Mizuno). Starring Splits Anya Taylor-Joy, Robert Eggers creates a world devoid of God in this thunderous and bleak religious melodrama. The company may be a lovely acquisition target for a buyer seeking an arthouse pipeline,but A24 is still building itself as a brand one that is synonymous with quality. We get movies. And the only thing we could put it in was a cardboard box with duct tape. People had thought that entire part of the industry had just died. Igoe: Even with Ex Machina at the time, we were getting bigger, but we still had that kind of start-up mentality that I dont know wed be able to get away with now. John Hodges is Head of Film for Jax Media, where he heads Jax's feature film development and production. Igoe: At SXSW, we had Spectacular Now, and Spring Breakers showed there. Hodges, who previously served as head of production at the indie production company Big Beach (Little Miss Sunshine), did not announce any immediate career plans. The world opened itself up. And it satisfied something they werent getting. Asif Kapadia (director, Amy): I suppose most filmmakers have had bad experiences in the past where you do all the hard work, and then these guys in slick suits come along and theyre like, We know what were doing now! That kind of audience. Aizenberg: Ex Machina winning for visual effects was the most shocking thing. Or a director. This is Rudin. 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. 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. This elegant, yet sadistic horror film from Austria resembles Michael Hanekes Funny Games, yet the home invader was under the victims noses all along. In the last few years, there have been a spate ofindie horror films that have broken into the mainstream. I just trust, you know, Drag City or Merge or SST or Dischord. Lets do Kevin Smith horror! So that was like their heyday. a24. John Hodges is leaving A24, the Oscar-winning indie studio that he co-founded. I didnt think it was terrible. 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). Its true that most audiences may not care about who it is thats releasing the movies they see, but an A24 film demands even casual viewers to consider the source. It is currently unknown if this slate of films will have a theatrical release or be exclusive to Apple's Apple TV+ streaming service. The best scares always come from unexpected places. "I'm thrilled to be joining the team at Jax,". They just need to know how it feels.. They wanted, like, the Disney, massive one. Beyer: Alicia VikanderI think she read about it, or she saw this photo of her that was being used. I say, Dont go there. Because what happened was, someone ran out with a red envelope. 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. Next year theyll re-team with While Were Young director Noah Baumbach on his brilliant doc about Brian De Palma, distribute one of the best horror films since The Shining, and release the first of the films theyve financed themselves. The photo has been . Art and Experience : John Hodges is leaving A24, the Oscar-winning indie studio that he co-founded. [He won at least six.] Meanwhile, A24 has already been building an ark. Signup for Breaking News Alerts & Newsletters. A mile and a half. So we ran there. Jenkins: They were like, Look. 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. Aizenberg: Remember he didnt show up to the premiere? I think what theyve understood is theres a sufficient number of people out there who want more challenging or different material. Ali Herting (acquisitions and development, A24): We were never gonna get Place Beyond the Pines. [13] That same year, A24 entered a deal with Amazon Prime, where A24-distributed films would be available on Amazon Instant Video after becoming available on DVD and Blu-ray. 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. Fenkel: We may have had to fire a fake intern for that. 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. Like I had glandular problems. If I had to guess, Id wager that Hodges was simply ready to move on after reaching the top of the mountain winning Best Picture for Moonlight. 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. Since then, A24's success has been immeasurable, especially for an independent Production company founded the same year The Avengers came out. 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. And I felt with these guys it was a dialogue. I still think that its morally questionable, but now I realize that the publicity people do stuff, and that stuff is real.. I actually tied with Jared [Leto], who obviously won the Oscar that year, for L.A. Film Critics. Still, A24 has never enjoyed a box-office breakout hit. And I think theyre creating a kind of renaissance in filmmaking. 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. Hodges. Fenkel: Well, it wasnt a heartbreak, because they wouldnt actually call us back. This is before Wolf of Wall Street came out, but Margot Robbie, I didnt know her, but she was working with somebody that knew my costumer or something, and got in touch with me and was like, Can you print me a photo of the tattoos in detail, so that I can get this costume perfectly? Because she was fucking Alien that year. Since the small blast of trade articles that greeted the companys inception, theyve remained unusually quiet. Variety and the Flying V logos are trademarks of Variety Media, LLC. Of the 174 million impressions that the movie made in the weeks leading up to its debut, 49 percent were organic, meaning that you were just as likely to learn about a new Harmony Korine film from your weird aunts personal page as you were from a promoted update in your news feed. He also produced . Heading into production nearly a decade after the premiere of Jenkins only other feature (the excellent Medicine for Melancholy), the film has been waiting a long time for a company with the confidence required to finance it. Right after we did those three films, I dont think we had really purchased a film for the following year. 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. 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. [23], On March 26, 2018, co-founder John Hodges announced that he was exiting the company. Kapadia: There were other films that had a lot more money in their campaign and were everywhere. I thought it would get a distributorI thought it was good enough for that. Send us a tip using our annonymous form. John Hodges will be leaving A24 to pursue other opportunities, the indie distributor announced Monday. 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. Jenkins: What theyre doing is so fluid and free-form that two years from now, it could be quite different than it was two years ago. Zach Baron is GQs staff writer. Kapadia: Theyve won Best Picture. A24 will. Hodges had been an integral part of the studio since its inception in 2012, along with co-founders David Fenkel and Daniel Katz. Her film The Invitation" plays on agitation and insecurities between a group of old friends and some suspicious strangers at a lavish dinner party. You could tell that they wanted to be great. Hes not gonna be able to do this right now. Our first release. 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. 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. Sacco: I used to think seeing people faint was what happened in movies. But I think she saw this, and it hijacked her image and personality, and we didnt ask her. So what is an A24 film? And the interns are running around trying to find a glassblower. Fenkel: We test-screened [Spring Breakers] in downtown Manhattan. But I do remember finally looking over, because I didnt know where they were sitting, and I spotted Dan Katz and Dave Fenkel, and, man, the smile on their faces! Among critics and cinephiles I know, the A24 label is starting to mean something in the way that a 4AD record meant something in 1988, or a Grove Press book meant something in 1955. Aizenberg: I remember that Sunday we all got on the phone and were like, Were going over a thousand screens.. . As of 2023[update], the company's films had received a total of 49 Academy Award nominations. Its funny. Ad Choices. Fenkel: And then I started saying, No way. 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. Far left, from left: A24 founders David Fenkel, John Hodges, and Daniel Katz. Take the fate of John Macleans Slow West, one of the years best films, a neo-Western starring Michael Fassbender as a bounty hunter. Igoe: That morning was crazy. Since then his contributions to growing the company have been invaluable and we cant wait to see what he does next, said A24 in a statement. Selena and Ashley had no issue with this. Katz: We get there. But if it is, a monastic degree of focus will be required to recognize which A24 titles might fare better on VOD. 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. Katz: I dont think we had The Bling Ring yet. Pattinson: I mean, with Twilight, the first tour we did was literally going to suburban shopping malls and doing local-news stuff. All contents 2023 The Slate Group LLC. Aizenberg: I think we knew we had something at South By. Hollywood is run by accountants at this point. GQ Style. And it just kept getting better and better and better. The whole thing was really intense. Steven Soderbergh retired. Spike Lee turned to Kickstarter. I dont mean it that way. Nandan: I remember seeing a screener of [The Witch], and yeah, it was like, oh, right, howd that movie not sell for more money? 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. How A24 is Disrupting Hollywood. And then we drank a huge amount of red wine. The photo has been replaced. Villeneuve: If my memorys good, I was amongst their, not their first movies, but they were a young company at the time. 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. [18] In June, the company, along with Oscilloscope and distributor Honora, joined BitTorrent Now to distribute the work of their portfolio across the ad-supported service. And she said it sucked. 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. Fenkel: And they were like, You cant do that! I found it so deep in Google Image searches. Sacco: It was my first festival ever. I love Moonlight, said as much before it won the Oscar, and Ill say it again now - I showed it to my daughters early and they loved it. Get our latest storiesin the feed of your favorite networks. [25], On November 13, 2019, A24 entered into a premium cable television broadcast deal with Showtime Networks, covering all film releases through November 1, 2022. The fact that we were able to sign any movies out of that office is absurd. From It Follows to The Babadook, these horror gems didnt have blockbuster budgets. Annapurna Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection, Moonlights Mahershala Ali Picks His Own Oscar Winners. 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. In the last 18 months alone,along with Room and The End of the Tour,it has pioneered the abortion comedy with Obvious Child, scored a commercial hit with the seductive thriller Ex Machina, released one of the most daring science fiction films this side of 2001 in Under the Skin, and driven the most lucrative documentary in years with Asif Kapadias Amy Winehouse portrait, Amy. It was millions in one day. Rather than focusing on acquisitions, as was its early strategy, A24 is now producing its own movies, as well as its own podcast. [27], A24 distributes and produces around 18 to 20 films a year. 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.