A24 facts for kids
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Formerly
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A24 Films (2012–2016) |
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| Private | |
| Industry | Entertainment |
| Founded | August 20, 2012 |
| Founders |
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| Headquarters | 31 West 27th Street, , |
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Number of locations
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2 (2016) |
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Area served
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Worldwide |
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Key people
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| Owner | Daniel Katz |
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Number of employees
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295 (2021) |
| Divisions | A24 Television A24 International A24 All Access (AAA24) |
| Subsidiaries | 2AM (backing) |
A24 is an American independent entertainment company that specializes in film and television production, as well as film distribution. The company is based in Manhattan.
A24 was founded in 2012 by Daniel Katz, David Fenkel and John Hodges. Prior to A24, all had worked extensively in film and production before leaving their current positions to co-found the company, originally A24 Films, which specialized in film distribution. Starting off moderately in 2013 with A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III, the company's growth started with the release of Spring Breakers later that year. They became better known after picking up the U.S. rights to Ex Machina (2014) and Room (2015), and worldwide rights to The Witch (2015), growing substantially since then. They entered into deals with DirecTV Cinema and Amazon Prime Video in late 2013, with some films distributed through them, and the name was changed to A24 in 2016. In 2022, A24 distributed the Academy Award-winning Everything Everywhere All at Once, which won Best Picture and six more Oscars. A24's television division has produced At Home with Amy Sedaris (2017–2020), Beef (2023), The Carmichael Show (2015–2017), Euphoria (2019–present), I'm Sorry (2017–2019), Irma Vep (2022), Mo (2022–present), Mr. Corman (2021), Ramy (2019–present), and Ziwe (2021–2022).
The studio has developed a reputation as a powerhouse in independent film with a passionate fanbase. Working mostly with artistically-minded writer-directors, the company's projects have had a major influence and style in contemporary horror and arthouse films, among other areas. It is known for the originality of films it produces, generally shunning major franchises.
Contents
History
2012–2013: Founding and early years
A24 was founded on August 20, 2012, by film veterans Daniel Katz, David Fenkel, and John Hodges. Katz formerly led the film finance group at Guggenheim Partners, Fenkel was the president, co-founder and partner at Oscilloscope, and Hodges served as Head of Production and Development at Big Beach. The name "A24" was inspired by the Italian A24 motorway Katz was driving on when he decided to found the company; coincidentally, the motorway is also renowned in Italian film history as the setting of many small Abruzzan towns and rural landscapes employed in the films of neorealist and surrealist masters.
Guggenheim Partners provided the seed money for A24. The company was started to share "movies from a distinctive point of view". In October 2012, Nicolette Aizenberg joined as head of publicity from 42West where she was senior publicity executive.
The company began its distribution of films in 2013. The company's first theatrical release was Roman Coppola's A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III, which had a limited theatrical release. 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.
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. 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.
2014–2017: Television and later productions
In May 2015, A24 announced that it would start a television division and began producing the USA Network series Playing House, as well as working to develop a television series that would later become Comrade Detective, produced by Channing Tatum. The company also announced that they would also finance and develop pilots.
In January 2016, Sasha Lloyd joined the company to handle all film, television distribution and business development in the international marketplace. 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. 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. 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.
In January 2017, the company acquired the United States and Chinese distribution rights for their first foreign language film: Menashe.
2018–2019: Management changes and partnerships
On February 20, 2018, A24 launched a podcast titled "The A24 Podcast". Episodes are based around a discussion between two members of the film industry. Notable guests on the show have included Bo Burnham, Sofia Coppola, Paul Schrader, Martin Scorsese, and Alia Shawkat. Despite lacking any pre-defined structure, episodes generally contain discussions around recent works of the two guests, allowing for branching discussions to other areas. As of April 18, 2023, thirty-four episodes had been released.
On March 26, 2018, co-founder John Hodges announced that he was exiting the company.
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. 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. It is currently unknown if this slate of films will have a theatrical release or be exclusive to Apple's streaming service: Apple TV+.
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 deal excludes films that are already part of the Apple partnership.
2020s–present: Academy Awards triumph and further agreements
In July 2021, A24 reportedly explored a possible buyout for between $2.5 billion to $3 billion. In January 2022, former HBO and Amazon Studios TV executive Nick Hall joined A24 to oversee creative for the company's growing television slate.
In March 2023, A24 became the first independent studio to sweep Best Picture, Best Director, and all four acting categories in a single year at the 95th Academy Awards. That same month, the company bought distribution rights to two older films released before the company's inception, starting with Darren Aronofsky's Pi (1998) and Jonathan Demme's Stop Making Sense (1984), both of which are remastered versions.
In May 2023, Leonine Studios, a German independent film distributor, partnered with A24 to set up a joint label called A24 | Leonine Studios, which will distribute films in Austria and Germany. The next month, it was reported that former Disney General Entertainment Chairman Peter Rice signed a deal with A24 as an independent producer, agreeing to co-finance films for global distribution. Later in 2023, A24 plans to release its first animated project, the musical series Hazbin Hotel, which originated as a self-produced pilot on YouTube in 2019 by series creator Vivienne Medrano.
In July 2023, amidst the SAG-AFTRA strike, A24 was approved to continue filming and promotional activities since they do not have ties to the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
Highest-grossing films
Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) is currently A24's highest-grossing film and the first film of the company to cross the $100-million mark worldwide.
| Rank | Title | Year | Director(s) | Worldwide gross | Ref. |
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| 1 | Everything Everywhere All at Once | 2022 | Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert | $141,194,460 | |
| 2 | Hereditary | 2018 | Ari Aster | $82,850,595 | |
| 3 | Lady Bird | 2017 | Greta Gerwig | $78,986,474 | |
| 4 | Moonlight | 2016 | Barry Jenkins | $65,171,611 | |
| 5 | The Whale | 2022 | Darren Aronofsky | $54,822,669 | |
| 6 | Uncut Gems | 2019 | Josh and Benny Safdie | $50,022,780 | |
| 7 | Midsommar | 2019 | Ari Aster | $48,059,188 | |
| 8 | The Witch | 2015 | Robert Eggers | $40,424,945 | |
| 9 | Ex Machina | 2014 | Alex Garland | $36,869,414 | |
| 10 | Room | 2015 | Lenny Abrahamson | $35,401,757 |
Filmography
A24 produces and distributes about 18 to 20 films annually. It has also served as producer or distributor for several dozen television shows, including At Home with Amy Sedaris (2017–2020), Beef (2023), The Carmichael Show (2015–2017), Euphoria (2019–present), I'm Sorry (2017–2019), Irma Vep (2022), Mo (2022–present), Mr. Corman (2021), Ramy (2019–present), and Ziwe (2021–2022).
Accolades
As of the 95th Academy Awards, A24 has received a total of 49 Academy Award nominations, winning 16 overall.
- In 2016, A24 won Best Actress (Brie Larson for Room), Best Documentary Feature (Amy), and Best Visual Effects (Ex Machina).
- In 2017, Moonlight won the Academy Award for Best Picture (the first such accolade for the studio), Best Adapted Screenplay (Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney), and Best Supporting Actor (Mahershala Ali).
- In 2021, A24 won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress (Yuh-jung Youn for Minari); Youn became the first Korean actress to win an Oscar for acting.
- In 2023, A24 experienced its most successful Oscar season when it became the most nominated single studio of that year's ceremony with 18 total nominations between six of their films; Everything Everywhere All at Once (11 nominations; the most nominated film that year, including Best Picture), The Whale (3 nominations), and Aftersun, Causeway, Close and Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (each with 1 nomination). A24 would ultimately become the most awarded studio that year with nine awards in total, as well as sweeping seven of the major awards (including all four acting categories). Everything Everywhere All at Once won seven—Best Picture, Best Director (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert), Best Actress (Michelle Yeoh), Best Supporting Actor (Ke Huy Quan), Best Supporting Actress (Jamie Lee Curtis), Best Original Screenplay (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert), and Best Film Editing (Paul Rogers). The Whale won two—Best Actor (Brendan Fraser) and Best Makeup and Hairstyling (Adrien Morot, Judy Chin, and Annemarie Bradley).
In addition, A24 has been nominated and won numerous British Academy Film Awards, Critics' Choice Awards, Golden Globe Awards, Independent Spirit Awards, and Screen Actors Guild Awards.
See also
In Spanish: A24 (empresa) para niños
- Amazon Studios
- Annapurna Pictures
- Bleecker Street
- Blumhouse Productions
- Drafthouse Films
- IFC Films
- Neon
- Open Road Films
- The Picture Company
- Roadside Attractions
- Searchlight Pictures
- Sony Pictures Classics
- STX Entertainment
- Vertical Entertainment
