A24 is an American independent entertainment company founded on August 20, 2012,[3] by Daniel Katz, David Fenkel, and John Hodges and based in New York City. It specializes in film distribution, and film and television production.
Katz, Fenkel, and Hodges, prior to A24, worked in film and production, before leaving to eventually 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 and Room, and worldwide rights to The Witch, growing substantially since then. They entered into deals with DirecTV Cinema and Amazon Prime in late 2013, with some films distributed through them, and the name was shortened to A24 in 2016.
As of 2019, the company has received a total of 25 Academy Award nominations. 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). In 2017,[4] Moonlight won the Academy Award for Best Picture (the first such award for the company), Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (Mahershala Ali). A24's television division released The Carmichael Show and Euphoria.
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.[3] The name "A24" was inspired by the Italian A24 motorway Katz was driving on when he decided to found the company.[5]
Guggenheim Partners provided the seed money for A24. The company was started for the founders to experience the company's "movies from a distinctive point of view".[6] In October 2012, Nicolette Aizenberg joined as head of publicity, carrying over from 42West where she was senior publicity executive.[7]
The company began in 2013.[8] The company marked its first theatrical release with Roman Coppola's A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III, which had a limited 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.[9][10]
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 to be distributed effectively.[11] 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.[12]
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.[13]
In January 2016, Sasha Lloyd joined the company to handle all film, television distribution and business development in the international marketplace.[14] 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.[15] 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.[16] 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.[17]
In January 2017, the company acquired the United States and Chinese distribution rights for their first foreign language film, Menashe.[18]
2018–present: Management changes, partnership with Apple[]
On February 20, 2018, A24 launched a podcast titled The A24 Podcast.[19][20] Episodes are based around a discussion between two members of the film industry. Notable guests to the show include Bo Burnham, Paul Schrader, Sofia Coppola, Alia Shawkat and Martin Scorsese. 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 July 2019[update], fifteen episodes have been released.
On March 26, 2018, co-founder John Hodges announced that he was exiting the company.[21]
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 wouldn't 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 Apple TV+ streaming service.[22]
Filmography[]
- Main article(s): List of A24 films
A24 distributes and produces around 18 to 20 films a year.[6][23]
Television[]
| Year | Name | Air date | Number of seasons | Number of episodes | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Playing House[24] | April 29, 2014 – July 14, 2017 | 3 | 26 | USA Network |
| 2015 | The Carmichael Show[25] | August 26, 2015 – August 9, 2017 | 3 | 32 | NBC |
| 2017 | Jerrod Carmichael: 8[26] | March 11, 2017 | 1 | 1 | HBO |
| Comrade Detective[27] | August 4, 2017 | 1 | 6 | Amazon Video | |
| 2018 | 2 Dope Queens[28] | February 2, 2018 – March 1, 2019 | 2 | 8 | HBO |
| Random Acts of Flyness[29] | August 4, 2018 – present | 1 | 6 | ||
| Drew Michael[30] | August 25, 2018 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Pod Save America[31] | October 12, 2018 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 2019 | I'm Sorry | January 9, 2019 – present | 2 | 20 | TruTV |
| At Home with Amy Sedaris[32] | February 19, 2019 – present | 1 | 10 | ||
| Ramy[33] | April 19, 2019 – present | 1 | 10 | Hulu | |
| Euphoria[34] | June 16, 2019 – present | 1 | 8 | HBO | |
| The Confession Tapes | June 21, 2019 | 1 | 4 | Netflix | |
| Frankenstein's Monster's Monster, Frankenstein | July 16, 2019 | 1 | 1 | ||
| John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch | December 24, 2019 | 1 | 1 | ||
| TBA | Moonbase 8[35] | TBA | 1 | 6 | TBA |
See also[]
- Amazon Studios
- Annapurna Pictures
- Bleecker Street
- Blumhouse Productions
- Drafthouse Films
- IFC Films
- Neon
- The Picture Company
- STX Entertainment
References[]
- ↑ "A24". https://www.linkedin.com/company/a24. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
- ↑ Pride, Ray. "A24 Open Doors For Film Production, Finance, And Production - Movie City News", Movie City News, August 20, 2012. Retrieved on 30 July 2016.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 McNary, Dave. "Katz, Fenkel, Hodges launch A24", Variety, August 20, 2012.
- ↑ "A24 Teams With Plan B & Adele Romanski To Produce And Finance Barry Jenkins' Moonlight". Deadline Hollywood. August 24, 2015. Retrieved June 23, 2018.
- ↑ Nast, Condé. "Hollywood, Disrupted: Inside the Scrappy Film Company that Made “Moonlight” and “The Witch”" (in en). https://www.gq.com/story/a24-studio-oral-history.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Doster, Adam. "Upstart Distributor A24 Is Making Indie Films Exciting Again", Fast Company, January 11, 2016.
- ↑ Kilday, Gregg (October 3, 2012). "Nicolette Aizenberg Joins A24 As Head Of Publicity". http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/nicolette-aizenberg-a24-publicity-376254. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
- ↑ Lee, Chris. "A24: the brains behind 'The Bling Ring' zing", June 14, 2013.
- ↑ Ehrlich, David. "The Distributor as Auteur", Slate, 2015-09-30. (in en-US)
- ↑ Baron, Zach. "Hollywood, Disrupted: Inside the Scrappy Film Company that Made "Moonlight" and "The Witch"", GQ, 2017-05-09. (in en)
- ↑ Spangler, Todd (September 30, 2013). "DirecTV Pacts with Indie Film House A24 for Early-Release VOD Titles". Variety. https://variety.com/2013/biz/news/directv-pacts-with-indie-film-house-a24-for-early-release-vod-titles-1200681572/. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
- ↑ Lewis, Hilary (November 21, 2013). "Amazon Prime, A24 Announce Exclusive Multi-Year Streaming Deal". http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/amazon-prime-a24-announce-multi-658584. Retrieved May 17, 2016.
- ↑ Rose, Lacey (May 12, 2015). "'Ex Machina' Studio A24 Launching TV Division With Channing Tatum-Produced Comedy, Asia-Set Action Show (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/machina-studio-a24-launching-tv-794589.
- ↑ Busch, Anita (January 12, 2016). "Sasha Lloyd Takes Top International Post At A24". http://deadline.com/2016/01/sasha-lloyd-hired-by-a24-top-international-executive-1201681433/. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
- ↑ Lieberman, David. "A24 Says It Will Boost Film And TV Operations With Raise in Bank Credit Line", 23 February 2016.
- ↑ Tartaglione, Nancy (April 5, 2016). "A24 To Handle 'Swiss Army Man' Global Release In Company's First World Rights Move; New U.S. Release Date – Update". http://deadline.com/2016/04/swiss-army-man-worldwide-distribution-a24-sundance-daniel-radcliffe-1201732184/.
- ↑ McNary, Dave (June 23, 2016). "A24, Oscilliscope, Honora Join New BitTorrent Now Program". Variety. https://variety.com/2016/digital/news/a24-oscilloscope-honora-bittorrent-program-1201801808/.
- ↑ Fleming, Jr., Mike. "A24 Lands Sundance Film 'Menashe;' First Foreign Language Film For 'Moonlight' Distributor", January 31, 2017.
- ↑ "The A24 Podcast". https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/a-twentyfour-podcast/the-a24-podcast.
- ↑ "The A24 Podcast by A24 on Apple Podcasts". https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-a24-podcast/id1351044991.
- ↑ N'Duka, Amanda. "A24 Founder John Hodges To Part Ways With The Company", March 26, 2018.
- ↑ Lang, Brent (15 November 2018). "Apple Taps A24 to Produce Slate of Films". https://variety.com/2018/film/news/apple-a24-films-1203029800/. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
- ↑ "A24". Deadline. http://deadline.com/tag/a24.
- ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (2014-12-08). "'Playing House' Renewed For Season 2 By USA With VOD As Primary Window". https://deadline.com/2014/12/playing-house-renewed-season-2-usa-1201316407/.
- ↑ Goldberg, Lesley (2015-03-10). "Jerrod Carmichael Comedy Nabs Series Order at NBC". https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/jerrod-carmichael-comedy-nabs-series-780579.
- ↑ TV News Desk (2017-02-21). "HBO to Debut Comedy Special JERROD CARMICHAEL: 8, 3/11". Wisdom Digital Media. https://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwtv/article/HBO-to-Debut-Comedy-Special-JERROD-CARMICHAEL-8-311-20170221.
- ↑ Petski, Denise (2017-06-29). "Amazon Sets Premiere For Romanian Comedy Cop Spoof 'Comrade Detective'". https://deadline.com/2017/06/amazon-premiere-romanian-comedy-cop-spoof-comrade-detective-channing-tatum-joseph-gordon-levitt-1202121850/.
- ↑ Boucher, Ashley (2018-07-23). "HBO Orders 4 More '2 Dope Queens' TV Specials". https://www.thewrap.com/hbo-2-dope-queens-tv-specials-jessica-williams-phoebe-robinson/.
- ↑ Otterson, Joe (2018-08-20). "'Random Acts of Flyness' Renewed for Season 2 at HBO". https://variety.com/2018/tv/news/random-acts-of-flyness-renewed-season-2-hbo-1202910149/.
- ↑ Kozell, Isaac (2018-08-24). "Why Drew Michael Dropped the Audience for His HBO Special". https://www.vulture.com/2018/08/drew-michael-hbo-stand-up-special-interview.html.
- ↑ Pod Save America, https://a24films.com/television/pod-save-america, retrieved 2019-01-29
- ↑ "'At Home With Amy Sedaris' Renewed at TruTV" (in en). https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/at-home-amy-sedaris-renewed-at-trutv-1103745.
- ↑ Petski, Denise. "Hulu Picks Up Mindy Kaling's 'Four Weddings And A Funeral', Ramy Youssef Comedy To Series", 2018-05-02.
- ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (2018-07-30). "'Euphoria' Pilot Starring Zendaya Picked Up To Series By HBO, Drake & Future the Prince Join As Executive Producers". https://deadline.com/2018/07/hbo-series-order-teen-drama-pilot-euphoria-based-israeli-thriller-zendaya-drake-future-prince-1202436451/.
- ↑ Petski, Denise. "'Moonbase 8' Comedy From Fred Armisen, Tim Heidecker, Jonathan Krisel & John C. Reilly In Works By A24", 2018-04-24.