A24 (company)

American independent entertainment companyTemplate:SHORTDESC:American independent entertainment company

* Daniel Katz
* David Fenkel
* John Hodges
* Daniel Katz
* David Fenkel
* Film distribution
* Film production
* Television production

**A24** is an American independent entertainment company founded on August 20, 2012, by Daniel Katz, David Fenkel, and John Hodges that specializes in film and television production, as well as film distribution. It is based in New York City.

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, *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 has produced *The Carmichael Show*, *At Home with Amy Sedaris*, *Ramy*, 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. 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 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–present: Management changes, 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, 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 February 2021[update], eighteen 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 Apple TV+ streaming service.

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.

In July 2021, A24 reportedly explored a possible buyout for between $2.5 billion to $3 billion.

## Filmography

A24 distributes and produces around 18 to 20 films a year. Their five highest grossing films are *Hereditary* ($81 million), *Lady Bird* ($79 million), *Moonlight* ($65 million), *Uncut Gems* ($50 million), and *Midsommar* ($47 million).

Short films by A24, listed by initial release date

## See also

* Amazon Studios
* Annapurna Pictures
* Bleecker Street
* Blumhouse Productions
* Drafthouse Films
* IFC Films
* Neon
* The Picture Company
* STX Entertainment

## References

1. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Pride, Ray (August 20, 2012). "A24 Open Doors For Film Production, Finance, And Production - Movie City News". *Movie City News*. Archived from the original on 16 August 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
2. ↑ A24.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>McNary, Dave (August 20, 2012). "Katz, Fenkel, Hodges launch A24". *Variety*. Archived from the original on June 25, 2016. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
4. ↑ Template:Cite magazine
5. ↑ Nast, Condé (9 May 2017). Hollywood, Disrupted: Inside the Scrappy Film Company that Made "Moonlight" and "The Witch" (en).
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Doster, Adam (January 11, 2016). "Upstart Distributor A24 Is Making Indie Films Exciting Again". *Fast Company*. Archived from the original on July 23, 2016. Retrieved August 2, 2016 – via Mansueto Ventures, LLC.
7. ↑ Kilday, Gregg (October 3, 2012). Nicolette Aizenberg Joins A24 As Head Of Publicity.
8. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Lee, Chris (June 14, 2013). "A24: the brains behind 'The Bling Ring' zing". *Los Angeles Times*. Archived from the original on October 5, 2018. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
9. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Ehrlich, David (2015-09-30). "The Distributor as Auteur". *Slate*. ISSN 1091-2339. Archived from the original on 2018-01-25. Retrieved 2018-01-24.
10. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Baron, Zach (2017-05-09). "Hollywood, Disrupted: Inside the Scrappy Film Company that Made "Moonlight" and "The Witch"". *GQ*. Archived from the original on 2018-01-25. Retrieved 2018-01-24.
11. ↑ DirecTV to Help Finance Indie Films (September 29, 2013).
12. ↑ Lewis, Hilary (November 21, 2013). Amazon Prime, A24 Announce Exclusive Multi-Year Streaming Deal.
13. ↑ 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*.
14. ↑ Busch, Anita (January 12, 2016). Sasha Lloyd Takes Top International Post At A24.
15. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Lieberman, David (23 February 2016). "A24 Says It Will Boost Film And TV Operations With Raise in Bank Credit Line". *Deadline Hollywood*. Archived from the original on 1 March 2017. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
16. ↑ 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.
17. ↑ McNary, Dave (June 23, 2016). A24, Oscilliscope, Honora Join New BitTorrent Now Program. *Variety*.
18. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Fleming, Mike Jr. (January 31, 2017). "A24 Lands Sundance Film 'Menashe;' First Foreign Language Film For 'Moonlight' Distributor". *Deadline Hollywood*. Archived from the original on March 1, 2017. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
19. ↑ The A24 Podcast.
20. ↑ The A24 Podcast by A24 on Apple Podcasts.
21. ↑ Notes | A24.
22. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>N'Duka, Amanda (March 26, 2018). "A24 Founder John Hodges To Part Ways With The Company". *Deadline Hollywood*. Archived from the original on June 14, 2018. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
23. ↑ Lang, Brent (November 15, 2018). Apple Taps A24 to Produce Slate of Films.
24. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (November 13, 2019). Showtime Networks Inks Output Film Deal With A24.
25. ↑ Donnelly, Matt (July 13, 2021). Indie Film and TV Studio A24 Explored Sale With $3 Billion Asking Price (EXCLUSIVE) (en-US).
26. ↑ A24. *Deadline*.
27. ↑ The Highest Grossing A24 Movies Of All Time (en-US) (2021-06-02).
28. ↑ Embrace Failure to Find Success: Jon Daly & Gil Ozeri on Becoming Comedy Performer-Writers (en) (2017-09-27).
29. ↑ Turchiano, Danielle (November 5, 2021). Netflix Orders New Mo Amer Stand-Up Special and Scripted Comedy Series (EXCLUSIVE).
30. ↑ Fleming, Mike Jr. (March 24, 2021). Netflix Wins A24 Series Package 'Beef' With 'Minari' Oscar Nominee Steven Yeun & Ali Wong From Creator Lee Sung Jin. Deadline.
31. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (September 3, 2019). 'Earthsea' TV Series Based On Fantasy Books In The Works By A24 & Jennifer Fox. Deadline.
32. ↑ Otterson, Joe (October 5, 2021). Emma Stone’s Fruit Tree, A24 to Develop ‘Flicker in the Dark’ Series at HBO Max (EXCLUSIVE). Variety.
33. ↑ Ritman, Alex (September 8, 2021). A24 Boards Shane Meadows' BBC Drama 'The Gallows Pole,' George MacKay Among Cast. The Hollywood Reporter.
34. ↑ Miligan, Mercedes (August 7, 2020). A24 Checks in to VivziePop's Hellish 'Hazbin Hotel'. *Animation Magazine*.
35. ↑ White, Peter (December 14, 2020). Alicia Vikander To Star In TV Adaptation Of Olivier Assayas' Feature Film 'Irma Vep' For HBO. *Deadline*.
36. ↑ A24, Square Peg to Develop Adrian Tomine's 'The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist' as TV Series (EXCLUSIVE) (5 August 2021).
37. ↑ Fleming, Mike Jr. (October 13, 2020). A24 Wins Hot Novel 'Memorial' By Bryan Washington For TV Division. *Deadline*.
38. ↑ White, Peter (May 5, 2021). Greta Lee To Star In, Write & EP Series Adaptation Of Cathy Park Hong’s Book ‘Minor Feelings’ With A24. *Deadline*.
39. ↑ A24 Sets Kelly Reichardt and Michelle Williams Reunion, Plus Amy Adams TV Project (January 26, 2021).
40. ↑ Petski, Denise (June 4, 2021). Robby Hoffman Comedy 'Rivkah' In Works At Showtime. *Deadline Hollywood*.
41. ↑ Kroll, Justin (December 3, 2020). A24 And Scott Rudin Productions Land The Rights To Douglas Stuart's 'Shuggie Bain' With Plans Develop For TV. Deadline.
42. ↑ Kroll, Justin (July 15, 2021). 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. Deadline.

## External links

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* Template:IMDb company

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