At this year's Oscars ceremony, A24, an independent film production and distribution company from New York, became the biggest winner. Relying on the phenomenal work "Transient Universe" and "Whale", which helped Brendan Fraser win the Best Actor Award, A24 swept across six major units and won a total of seven statuettes; Films such as "Intimacy", "After-Sun Holiday" and "Shell Marcel in Shoes" released in North America have also been nominated. A24 has become the most powerful non-mainstream force in Hollywood.
A24 factory standard
However, compared with the brilliant performance of filmmakers in front of the spotlight, the A24 behind the screen is somewhat mysterious. According to a number of Hollywood media professionals, the bosses of A24 have always been reluctant to accept interviews and rarely participate in activities in the circle. When they face media reporters, the most common phrase they use is-let the movie speak for itself .
The Oscar-winning poster of "The Transient Universe"
Do things high-key, be low-key
Last week, veteran Hollywood filmmaker Peter Bart (Peter Bart) wrote an article for the American film and television portal Deadline, saying that after his film produced by A24 company swept the 95th Oscar, he proposed to them that he wanted to interview the two companies. The founder, in the end, still hit a soft nail.
Peter Bart, who is 90 years old this year, can be described as one of the most respected figures in Hollywood today. He was a participant and witness of that golden age of film. He served as the second in command of the production department of Paramount Pictures for a long time, and participated in the production of such blockbuster works as "Rosemary's Baby" and "The Godfather". After retiring, Bart returned to the media and returned to his old job as a reporter. With his extensive contacts in Hollywood, he rarely encountered situations where he wanted to interview someone but couldn't find the right one. However, A24, which wants to keep a low profile, is still hitting a soft nail.
"Moonlight" Oscar-winning poster
According to Bart, as early as six years ago after "Moonlight" won the Oscar for Best Picture, he proposed to interview the three co-founders of A24, but he was also declined at the beginning. After his efforts again, the other party finally lenient and accepted his exclusive interview at A24's headquarters in Manhattan.
Ex Machina Poster
However, during the entire interview process, the three big bosses always cherish words like gold, and are unwilling to talk about popular movies such as "Moonlight" and "Ex Machina" or A24's overall strategy and market positioning. Most of the time, they turned their hosts into their guests, curiously asked various questions to Peter Bart, an old man, and patiently listened to him talk about all kinds of old things that dominated Hollywood back then. "When they sent me away, the three of them thanked each other enthusiastically, and also expressed sincerely that they hope to have more opportunities to sit down and chat together in the future, but until today, we have never met again. ’ wrote Peter Butt.
Not only the three big bosses behaved in a low-key manner, but even their subordinates went against Hollywood's conventional practices, doing things as high-key and low-key as possible. Therefore, at this year's Oscar red carpet scene, Noah Sacco (Noah Sacco), head of the A24 film department, and Nicolette Aizenberg (Nicolette Aizenberg), head of the publicity department, both deliberately avoided media reporters on the red carpet. Even the photojournalist of the industry's leading media "Variety Show" politely declined the request to take pictures for them. And this is the most watched red carpet in the film industry in the United States and even in the world. How many people dream of being able to join it and let the media leave their own highlight moments.
Financial talents break into the field of literature and art
Back on August 20, 2012, three young talents, 35-year-old Daniel Katz, 37-year-old David Fenkel and John Hodges Jun, in a humble office in Manhattan, New York, announced the establishment of A24 Films.
The three founders of A24 John Hodges, David Finkel and Daniel Katz (from left to right)
Prior to that, Daniel Katz was in charge of film investment at the Guggenheim Foundation, while David Finkel and John Hodges worked at Oscilloscope and Big Beach respectively. . Judging from their previous resumes, none of the three had a background in film-related majors, and more of them had a financial background. However, judging from the various film and television works invested and produced by A24 in recent years, it is obvious that making money is not the primary goal of these three bosses. It is A24's priority to shoot independent films that are distinctive, angular and reflect the spirit of the times. There is a purpose.
In the first few years after the company was founded, there were only about 20 employees in total. Except for the three big bosses, all the people below had specific positions but no clear titles. "We want to focus on the film itself and the filmmakers, not ourselves, so there is no structure within the company to emphasize this." Daniel Katz explained in 2013.
The reason why the company was named A24 is said to be that Daniel Katz was driving on the A24 highway in southern Italy when he had the idea of starting his own company. Among the three founders, Katz undoubtedly plays the leading role. In addition to the company name coming from his suggestion, the start-up capital of A24 also came from his former owner, the Guggenheim consortium.
A few years ago, John Hodges, one of the three founders, quit A24, which he founded, to "seek other business opportunities", and transferred to the Jax Media film and television production company, which was not developing well, as an executive. Therefore, in today's A24, the specific decisions are made by Katz as the chairman and Finkel as the CEO. Noah Sacco and Nicolette Eisenberg mentioned above are veterans who have joined the company since 2012, and they also play a very important role in A24.
Movies and TV with both hands
In February 2013, A24 released its first work, the comedy "A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III" directed by Roman Coppola, the son of the great director Francis Ford Coppola. of Charles Swan III). But the beginning was unfavorable. The film was criticized by the media as worthless. After its release, it only received more than 40,000 US dollars in the domestic box office in the United States. Coppola Jr. also fell into a slump and has not directed any film works so far. Fortunately, his younger sister Sofia Coppola's "Jewels" was more successful than his brother's film. In addition, several works such as "Spring Break", "Ginger and Rosa", and "The Good Times" have been released one after another. In the first year A24 entered the market, it can be regarded as a good report card.
"Jewelry" poster
By 2014, A24 had produced 11 works including "The Enemy", "Under the Skin", "Rocke", "The Unremarkable Child", "My Zombie Girlfriend" and "The Most Violent Year". In terms of quantity alone, it has already ranked among the best in the American independent film industry. Moreover, regardless of the evaluation and box office of these works, they can basically trigger a lot of discussions on social media before and after the release, and this "topic" blessing has also become an important symbol of A24's production.
In 2015, A24 produced 11 films including "Ex Machina", and the TV production department was officially established. In 2016, A24 produced a total of 18 films including "The Lobster" and "Moonlight Boy". In 2017, they produced 15 films including "Lady Bird". In 2018, there were 15 films. Among them, "Hereditary Doom" won a North American box office of 82.5 million U.S. dollars, becoming A24's best box office work over the years.
Hereditary Poster
In 2019, A24 produced as many as 21 works, setting a new high number, including topical works such as "A Midsummer Night's Horror", "Uncut Diamond" and "Don't Tell Her". However, when the epidemic hit in 2020, the North American film market plummeted in an instant, and A24 could not be alone. Throughout the year, they only produced three works, and in the second half of the year, there was news that they wanted to find someone to take over. At that time, A24 was valued at about $3 billion in the market, and Apple, which itself had a streaming media cooperation agreement with them, became the most likely buyer to take over.
In 2021, the situation of A24 has improved, and 12 works including "Minari" have been produced, and the idea of selling and transferring has been given up. By March 2022, A24 has successfully obtained 225 million US dollars in venture capital, and the funding has been greatly relaxed, and there is also more room for flexing its muscles. Last year they produced a total of 20 works. In addition to these literary films nominated for Oscars, there are also low-cost horror films such as "X", "Pearl" and "Man".
"Once Upon a Time" poster
So far this year, A24 has released four works, and there are five more films that are scheduled to be released next. At the Sundance Film Festival in January, A24 had six works including Korean-American female director Celine Song's self-written and directed feature films "Past Lives" and "Stephen Curry: Underrated" The former was shortlisted for the main competition unit of the Berlin Film Festival and also received good reviews. At the South by Southwest Film Festival that just ended on March 19, they also had two films, including "Problemista" starring Tilda Swinton and the horror film "Talk to Me". The work meets the audience.
"Bo is Scared" poster
In April, the suspense drama "Beau is Afraid" (Beau is Afraid) produced by A24 will be released in North America. The film is directed by New York director Ari Aster (Ari Aster). A Midsummer Night's Horror is produced by A24. In addition to the self-written and directed "Bo is Scary", Esther also serves as the producer of A24's new film "Dream Scenario". The film, directed by Christopher Bogley and starring Nicolas Cage, is expected to have its world premiere at this year's Cannes Film Festival.
In addition, Sofia Coppola's biopic "Priscilla" (Priscilla), "Ex Machina" director Alex Garland's new work "Civil War" (Civil War), "Under the Skin" director Jonathan Glazer's new film, The Zone of Interest, also both produced by A24, is likely to appear at this year's Cannes Film Festival.
In addition to the above-mentioned new films, A24 also has "I Saw the TV Glow" (I Saw the TV Glow) with Emma Stone as the producer, and "Love in the River" (Love in the River) by Ross Glass, the director of "Saint Maude". Lies Bleeding, rap diva Megan See Starlian's big-screen debut F*cking Identical Twins, third installment in the horror Pearl series Works such as Maxxine and the Steve McQueen documentary The Occupied City have already been completed or are currently being filmed.
"Journey to the West ABC" Poster
In addition, in addition to movies, A24 has actually entered the TV industry on a large scale in recent years. The popular "Excitement" is its representative work, and the third season should continue to be broadcast this year. After "The Universe", A24 continues to develop Asian-themed works: "Beef" (Beef), which will be launched on Netflix in April, and "Journey to the West ABC", which will be launched on the Disney+ platform in May, are all produced by them .
Of course, the most anticipated A24 series work at present must still be "The Sympathizer" (The Sympathizer) directed by Park Chan-wook and starring Robert Downey Jr. and Sandra Oh. Adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name written by Nguyen Thanh Viet, the play tells the story of North Vietnamese spies lurking in South Vietnam. It is expected to be broadcast on the HBO television network within this year.
