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Signup for Breaking News Alerts & Newsletters. Variety and the Flying V logos are trademarks of Variety Media, LLC. Were good. Photo illustration by Lisa Larson-Walker. James Ponsoldt (director, The Spectacular Now, The End of the Tour): Ive heard people refer to Miramax. Fenkel: I remember we were just getting to know Scott Rudin. We were about to have two movies [Ex Machina and While Were Young] with him. With Hodges leaving, the company behind the Oscar-winning best pictureMoonlight made it clear that no additional changes in management will be made. For a medium-size film to succeed without a marketing blitz twice the size of its production budget, its not enough for it to be goodit has to have a hook. 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. An A24 film has an affinity for subverting a celebritys established persona. 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. Signed on as producer beginning with the second season. [laughs] I mean, I doubt that, because I know the people that work there. 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 so anytime you speak with someone whos not a pure accountant, is not a pencil pusher? [26], In July 2021, A24 reportedly explored a possible buyout for between $2.5 billion to $3 billion. The Little Movie Studio That Could - The New York Times A24 has also been nominated and won many Golden Globes, British Academy Film Awards, and Critics' Choice Movie Awards. Said Korine: They saw that marketing was a creative act that could be entertaining in and of itself. A24 Films - Production List | Film & Television Industry Alliance Wanna follow A24 (company)'s net worth? 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It was like being in some kind of arena. Coppola: That was the worst. Logo by GrandArmy Photos via A24. Annapurna Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection, Moonlights Mahershala Ali Picks His Own Oscar Winners. So I suppose the question now surrounding A24 is what Fenkel and Katz plan to make of it. People had thought that entire part of the industry had just died. Fenkel: I think we had to sell them on, like, Hey, were gonna push this thing.. I was like, I think I need to find another job., Aizenberg: They were basically like, Dont release this movie.. Jeanie Igoe (production, A24): None of us really knew what we were doing. Love that movie. When it wasnt us. Jennifer Kents drama is a psychological heavyweight that examines how parents feed their demons to quell the pain. But we said, Lets invest in it. Theres a difference. By the end of its opening weekend, it had raked in more money than all of Korines other films combined. Their hair and makeup people, actually, are the people that had an issue with this. Gif excerpt from the film Under the Skin via A24 Films. You dont watch something like Spring Breakers or Under the Skin without thinking: Where the hell did that come from? Also Read: Sundance, SXSW Comedy 'Never Goin' Back' Sells to A24, John has been a trusted partner who helped conceive A24 and for that we will always be grateful, the studio said in a statement. [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. A24 co-founder John Hodges is exiting the indie company to "focus on future opportunities," he and the company jointly announced on Monday. For Ponsoldts latest, A24s marketing efforts followed the films example of approaching a highbrow topic with a low bar for entry, partnering with Medium.com for a project called Just Words, for which writers, artists, and other intellectual types collectively celebrated the life and work of David Foster Wallace. It could be the CEO or an intern.. When Ex Machina director Alex Garland was asked what he liked about working with A24, he compared the major studios to ocean liners: To change direction it takes them two days to even start to make that turn. (Make a left out of the elevators, and then a right at the cafeteria workers.). Fenkel: And they were like, You cant do that! 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. Its DirecTV/A24 release grossed $229,094 and never played on more than 54 screens. And then there was another one where hes deep-throating the gun, and we replaced it with a gold statue. A24 is an American independent entertainment company founded on August 20, 2012, by Daniel Katz, David Fenkel, and John Hodges and based in New York City. Fenkel: One thing we notice is now people are saying, Oh, good job. And the guy asked me, Is there anything we might find suspicious in there? I said, Theres an art piece inside in the shape of a gun. And literally the entire security department was like, What is wrong with you? Long story short, it made it through. I Was Like, Fuck Yeah!Barry Jenkins. Fenkel: And we had a booker at the time, this big old school guy, gentle giant, hes a sweet guy, but kind of a gangster, but levels of, like, cool gangster. 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. Probably the best place to screen-test the movie. Igoe: At SXSW, we had Spectacular Now, and Spring Breakers showed there. Tinder was yelling at us. No one cared about our language or our clothes. Aizenberg: That Oscar-nomination morning, I remember walking into the office that day, and I was like, Please, dear God, just let Amy and Brie get nominated. John Heavey (distribution, A24): Especially the first two years, we fell in love with every movie. And that question is the birth of fandom. And then over the course of, like, four months, we bought a lot of movies. Fenkel: Well, it wasnt a heartbreak, because they wouldnt actually call us back. Aizenberg: There was a week in January where we dropped the trailer of Spring Breakers. John Hodges (co-founder and co-head of TV, . Fellow founding partners Daniel Katz and David Fenkel will continue to oversee the NYC-based indie studio, which has seen great success with Oscar-winning films such as Room, Ex Machina and last years surprise Best Picture winner Moonlight.. Were gonna put it in theaters, and were gonna find a way to keep it there. Now, look, at that point, none of us were thinking, Hey, were gonna win Best Picture! But we wanted to give the movie the chance to have as much of a life as we possibly could. Fenkel: And we did this, like, illegal Tinder stuff. This is Rudin. Theres aesthetic and political values to the people behind the company. Surely theyve learned by now that theres a ceiling for arthouse films these days. Ainzenberg: I remember I went and had to meet with Selena Gomezs team to prove that we were real people and we were gonna be legitimate in releasing the film. Beyer: I remember when we had Room, like, six months after Ex Machina or something, Fenkel was like, Whats the Tinder for Room? And I was like, No, no! And we werent thinking about that. 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. We closed the deal on The Bling Ring on the way to Sundance. Like Under the Skin, Locke, Enemy. Aizenberg: I think we knew we had something at South By. It is currently unknown if this slate of films will have a theatrical release or be exclusive to Apple's Apple TV+ streaming service. 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. So what is an A24 film? But I put no limitations on what theyre capable of. So Im showing up to the airport with no luggage and a cardboard box with duct tape wrapped around it. [14], 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. David Fenkel and I have had some great conversations about film - the whole A24 team have a great and deep love for cinema. By subscribing, I agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Kapadia: Theyve won Best Picture. Theirs is a potent brand that Ive admired for a long time, and their reputation as innovative partners to talent is second to none.. Hodges has been an integral part of the studio since its inception in 2012. Katz: Yeah! 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. I dont think it was related to her professional career. Johns experience and taste is evident in the films he has developed and produced over the years. Hodges had been an integral part of the studio since its inception in 2012, along with co-founders David Fenkel and Daniel Katz. 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. Thats not a go-wide movie. Sasha Lane (actress, American Honey): They were like, You guys are who you are and were not going to change that. No one had to be perfected for anything. Some dissatisfied customers later accused the marketing campaign of misrepresenting the movie as a fun adolescent romp. Lets do Kevin Smith horror! Moonlight we hadnt seen yet. 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. This is a growing company, not a struggling one. If after seeing it you have a renewed taste for fright, here are nine other recent horror gems that use their modest scale to their advantage. I think we lost control. But it was word of mouth. It is based in New York City. We took a risk on the movie, and it fucking paid off, so why should we cut down our back end? Im dying. A24 is an American independent entertainment company that specializes in film and television production, as well as film distribution. Eggers: People always want to do bigger and better the next time, you know? Fenkel: And then I started saying, No way. But what happens when the titles involved in this deal get bettera lot better? Sacco: Youre not like, Oh, we got a Best Picture winner! Youre just like, Oh, we got a great movie.. I think Spring Breakers really put them on the map, as far as I could tell. 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. A vital piece of work far too delicately perverse to have sustained a theatrical run, it was the ideal choice to launch the program. So that was like their heyday. . . Katz: By the way, a thousand times out of a thousand, youre wrong. I felt like we were all on the same team. They were not the company that they are today. And A24 was the place that took the risk. Im glad it all worked out. Really? That was 2013. We all go nuts for a few minutes, and then were all like, Okay, what do we do?. A24 may not yet inspire the same kind of blind devotion in theatergoers that the Criterion Collection does in home video obsessives, but its the only indie distributor that feasibly could. I think when movie companies get started, people want to define you immediately. A24 Co-Founder John Hodges Exits | Art and Experience Cinema We saw the red envelope. Fenkel: But it was like, Youre not going to be 20 minutes late for Scott Rudin. So you ran. A24 took Ex Machina to the 2015 South by Southwest festival and built a Tinder chatbot with the face of Alicia Vikander to help promote the film. These films speak for themselves. You prepare like for your dissertation at Harvard. That company and the old Miramax and Fox Searchlight had a real brand and a hold on their audience. We still dont. 2023 Variety Media, LLC. We wanted to deliver in a meaningful way. The fact that we were able to sign any movies out of that office is absurd. Beyer: Alicia VikanderI think she read about it, or she saw this photo of her that was being used. And I think theyre creating a kind of renaissance in filmmaking. Which is vanishingly rare in the film industry. 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. The monster at the center of The Babadook is a personal demon, not a literal one. Essie Davis is insanely good as a single mother on the brink of a mental breakdown as she attempts to care for her troubled young son. And someone was like, Where did those images come from? And I was like, Google? Aizenberg: That first private plane didnt make it to Austin. Its funny. This fall A24 enters the awards race in a serious way for the first time, with two movies: the accessible David Foster Wallace biopic The End of the Tour, and the Brie Larsonstarring literary adaptation Room, which recently won the coveted Peoples Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. The company is behind instant fan favorites like Uncut Gems, Ladybird, The Lighthouse, and Everything Everywhere All at Once. Harmony Korine (director, Spring Breakers): They have balls. Distribution: Theatrical, TV, DVD-video, VOD, USA. 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. Scott didnt say anything. A24 is responsible for such films as Lady Bird, Moonlight, Eighth Grade, Hereditary, The Witch, The Lobster, Ex Machina & more. Aizenberg: We had a couple movies in there that we tried to force into making, like, event-y theatrical, and they werent. in the past 3 years a24 has managed to make from 90 - 110 million at the yearly box office. We werent doing anything like that. Over the past six years I have been fortunate to work with a diverse group of talented storytellers across film and TV and look forward to continuing those collaborations in my future endeavors.. The rise and rise of A24, a champion of storytelling on screen Denis Villeneuve (director, Enemy): I never saw them as businessmen. So, how much is Johnny Hodges . Sacco: It was my first festival ever. So whos to say that, you know, A24 wont become Warner Brothers five years from now? In recent years, the recession and the concurrent rise of VOD streaming services have already torpedoed the midbudget movie. A24 will. And I think that really helped the movie. I didnt think it was terrible. In 2023, A24 became the most nominated single studio of that year's awards with 18 total nominations between 6 of its films (Everything Everywhere All at Once (11 nominations, the most nominated film of that year's awards, including Best Picture), The Whale (3 nominations), Aftersun, Causeway, Close, and Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (each with 1 nomination)).[5]. I want to be A24, he said. This story appears in the summer issue of GQ Style. Not like we should have paid more. Beyer: I think the operating principle was, Dont ask for permission. John has been a trusted partner who helped conceive A24 and for that we will always be grateful, noted A24 in a statement. John Hodges - Head of Film - Jax Media | LinkedIn Aizenberg: When I started, we didnt have Spring Breakers yet, but the whole focus of that very first meeting I went to was like, How do we get Spring Breakers? A24s television division released The Carmichael Show.. Katz: We broke the record that weekend. I think we all were kind of a bit shell-shocked. Like, there was one that was like the shotit was [Francos character] Alien with the two girls, and hes holding machine guns or something. John Hodges - High Net Worth Field Adjuster - LinkedIn The fact theyre vampires might just be an excuse for them to wear sunglasses indoors. In 2013, A24 released their first five films: Sally Potters Ginger & Rosa, Harmony Korines Spring Breakers, Sofia Coppolas The Bling Ring, James Ponsoldts The Spectacular Now, and Roman Coppolas A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III, starring Charlie Sheen. But more independent existed then. Pattinson: I mean, with Twilight, the first tour we did was literally going to suburban shopping malls and doing local-news stuff. The division of labor is clear, but there arent any titles for the companys employees, who all work elbow to elbow in a single room. We sit in. 2023 THE TRACKING BOARD. As one of the founding members of the New York-based company, Hodges played a key role. Thats the chief message of an A24 campaign, really, from elegant design to sharp social media to clever co-branding choices: This is a company that gets it. 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. Fenkel: We knew we were releasing the movie. From Distributing to Dominating: The Rise of A24 | FSU Student Union How great it was. Fenkel: And the Spring Breakers trailer dropped the first day of Sundance, and MTVs servers fucked up, because we gave them the exclusive, and they stopped serving the video. 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. And she said it sucked. You know more than me.. We are thrilled to have someone of Johns pedigree join the Jax Media team and lead our expansion into the film world, Jax Media partners Tony Hernandez, Lilly Burns, John Skidmore, and Brooke Posch said in a joint statement. Over the past six years I have been fortunate to work with a diverse group of talented storytellers across film and TV and look forward to continuing those collaborations in my future endeavors.. An Industry Arts Company. And David cannot stop perspiring. We tried to put together a slate in, like, four months, as opposed to just really growing it, building it in the right way. Good A24 films anticipate the zeitgeist, and the best ones galvanize it. Photos courtesy A24, by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images, and Janette Pellegrini/WireImage/Getty Images. A24 Apr 2012 - May 20186 years 2 months Head of Production and Development Big Beach Films 2008 - 20124 years Greater New York City Area Development and Production Executive Michaels Goldwyn. The company said he will exit to focus on "future opportunities," but did not clarify beyond that statement.. 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. As one of the founding members of the New York-based company, Hodges played a key role in putting A24 on the map, culminating with last years best picture winner, Moonlight, just five years after it was launched. The company said he will exit to focus on "future opportunities," but did not clarify beyond that statement. And although it describes itself as Midnight Madness, the film didnt start until close to one oclock in the morning. I think when we started [2016], it was another, like, what Id consider a building year. Likewise, A24 loves Sundance acquisition Mississippi Grind, a tremendously appealing riff on Robert Altmans California Split that co-stars Ryan Reynolds and Ben Mendelsohn as compulsive gamblers on a road trip to nowhere. John. We want to hear from you! Franco: All the distributors knew it was great. Beginning with hedonistic images of Disney starlets gone wild, the campaign consisted of producing Facebook ads that could also function as contentpeople wanted to share this stuff. Jax Media Taps A24 Co-Founder John Hodges as Head of New Film - Variety John Hodges - Entertainment Executive | Variety.com Katz: In LAwhatever just transpired last month, you feel it in LA. More recently, it expanded from being an acquisitions-only distributor to producing home-grown fare as well as branching into TV. And then we drank a huge amount of red wine. Katz: We have a better relationship with him now. Aizenberg: When I came to A24, they had Charles Swan already. Fenkel: That kind of hit. Her film The Invitation" plays on agitation and insecurities between a group of old friends and some suspicious strangers at a lavish dinner party. He was calling me. 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. We get credit for it even when we have nothing to do with it. Did Moonlight just win Best Picture?. Well handle it! And if it works, its them; if it doesnt work, its all your fault anyway. 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And while they invited me into their headquarters to get a feel for the place and chat on background with the core team, they stressed that theyd prefer their movies to speak for themselves. you never leave your partner especially in a fire villas san angel rosarito a24 john hodges net worth. John Hodges is leaving A24, the Oscar-winning indie studio that he co-founded. So everyones wrapping up this gift basket that Im supposed to deliver to Megan [Ellison, one of the producers of Spring Breakers, who was on location in Pittsburgh] and say, like, This is why you should go with us. I dont even look at him. Subscribe to Deadline Breaking News Alerts and keep your inbox happy. Its like, oh, this person has no idea what Moonlight is, and it just won Best Picture. You get a movie with them and it represents something. And it was the hair and makeup people. They had heart to them.Harmony Korine, Sacco: I wouldnt say I got it. I felt bad that David had to be put through that. Katz: That was a good learning experience for us. [24], 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. 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. When historians of the future try to pinpoint the precise moment that the film industry crawled out of its deathbed and back onto its feet, theres a good chance theyll land somewhere in March 2013, when a fledgling distribution company called A24 Films transformed a Harmony Korine movie starring a cornrowed James Franco into a genuine cultural event. Fenkel: We had a meeting. Katz: Maybe even greater. We werent a fully formed company yet. A24 founding partner John Hodges announced that he will be leaving the indie studio that he helped launch nearly six years ago, the company announced Monday. Apple Not Buying A24, but Silicon Valley Increasingly - IndieWire A24 typically pays a bit more for these movies than it does the ones the it buys itself, andlike most VOD content providersit doesnt make its grosses public. In 2012, Fenkel, Hodges, and Katz left their jobsat Oscilloscope, Big Beach, and Guggenheim Partners, respectivelyto start A24. Patrick Stewart (actor, Green Room): [The premiere of Green Room] was at the Toronto Film Festivals Midnight Madness.