A24: The New Voices of Film

 A24: The Saviors of Film


A24. They were the legends behind Ex Machina, the directorial debut of Alex Garland. Then came Hereditary, A24's highest grossing movie and calling card for Ari Aster. The Lighthouse followed not too long after and it might just be one of the best films of the last decade. Of course, there are so many more amazing films that A24 is behind, but the message is clear: these guys really know what a good movie is.

A Little Bit Of Background On A24

So A24 was founded in 2012 by three guys named David Fenkel (co-founder of Oscilloscope), Daniel Katz (who led the film finance at Guggenheim Partners), and John Hodges (who was the Head of Production at Big Beach). Their goal was to, "share movies from a distinctive point of view". The name, A24, actually comes from a motorway in Italy that Katz drove on when he was in Italy. Strangely enough, the A24 motorway is actually quite revered in the Italian film industry.

The Business Model

I think that the business model employed behind these movies is actually pretty genius. A24, for the most part, only distributes films, which already cuts out a bit of risk. These films that they distribute usually don't cross the $20 million mark (Uncut Gems is the most expensive at $19 million). That cuts out even more risk. Whatever films they actually produce and put money behind usually have a budget of $10 million or less. And the distribution for these films uses very modern, Gen-Z/Millennial-favoring methods (a.k.a. they market their films through social media, YouTube, etc.). It sounds like a recipe for success, and for the most part, it is. Now, A24 doesn't make $100 million+ profits, but it does make a sizeable profit here and there. And even if the movie flops, it's not too much of a worry because the movie didn't cost that much in the first place.

Could This Change The Course Of Cinema?

Well, I would say A24 definitely leaves its mark. Many directors who've directed films from A24 have instantly been catapulted to higher-budgeted, star-studded movies. You can take, for example, Robert Eggers. He was offered to write and direct The Witch for $4 million. Then, he wrote, directed, and produced The Lighthouse for $11 million. Now, he's directing and writing The Northman for an estimated $60 million. 
Same is the case with Ari Aster. His directorial debut, Hereditary, grossed $80.2 million on a $10 million budget. Then, his sophomore effort, Midsommar, grossed $48 million on a $9 million budget. He is currently set to direct Disappointment Blvd., starring Joaquin Phoenix along with Nathan Lane, Amy Ryan, Parker Posey, etc. There are many more directors with the same story, but most of them seem to come from A24. Is A24 going to save cinema? I guess they will.

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