Formerly called A24 Films (2012–16) Number of employees 11–50 (2016) Number of locations 2 (2016) Type of business Independent | Industry Entertainment Headquarters New York City Founded 20 August 2012 | |
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Founder Daniel Katz
David Fenkel
John Hodges Key people Daniel Katz
David Fenkel
John Hodges Services Film distribution
Film production
Television production
Finance Profiles | ||
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. It specializes in film production, finance, television production and distribution.
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Katz, Fenkel and Hodges prior to A24 worked in film and production, before leaving to pursue the company, which was originally A24 Films. Moderately starting out 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. Their existence became well-known with Room, The Witch and Ex Machina, and has grown exponentially since then. They entered into deals with DirecTV Cinema and Amazon Prime later in 2013, with some films distributed through them, and the name was shortened to A24 in 2016.
Since their formation, A24 has been one of the most well-known independent film companies. As of January 24, 2017, their films have been nominated for Academy Awards fourteen times, and have a television division after their success with The Carmichael Show. Moonlight, produced and distributed by A24, won a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama and was nominated for eight Oscars, and won the Best Picture in January 2017.
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 finance group at Guggenheim Partners, Fenkel was the former president, co-founder and partner at Oscilloscope, and Hodges served as Head of Production and Development at Big Beach.
Guggenheim Partners provided seed money for A24 to start up. The company was started for the founders to experience the company's "movies from a distinctive point of view". In October 2012, Nicolette Aizenberg joined A24 as Head of Publicity, carrying over from 42West as Senior Publicity Executive.
The company began in 2013. 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.
In September 2013, A24 entered a $40 million deal with DirecTV Cinema, where DirecTV Cinema will offer the film 30-days prior to a theatrical release by the company; Enemy was the first to be distributed effectively. That same year, A24 entered a deal with Amazon Prime, where A24 distributed films would be available on Amazon Instant Video after they become available on DVD and Blu-ray.
2014–present: Television and later productions
In 2014, A24 ventured out of film and began producing the USA Network series Playing House under the brand. On May 12, 2015, it was reported that the company would be launching their own TV division, with future projects including an FX pilot featuring Jenny Slate and NBC's The Carmichael Show. 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. That same year, the company acquired all foreign rights to Swiss Army Man, distributing the film in all territories, and partnering with distributions who previously acquired rights to the film, a first for the company. In June 2016, the company – along with Oscilloscope and distributor Honora, joined BitTorrent Now to distribute upon the work of their portfolio across the ad-supported service.
Logo
The logo was designed by creative agency GrandArmy. According to the agency's website,
They needed an identity system that felt modern and progressive, yet aesthetically they were drawn to the golden age of mid-century Hollywood, and looked for a solution that would hint at that history.
For the motion graphic, the animator was Adam Grabowski and the sound was designed by Felt, Not Heard. The graphic presents three geometric shapes in which two more appear and lines forming the logo, as it simultaneously disappears. The music conveying the animation is a bowed guitar that "highlights the animation" and a synthesizer which creates the "space for the logo". GrandArmy on Vimeo described the animation as this:
The A24 logo is based on simple geometry – rectangles, triangles, perfect circles – intersected by one another. The "2" joins these simple shapes with organic forms at the top and bottom, reminiscent of old Hollywood serif numerals. This animation builds the complex logo out of these raw deconstructed forms.
An alternate version is available on Grabowski's Vimeo channel and website. It presents a different animation, in which three geometric shapes pop out and form the logo, as it then unravels from the screen and ends. The music accompanying the graphic is reminiscent of 8-bit video game music.
Filmography
On average, A24 distributes and produces around 12 films a year.