[laughs] I remember I had to have a conversation with Alicia about it, where she was saying, What the hell? and I was saying, I dont know. And on some level, honestly, I was afraid to go out on my own and try to make it work. We want to go two thousand screens. Like, standing ovation, fucking applause in the middle of the movie. Nathan (Oscar Isaac) and Kyoko (Sonoya Mizuno). Jeremy Kleiner (producer, Plan B, Moonlight): It wasnt like, Oh, this is low-hanging fruit, lets grab on to this one. It was a passionate embrace of the movie. And David cannot stop perspiring. 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. Well handle it! And if it works, its them; if it doesnt work, its all your fault anyway. Place Beyond the Pines, wed worked with the producers before. The bottom line is that there were 677 new releases in 2013, and that number is only getting bigger. A24 is responsible for such films as Lady Bird, Moonlight, Eighth Grade, Hereditary, The Witch, The Lobster, Ex Machina & more. Dave Franco & Alison Brie Take a Couples Quiz, Heres a First Look at Daniel Lees Burberry, Bubba Wallace and Daniel Suarez Are Shaping NASCAR's Future, Inside Daniel Lee's Burberry Debut, London Fashion Week's Biggest Show. The company said he will exit to focus on "future opportunities," but did not clarify beyond that statement.. We were planting seeds to grow. And then we opened. Katz: We broke the record that weekend.
John Hodges - Entertainment Executive | Variety.com So Im showing up to the airport with no luggage and a cardboard box with duct tape wrapped around it. Garland: I would say that if Ex Machina had been distributed by a big studiothis isnt actually a criticism of studios; its actually just a statement of factthe film would not have been remotely as well received or successful as it was. So everything had to be explained to me, and by the time it was explained, it was over. Hodges had run A24 with David Fenkel and Daniel Katz as a ruling troika, albeit one that operated without offices (located in Chelsea, the company was known for its open space and banquette tables). I mean, I have no idea what theyre doing, really. 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Deadline is a part of Penske Media Corporation. And then, in 08, the bubble burst, and the economic downturn probably had a little bit of impact. [23], On March 26, 2018, co-founder John Hodges announced that he was exiting the company. [8] In October 2012, Nicolette Aizenberg joined as head of publicity from 42West where she was senior publicity executive. I remember when all the commotion started, I look at David. Hodges. The filmmakers were like, I made a good movie. You could tell that they wanted to be great. Daniel Katz, David Fenkel and John Hodges have unveiled New York-based A24 as a distribution, financing and production company with plans to release eight to 10 titles annually. It was our first Sundance all together. And so anytime you speak with someone whos not a pure accountant, is not a pencil pusher? I didnt think it was terrible. Katz: I was very concerned that people were gonna think Room kind of stepped into shit and got lucky with awards. John has been a trusted partner who helped conceive A24 and for that we will always be grateful. And Under the Skin, from Jonathan Glazer, is one of my favorite movies in the past 15 or 20 years, you know? Filmmakersoften the toughest audiences for their own films marketing campaignsrecognize the companys real excitement for their films. No!. How do we get Spring Breakers? And then Noah got Spring Breakers. When it happens again and again, thats very, very intelligent work and planning. Hodges: I started my career at USA Films, which became Focus Features. Eggers: People always want to do bigger and better the next time, you know? And when youre a loser, you think for a split second, Maybe they got it wrong. A24 has also been nominated and won many Golden Globes, British Academy Film Awards, and Critics' Choice Movie Awards. More recently, it expanded from being an acquisitions-only distributor to producing home-grown fare as well as branching into TV. Ali Herting (acquisitions and development, A24): We were never gonna get Place Beyond the Pines. We saw the red envelope. I dunno! I mean, it made sense at the time. 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. Thus far, A24 hasnt made any of the movies its released, but its made all of them A24 movies. So it was strange, if you were a moviegoer in 2013, to see the A24 logo pop up again and again before movies as varied and weird as Harmony Korines Spring Breakers and Sofia Coppolas The Bling Ring, James Ponsoldts The Spectacular Now and Roman Coppolas A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III. Were good. So what is an A24 film? March 3, 2018.
John Hodges - Head of Film - Jax Media | LinkedIn We get movies. And the only thing we could put it in was a cardboard box with duct tape. Annapurna Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection, Moonlights Mahershala Ali Picks His Own Oscar Winners. You know, theyre big-time. Patrick Stewart (actor, Green Room): [The premiere of Green Room] was at the Toronto Film Festivals Midnight Madness. Theyre just on it. Here's who: Daniel Katz, David Fenkel, John Hodges and James Schultz. Like, no way in hell. Fenkel: We test-screened [Spring Breakers] in downtown Manhattan. 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. (Joy, Annapurnas only 2015 title, arrives in theaters on Christmas Day.). They entered into deals with DirecTV Cinema and Amazon Prime in late 2013, with some films distributed through them, and the name was changed to A24 in 2016.[3]. Signed on as producer beginning with the second season. I legitimately watched people almost pass out. Their whole point was, We dont know this world. You were in the A24 offices. And A24 was the place that took the risk. Katz: Some of it was probably misplaced, dont you agree? Yes, Scream VI Marketing Is Behind the Creepy Ghostface Sightings Causing Scares Across the U.S. David Oyelowo, Taylor Sheridan's 'Bass Reeves' Series at Paramount+ Casts King Richard Star Demi Singleton (EXCLUSIVE), Star Trek: Discovery to End With Season 5, Paramount+ Pushes Premiere to 2024. Karyn Kusama is a rapidly rising female director, and for good reason. So I think they were hoping, and discovering, that they might be able to do that with The Witch. But the back end was so crazy. Agent. The outfit is new enough that the same people have been working there from the very beginning, and the consistency of their titles reflects that of their tastes. Jenkins: I just would never allow myself to believe that something I made could win Best Picture. The story behind the studio that brought you Moonlight and It Comes At Night, as told by Barry Jenkins, Sofia Coppola, James Franco, Robert Pattinson, and the founders of A24 themselves. It Follows takes the horror trope of getting punished for having sex to a new level. We wish Hodges the best of luck with his next endeavor, since the indie landscape has certainly benefited from his contributions. [Sofia] was like, Oh, will you at least partner with Harvey? We were like, No!. [7], Guggenheim Partners provided the seed money for A24 The company was started to share "movies from a distinctive point of view". Its a film about guilt that forever haunts you and the fear of being watched. Only Lovers Left Alive drips with style, wisdom and ironic humor as Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton play hip, immortal layabouts. This is before Wolf of Wall Street came out, but Margot Robbie, I didnt know her, but she was working with somebody that knew my costumer or something, and got in touch with me and was like, Can you print me a photo of the tattoos in detail, so that I can get this costume perfectly? Because she was fucking Alien that year. Theres aesthetic and political values to the people behind the company. I won, I think, L.A. Film Critics and maybe one other. John has been a trusted partner who helped conceive A24 and for that we will always be grateful, A24 noted. Hodges teamed with Daniel Katz and David Fenkel to launch the company, which is based in New York City. (Blindsided teens, many of whom had been intrigued at the thought of seeing former Disney star Selena Gomez in a more mature performance, assailed the Internet with complaints that they had paid to see the Worst Movie Ever Made.) Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted. Theirs is a potent brand that Ive admired for a long time, and their reputation as innovative partners to talent is second to none.. The Bling Ring provoked Emma Watson to cast off the shadow of Hermione Granger and step into the pink Juicy Couture sweatpants of a spoiled teen criminal in contemporary Hollywood. But I put no limitations on what theyre capable of. I felt like we were all on the same team. Heavey: He didnt really use a computer. I am incredibly proud of the company we created and of the amazing team at A24 that has been integral to its success. 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. And that takes time. Franco: I hope they dont get too big that they forget what got them started. Dont get left behind. There are exceptions to this rule, such as Miramax, the company that upended indie cinema in the 90s, backing then unknown filmmakers like Steven Soderbergh and Quentin Tarantino. John Hodges is Head of Film for Jax Media, where he heads Jax's feature film development and production. Logo by GrandArmy Photos via A24. The photo has been replaced. Fenkel: More than 50 percent chance La La Land. 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. Johns experience and taste is evident in the films he has developed and produced over the years. Miramax, they were a huge deal, and also Fox Searchlight. The Oscar-nominated actor gives us his all-time favorites of film. Fenkel: One thing we notice is now people are saying, Oh, good job. Under the Skin reintroduced Scarlett Johansson as a killer alien from outer space (and, more jarringly, a shockingly brave improv performer). 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. Photos courtesy A24, by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images, and Janette Pellegrini/WireImage/Getty Images. Im dying. With how bad it tested. It was me! Gif excerpt from the film Slow West via A24 Films. Coppola: I was a little nervous about not going with a company that I knew had a track record, but I knew that they were going to really do their best. How great it was. Theyre on the tarmac, and were having to find a new jet for them within twenty minutes. You know more than me.. John Cornelius Hodge (Squatty Roo, Jeep, Rabbit) was born on 25 July, 1907 in Cambridge, MA, is an American saxophonist. How do you know when an ad campaign is working?
Jax Media Taps A24 Co-Founder John Hodges as Head of New Film - Variety A24 thinks hard about the landscape of distribution, and they think hard about the models, and the models are changing. SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE DAILY NEWSLETTER, FIRST TAKE, Sundance, SXSW Comedy 'Never Goin' Back' Sells to A24. 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. John Hodges is a producer and the founder of A24 alongside David Katz and David Fenkel. With Hodges leaving, the. 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.. It wasnt just that, for a new distribution company, it seemed to have a level of taste and an instinct for cool that is atypical in Hollywood. That suits a company whose websites About page consists of nothing beyond an Eadweard Muybridge plate of a cockatoo flapping its wings. Three were winners. The photo has been replaced. Hollywood is run by accountants at this point. A24 is an American independent entertainment company that specializes in film and television production, as well as film distribution. That was just acting! It was not like being in a cinema.
A24 Films - Production List | Film & Television Industry Alliance Like I had glandular problems. That kind of audience. But we liked them. Good A24 films anticipate the zeitgeist, and the best ones galvanize it. Key grip. Katz, Fenkel and Hodges all got together in 2012 and decided to make their late night yammerings a reality. 2023 The Hollywood Reporter, LLC. People want to see movies. I asked him what he wants his company to be. We tried to get the Union Square movie theaterwe didnt have a theatrical booking yet. The tech titan is reportedly in the midst of dropping $1 billion on original content, but has yet to make a major film market move. Moonlight we hadnt seen yet. In 2016, A24 expanded into original production with Moonlight. It also put out some of its weirder and most singular movies to date: Trey Edward Shultss micro-budget family drama Krisha; Swiss Army Man, in which Daniel Radcliffe plays a corpse; and Yorgos Lanthimoss romantic tragedy, The Lobster. In February, Robert Eggerss The Witch, which A24 bought at Sundance for one million dollars, made $40 million and became the companys highest grossing film to date (Moonlight has since surpassed it). 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. Theyre one of the few companies that have shown that indie films can still be viable. Aizenberg: Nine to ten people walked out. It was like being in some kind of arena. That was a thing. Fenkel: And we did this, like, illegal Tinder stuff. Sacco: We were on our way to the bathroom. [16] 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. I remember the thing that got him was like, Listen.
Four short years later, the companys first original production, Barry Jenkinss Moonlight, won the Academy Award for Best Picture. And it was the hair and makeup people. When I arrived at A24s office, in an anonymous building so close to the western lip of lower Manhattan that it can practically taste New Jersey, my fears that the company might be growing too fast werent exactly assuaged by learning that within weeks it was moving to an enormous office closer to midtown. And [my producer] kept saying it, and I kept thinking, Okay, at some point Ill figure out what hes talking about. Other companies wanted to do stuff with it. You look at the underdog story, I think thats not by accident. Stay plugged in to the industry with our free newsletter. "I'm thrilled to be joining the team at Jax,". But I feel that the fact that it was their first filmthere was a lot of idealism around the process. Katz: I think if you had asked us beforehand, we would have said, you know, La La Lands gonna win. A24 has only managed to turn each of its main-slate films into an event because the companys been ruthless and visionary when it comes to determining the difference. On the TV side, Jaxs current projects include the recently released Russian Doll on Netflix, starring Natasha Lyonne; The Other Two, which was just picked up for a second season; and the final season of Broad City for Comedy Central. And then we drank a huge amount of red wine. It was like two hours before, and they were like, Hes not gonna make it. Pattinson: I mean, with Twilight, the first tour we did was literally going to suburban shopping malls and doing local-news stuff. They have a very good understanding of the Zeitgeist. Aizenberg: We had a couple movies in there that we tried to force into making, like, event-y theatrical, and they werent. Whoa! Because theyd made a curated, awesome, crafted film. You lost. I think we all were kind of a bit shell-shocked. But we said, Lets invest in it. Theres a difference. 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. Scott didnt say anything. Aizenberg: Yeah. Released in the wake of Anton Yelchins untimely passing, Jeremy Saulniers Green Room is a grizzly and intense thriller in which a young punk rock band witnesses a murder and fights off a group of Neo Nazis, led by Patrick Stewart no less. 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. We were about to have two movies [Ex Machina and While Were Young] with him. Zoe Beyer (marketing, A24): Spring Breakers had a whole Oscar campaign. Heavey: People were, like, crying. Katz: Theres all these really, really smart, capable, ambitious people that love movies. Noah Sacco (head of acquisitions and production, A24): I think some of our biggest movies had no stars in them at the time of releaseEx Machina, Moonlight, The Witch, Room, The Spectacular Now.
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. 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. Activity. So that was like their heyday. Fenkel: Lenny [Abrahamson, for Room] beats out Ridley Scott! God bless em. If theaters are to remain something more than a repository for superhero movies, everybody might have to be. It was crazy. IFC earned a raft of Oscar nominations when it decided to put its muscle behind Boyhood and transform it into a phenomenon, but dumping all of its eggs into one beautifully textured basket helped to underline the paucity of love that most indies receive from their distributors, who ferry them from festivals to home video with all the solemn purpose of Charon taking passengers across the river Styx. Jeanie Igoe (production, A24): None of us really knew what we were doing. Katz: I dont think we had The Bling Ring yet. 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. Asif Kapadia (director, Amy): I had never heard of A24. No one cared about our language or our clothes. 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. Not like we should have paid more. A24, originally a small independent movie distributor, has quickly transformed into one of the most respected and successful names in cinema production. Fenkel: But it was like, Youre not going to be 20 minutes late for Scott Rudin. So you ran. It could be the CEO or an intern.. 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. A24's television division has produced The Carmichael Show, At Home with Amy Sedaris, Ramy, Euphoria and Mr. Corman. Genre hounds stoked by the Sundance hype would surely seek it out, but Eggers extraordinary debutabout a family of early American pilgrims who get banished to the wrong forestwould never be given the opportunity to meaningfully connect with its audience and worm its way into the culture. It was a perfectly good jet! Get our latest storiesin the feed of your favorite networks. Worst case, youll get the trench-coat crowd. You know what the trench-coat crowd is? @ After a brief flurry of acquisitions gossip, and Monday's announcement that A24 co-founder John Hodges will exit the company, A24 and/or Apple "insiders" let it be known that Apple wasn't. Ravi Nandan (co-head of TV, A24): Paramount Vantage, which had released, like, There Will Be Blood and a bunch of other movies, was [folded into] Paramount. It wasnt going to get lost in the shuffle. Gif excerpt from the film Ex Machina via A24 Films. 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. The question with any company that lavishes attention and resources upon a modest amount of product is, of course, where does the money come from? I felt like there was a huge opportunity to create something where the talented people could be talented. When I was explaining to people what I was doing, it felt like a political campaign. This is a growing company, not a struggling one. Franco: I would bet that [Alien] was one of the biggest, most popular Halloween costumes that year. [13] 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. 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. Fenkel: Well, it wasnt a heartbreak, because they wouldnt actually call us back. I dont think it was related to her professional career. It was millions in one day. Sacco: To engrave the Spring Breakers logo onto the glass-gun bong. First movies gonna be so exciting! And I remember everyone came back from that test screening. And I think it is down to companies like A24. 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. A24 co-founder John Hodges is exiting the indie company to "focus on future opportunities," he and the company jointly announced on Monday. Leave it to Jim Jarmusch to make the coolest vampire movie ever. Katz, Fenkel and Hodges prior to A24 worked in film and production, before leaving to eventually co-found the company, And they even never uttered the words, What would it be like in a cheaper state? The films were darlingsincluding David Michds The Rover, starring Robert Pattinson; Denis Villeneuves Enemy, starring Jake Gyllenhaal; and Jonathan Glazers Under the Skin, starring Scarlett Johanssonand, by and large, box-office underperformers. Not heyday. And you can really see over the past few years, it really, really hasnt at all. It would cost too much to buy Mississippi Grinda fighting chance in theaters, so the film is making its way into the world through 20 million smaller screens rather than a few dozen large ones, and more viewers will have a chance to appreciate it as the sublime hangout movie that it is.