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. Hodges had been an integral part of the studio since its inception in 2012, along with co-founders David Fenkel and Daniel Katz. I was thrilledwhen the news broke that A24 had acquired the domestic rights, and then gutted to learn that it was part of the DirecTV pact. you never leave your partner especially in a fire villas san angel rosarito a24 john hodges net worth. In the last 18 months alone,along with Room and The End of the Tour,it has pioneered the abortion comedy with Obvious Child, scored a commercial hit with the seductive thriller Ex Machina, released one of the most daring science fiction films this side of 2001 in Under the Skin, and driven the most lucrative documentary in years with Asif Kapadias Amy Winehouse portrait, Amy. Aizenberg: I was already, like, putting together the distribution plans for Frances Ha. A24 is an American independent entertainment company that specializes in film and television production, as well as film distribution. Since then his contributions to growing the company have been invaluable and we cant wait to see what he does next., Hodges said in a statement, I am incredibly proud of the company we created and of the amazing team at A24 that has been integral to its success. The photo has been replaced. And then we opened. With how bad it tested. And it was on the A24 [motorway]. [23], On March 26, 2018, co-founder John Hodges announced that he was exiting the company. So whos to say that, you know, A24 wont become Warner Brothers five years from now? Earlier this year I was drinking in a hotel bar with the head of another distribution company at a film festival. A24 has also been nominated and won many Golden Globes, British Academy Film Awards, and Critics' Choice Movie Awards. 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. So when I saw that, I was like, Okay, those guys, they know what they are doing.. 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. We had a good history. 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. Im thrilled to be joining the team at Jax, Hodges said. 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. Photos courtesy A24, by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images, and Janette Pellegrini/WireImage/Getty Images. No!. The company also announced that they would also finance and develop pilots. Art and Experience : John Hodges is leaving A24, the Oscar-winning indie studio that he co-founded. II was tasked. A24 co-founder John Hodges is exiting the indie companyto focus on future opportunities, he and the company jointly announced on Monday. A24 went on a spending spree and released 11 movies in their second year of operation. All rights reserved. Robert Pattinson (actor, The Rover, Good Time): Its crazy that there is an article about a distribution company. Aizenberg: Nine to ten people walked out. Since then his contributions to growing the company have been invaluable and we cant wait to see what he does next, said A24 in a statement. I Just Raised The Oscar At Them. Theres aesthetic and political values to the people behind the company. It specializes in film distribution, and film and television production. [laughs] I mean, I doubt that, because I know the people that work there. They had faith that people would continue to show up. And she said it sucked. [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. It took us ten minutes to get a block. That was 2013. 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. Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted. Filmmakersoften the toughest audiences for their own films marketing campaignsrecognize the companys real excitement for their films. Like, no way in hell. That Oscar win came within five years of A24s launch, but so did Open Roads win for Spotlight, and now that company is part of the larger entity Global Road. In September 2013, A24 struck a partnership valued up to $40 millionwith satellite television provider DirecTV. Spring Breakers had a whole Oscar campaign: Consider This Shit.Zoe Beyer. Gif excerpt from the film The End of the Tour via A24 Films. Franco: I remember the South by Southwest festival, the screeningit was like a rock concert. 2023 Variety Media, LLC. raised the Oscar at them. 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. I asked him what he wants his company to be. Signed on as producer beginning with the second season. Karyn Kusama is a rapidly rising female director, and for good reason. 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. Maybe we werent geniuses with Spring Breakers, but we were the ones who said, Lets put it in theaters, because we could build on that. People liked Spring Breakers. A24 was founded in 2012 by Daniel Katz, David Fenkel and John Hodges. Really? Jenkins: I dont know if [Moonlight] was a glittering jewel of a project. Deadline is a part of Penske Media Corporation. Aizenberg: That first private plane didnt make it to Austin. No Comments Yet Be the first to comment on John Hodges! The company said he will exit to focus on future opportunities, but did not clarify beyond that statement. We tried to put together a slate in, like, four months, as opposed to just really growing it, building it in the right way. Its super inspiring. There is no Tinder for Room! A mother undergoes reconstructive facial surgery, but her two twin boys dont recognize the woman beneath her bandages. By the end of its opening weekend, it had raked in more money than all of Korines other films combined. Nandan: I remember seeing a screener of [The Witch], and yeah, it was like, oh, right, howd that movie not sell for more money? Fenkel: I just cannot stop. I felt like we were all on the same team. Its a film about guilt that forever haunts you and the fear of being watched. I think when movie companies get started, people want to define you immediately. In 2012, Fenkel, Hodges, and Katz left their jobsat Oscilloscope, Big Beach, and Guggenheim Partners, respectivelyto start A24. PARK CITY, Utah At the Sundance Film Festival here in January, executives at A24, the upstart movie and television studio, stood in the back of a makeshift theater looking as if . Katz: I was very concerned that people were gonna think Room kind of stepped into shit and got lucky with awards. Place Beyond the Pines, wed worked with the producers before. As Korine told Rolling Stone: I want to do the most radical work, but put it out in the most commercial way. A24 just took him up on it. We get movies. And the only thing we could put it in was a cardboard box with duct tape. Fenkel: In LA, every meeting is about the hot air. Some dissatisfied customers later accused the marketing campaign of misrepresenting the movie as a fun adolescent romp. 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. And someone was like, Where did those images come from? And I was like, Google? A24 knew that Slow West was great well before it premiered to rave reviews, but the company also recognized that it was an odd duck, neither broad enough to be a prestige picture nor strange enough to galvanize a legion of fans. A vital piece of work far too delicately perverse to have sustained a theatrical run, it was the ideal choice to launch the program. Steven Spielberg publicly predicted the implosion of the film industry, which is sort of like God telling you to brace for rain. And it was the hair and makeup people. Its DirecTV/A24 release grossed $229,094 and never played on more than 54 screens. If the cost of helping great movies find their theatrical audiences and lure them into theaters is to release other great movies that audiences have to find for themselves, thats probably a price most of us are willing to pay. In between, A24 went from being a tiny, disorganized room of eight or so people to being the place where big stars like Robert Pattinson and Scarlett Johansson go to make small, strange movies, and auteurs like Jonathan Glazer and Denis Villeneuve go to make deeply personal films unmolested by studio notes or clueless executives. Fenkel: One thing we notice is now people are saying, Oh, good job. 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. They had heart to them.Harmony Korine, Sacco: I wouldnt say I got it. Notable guests on the show have included Bo Burnham, Paul Schrader, Sofia Coppola, Alia Shawkat and Martin Scorsese. I think that was Nicolette, actually: Consider This Shit.. The indies can be liquid and fluid. A24 may be growing fast, but no one has displayed greater agility in navigating the waters of a business that constantly seems to be changing course. Stay plugged in to the industry with our free newsletter. Love that movie. When it wasnt us. Far left, from left: A24 founders David Fenkel, John Hodges, and Daniel Katz. In the last few years, there have been a spate ofindie horror films that have broken into the mainstream. Nicolette Aizenberg (distribution executive, A24): It is very cyclical. Company Details: Theyre just on it. [7], Guggenheim Partners provided the seed money for A24 The company was started to share "movies from a distinctive point of view". And in that moment I was like: Now its time to go do this. And on some level, honestly, I was afraid to go out on my own and try to make it work. Judging by the fact that the trailer racked up more than 3 million views in its first week online, the crowds are ready with their pitchforks. [19], In January 2017, the company acquired the United States and Chinese distribution rights for their first foreign language film, Menashe. And they even never uttered the words, What would it be like in a cheaper state? I think he would say something now. It was also that A24 was releasing these films not with a sigh and a shrug, but with panache, style, and humor: bright neon colors, guerrilla marketing tactics, and in the case of James Francos Britney Spears-loving gangster character from Spring Breakers, an actual Oscar campaign. Good A24 films anticipate the zeitgeist, and the best ones galvanize it. Memphis, Tennessee, United States. John has been a trusted partner who helped conceive A24 and for that we will always be grateful, noted A24 in a statement. Aizenberg: There was a week in January where we dropped the trailer of Spring Breakers. Other companies wanted to do stuff with it. When we started, we wanted it to be about the films and filmmakers, not us, Katz told the Hollywood Reporter at the end of 2013, and that culture remains evident in all aspects of their business.