a24 john hodges net worth
Earlier this year I was drinking in a hotel bar with the head of another distribution company at a film festival. Daniels like, Okay. 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. Or a screenwriter. Igoe: At SXSW, we had Spectacular Now, and Spring Breakers showed there. And on some level, honestly, I was afraid to go out on my own and try to make it work. Katz: I always had dreams of [starting a company]. 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. We wish Hodges the best of luck with his next endeavor, since the indie landscape has certainly benefited from his contributions. I Just Raised The Oscar At Them. 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? At the same time, we get a call saying that Selena and Ashley [Benson], their hair and makeup team hadnt gone on the private jet we had got for them, because they didnt think it was big enough or secure enough. I dont mean it that way. Jenkins: They were like, Look. @ 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. 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. 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. The company said he will exit to focus on "future opportunities," but did not clarify beyond that statement.. Not like we should have paid more. 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. a24. [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. There has been speculation for the past six months that the company is for sale. Katz: In LAwhatever just transpired last month, you feel it in LA. Rather than focusing on acquisitions, as was its early strategy, A24 is now producing its own movies, as well as its own podcast. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. And we just hounded him. John Hodges will be leaving A24 to pursue other opportunities, the indie distributor announced Monday. 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. Katz: Maybe even greater. Eddie Guy. 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. But we said, Lets invest in it. Theres a difference. 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. I felt like we were all on the same team. But as A24 initiates the second phase of its existence, a transition that includes financing its own films and branching out into television, the companys exponential growth may find it becoming part of the problem it had once seemed destined to solve. Pattinson: I mean, with Twilight, the first tour we did was literally going to suburban shopping malls and doing local-news stuff. 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. All three had grown up admiring the rich world of 90s independent cinema, and they noticed a void where those movies had once been. It was like being in some kind of arena. When your audience does the work for you. Really? I think I made out with my wife in front of people. 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. They rented some office space in Manhattan. 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. We literally didnt know what to do. By surgically inserting each release into the zeitgeist, it has paved a new road for provocative, modestly sized cinema, bridging the gap between microbudget indies and monolithic studio products in much the same way Italys Autostrada A24 connects Rome to Teramo. Activity. When you can get a distribution company that likes the film for the same reasons that people that made it like the filmIve found that rare. 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? 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. Then he had this very high-tech, nuanced process, which was printing out a spreadsheet, and then when he would book a theater, he would write it down on the spreadsheet, and then when the spreadsheet was full, hed push it over from his desk to my desk. Harmony Korine (director, Spring Breakers): They have balls. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. Korine: I could tell that they were on some new shit, you know? And you could tell that it was in their reach. But I do remember finally looking over, because I didnt know where they were sitting, and I spotted Dan Katz and Dave Fenkel, and, man, the smile on their faces! It premiered at Sundance in January, where it deservedly won the World Cinema Dramatic Competition. Fenkel: We may have had to fire a fake intern for that. 2023 THE TRACKING BOARD. I just trust, you know, Drag City or Merge or SST or Dischord. We sit in. [29][30], "A24 Films" redirects here. And the interns are running around trying to find a glassblower. I just Theyre on the tarmac, and were having to find a new jet for them within twenty minutes. When the film comes out in early 2016, it will arrive exclusively in theaters, and its trial by fire will be exclusively in theaters. Usually you talk to somebody and they tell you all the reasons they shouldnt make something, and why its so difficult. And that takes time. John Hodges will be leaving A24 to pursue other opportunities, the indie distributor announced Monday. For a truly great film like this, being excluded from the conversation into which A24 works so hard to insinuate its main slate can feel like a fate worse than Harvey Weinstein. Variety is a part of Penske Media Corporation. Spring Breakers had a whole Oscar campaign: Consider This Shit.Zoe Beyer. John Cornelius Hodge (Squatty Roo, Jeep, Rabbit) was born on 25 July, 1907 in Cambridge, MA, is an American saxophonist. John Hodges is Head of Film for Jax Media, where he heads Jax's feature film development and production. Animated photo illustration by Lisa Larson-Walker. We want to hear from you! A24 is an American independent entertainment company that specializes in film and television production, as well as film distribution. Coppola: That was the worst. A mother undergoes reconstructive facial surgery, but her two twin boys dont recognize the woman beneath her bandages. [Sofia] was like, Oh, will you at least partner with Harvey? We were like, No!. Franco: I actually did win some awards. A24 is not like other entertainment companies. Not heyday. Starting off moderately 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. Since 1957, GQ has inspired men to look sharper and live smarter with its unparalleled coverage of style, culture, and beyond. Take the fate of John Macleans Slow West, one of the years best films, a neo-Western starring Michael Fassbender as a bounty hunter. 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. 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. 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. When it happens again and again, thats very, very intelligent work and planning. The deal excludes films that are already part of the Apple partnership. Johns experience and taste is evident in the films he has developed and produced over the years. I dont even look at him. 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. I felt like there was a huge opportunity to create something where the talented people could be talented. 2023 Deadline Hollywood, LLC. 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. Daniel Katz (co-founder, A24): We used to always talk about Oh, theres gotta be a better way.. Fenkel: And then I started saying, No way. All the actors had taken the risk. And [my producer] kept saying it, and I kept thinking, Okay, at some point Ill figure out what hes talking about. Photo illustration by Lisa Larson-Walker. Well handle it! And if it works, its them; if it doesnt work, its all your fault anyway. Across 96 films released at the time of this article, the average Production Budget on each film rounds out to a cool $6 million, with the Box Office revenue across the 96 films adding up to $798 million. Suddenly, in order to be financially viable, a project has to cost less than $2 million or more than $200 million. A24, which was founded in 2012, said that no additional changes in management will be made. And I was just acting! Aizenberg: When I came to A24, they had Charles Swan already. Company Details: Hodges, along with Katz and Fenkel, largely shunned the spotlight, giving few interviews even as A24 made a name for itself by releasing edgier, filmmaker-driven fare from directors such as Lenny Abrahamson, Alex Garland, and the Safdie Brothers. So I just called the guy. The films backers will be made whole, its makers will get another chance at bat, and its distributors will continue to enjoy the financial solvency provided by the DirecTV dealnot to mention the $50 million line of credit the company secured last fall. Thus far, A24 hasnt made any of the movies its released, but its made all of them A24 movies. Its a film about guilt that forever haunts you and the fear of being watched. For instance, an actress. Their whole point was, We dont know this world. You were in the A24 offices. That suits a company whose websites About page consists of nothing beyond an Eadweard Muybridge plate of a cockatoo flapping its wings. When your business model is predicated on treating each movie like an event, how do you get bigger without changing who you are? Kleiner: They had the movie, I want to say, 22, 23 weeks in theatrical release? 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.. On a notepad and Post-Its. Patrick Stewart (actor, Green Room): [The premiere of Green Room] was at the Toronto Film Festivals Midnight Madness. [10] The company's first theatrical release was Roman Coppola's A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III, which had a limited release. We get credit for it even when we have nothing to do with it. And, I mean, there was one moment in the movie when my character was booed and hissed so vociferously, I felt as though I was in a Roman arena and my life was at stake. I think when movie companies get started, people want to define you immediately. I Was Like, Fuck Yeah!Barry Jenkins. Signed on as producer beginning with the second season. 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. A24 thinks hard about the landscape of distribution, and they think hard about the models, and the models are changing. Im dying. Our site's data suggests A24's net worth to be about $1.89 million. Sacco: We probably saw 20 versions. The initial agreement covered 12 films, the first of which was Denis Villeneuves jaundiced doppelgnger freakout, Enemy, starring Jake Gyllenhaal. And even this public face represents the companys nonhierarchical structure: Thats only funny, Beyer once observed, because youre not quite sure whos saying it. All rights reserved. Fenkel: We knew we were releasing the movie. And yeah, I just think that it takesit doesnt happen that often that a new studio starts. Were passionate. [8] In October 2012, Nicolette Aizenberg joined as head of publicity from 42West where she was senior publicity executive. And David cannot stop perspiring. Fenkel: It actually went very well, for what the movie was. Whatever lingering reservations I had about the VOD side of A24s business were dismantled by the recent rumblings of a demonically possessed goat: The DirecTV logo may still be lurking toward the bottom of The Witchs teaser poster (which accurately identifies and champions Black Phillip as the movies breakout star), but at some point along the way it was decided that this crowd-pleasing, pants-ruining work of art has the makings of a communal sensation, and A24 pivoted. There is no Tinder for Room! Greetings From the Vortex of Unpredictability, Robert Pattinson singing Keri Hilsons Pretty Girl Rock. Thats very unusual. But in a shift from its typical way of doing business, A24 acquired Room based on its script, before shooting had even begun. Deploying for Major CAT Events, tornadoes . I asked him what he wants his company to be. 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. And I remember hearing she was really upset. 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: [Katz] is a better runner than I am. Jenkins: I just would never allow myself to believe that something I made could win Best Picture.