For those who want to be filmmakers they soon have to come to the realization that they will never be given the credit they deserve for their work. In mainstream society, nine times out of ten the actors are given all the credit and praise. Sometimes you are really lucky and you get to be one of those directors who gets people sitting in the seats of the movie theater just with their name alone (for example Steven Spielberg). Luckily, for those directors whose names do not pull as much weight as Martin Scorsese or Spike Lee, there are the many film fans, or “cinephiles”, who know all of their names and works like it is the back of their hands (myself included). However, one thing I have began to notice is that there is another branch of filmmaking that is looked at less than directing; producing. Again, a lot of people know the names Harvey Weinstein and Brian Grazer, but even I find it difficult to name anyone else off the top of my head. I think it is finally time we give producers and production companies the limelight they deserve, and there is one I want to specifically look at. That production company is A24.
A24 is a New York City based production company that was founded by Daniel Katz, David Fenkel, and John Hodges in 2012. The goal for A24 is to create “movies from a distinct point of view.” For many that would sound like a death sentence. Most moviegoers in this day and age do not want to see that; they just want to see the new superhero blockbuster. Luckily, A24 was able to stick to their guns. They are now the studio behind the best independent films of the last few years.
A24 Founders John Hodges, David Fenkel and Daniel Katz.
The first film A24 produced was “A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III” in 2013. The film did not do very well, but at least it created the foundation. Later on that year A24 produced the dark crime film, “Spring Breakers”, which starred James Franco as the “Riff Raff” looking drug dealer Alien. This was a very important film for A24; it was their first time breaking through to the mainstream.
Two years later in 2015 A24 reached massive success. They released numerous successful films such as the Amy Winehouse documentary “Amy” and the David Foster Wallace biopic “The End of the Tour”, but it was quite possibly two films that gave A24 massive success; “Ex Machina” and “Room”. “Ex Machina” is the Alex Garland film that stars Oscar Isaac as the tech genius Nathan, who created Ava, an advanced A.I., played by Alicia Vikander. The film received numerous acclaims, and even beat “The Force Awakens” in the Best Achievement in Visual Effects category of the Oscars. “Room” is the Lenny Abrahamson film, that stars Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay. In the film Larson’s character, Ma, was kidnapped as a young teen and forced to raise her son Jack in a shed in her captor’s backyard. Eventually, after escaping Jack has to adjust to his new world after only knowing life inside “room”. “Room” was an extremely emotional piece that garnered numerous acclaims. Brie Larson received the Oscar for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role, and “Room” finds itself at 127 on IMDb’s list of Top 250 films.
Still from "Ex Machina."
2016 is also proving to be a big year for A24, if not an even bigger year. A24 released the horror film “The Witch”, which won director Robert Eggers the Directing Award at the Sundance Film Festival. They also released the extremely quirky comedies “The Lobster” and “Swiss Army Man”. Both films dealt with very odd and uncomfortable topics, but both did extremely great. Out of these two comedies I only saw “Swiss Army Man”, but if you ever need proof that original ideas are still possible, see this movie. Once again A24 is most likely going to find itself on the awards circuit. They are behind two of the biggest films of the year; “Moonlight” and “American Honey”. “American Honey”, already winning the Palme d’or at the Cannes Film Festival is the coming of age film starring Sasha Lane and Shia LaBeouf. “Moonlight” is a film that focuses on a black, queer boy growing up in a rough neighborhood in Miami. “Moonlight” is an extremely poignant film in the current American landscape, with both groups of people being targeted and marginalized. Even on the documentary side A24 has had interesting films this year. They have the Brian De Palma focused documentary “De Palma” and the recently released Oasis documentary “Oasis: Supersonic”.
It is clear that A24 has a huge future in being a tremendous powerhouse in the film market, if they are not already. I personally recommend taking a look at every film A24 has their name on, in fact that is something I am going to try and do myself.
