If you’ve seen an A24 film, you probably know it. Born of the early 2010s, the independent production studio is known for its hand in distinctive hits such as “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (2022), “Hereditary” (2018), and “Lady Bird” (2017).
The studio has garnered a reputation for producing and distributing works with a strong arthouse flair to them. They are unconventional, contrarian, quirky, and their cabinet of horror films typically carry an unsettling psychological element – my mother still refuses to let me show her “Midsommar.”
Key to A24’s success as a studio has been a support of author vision and an eye for modern digital marketing.
In an August 2022 article, Vulture reported that the studio maintains a strategy of granting directors a wide berth to craft their films – and though this makes for a mix of stunning artisanal creations and shouts into the void, A24 does a good job of hurrying the latter off the stage while giving its all to back up the success stories.
And ‘giving its all’ is no understatement. Because A24 could fund a conventional campaign of ads and trailers – or, it could send tons of creepy dolls to celebrities to boost an upcoming horror film. Attention is grabbed by doing what nobody else does, and A24 has practically made its brand out of creating and producing what no other studio can.
It’s an artists-first approach to the film industry – and it pays off. The studio has been described as having a cult-like following, ‘superfans’ who eagerly watch their films and buy their merch, expecting something that diverges from the mainstream of high-budget cinematic universes, remakes and reboots. With the critical success of “Everything Everywhere” last year, A24 has its name affixed to one of the most awarded films of all time.
A24 and SAG-AFTRA
The SAG-AFTRA strike targets the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), a trade association representing hundreds of film production companies, including virtually every major movie studio and large streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon. The strike primarily concerns issues of artificial intelligence use in film and TV, and increases in pay for actors and writers.
A24, however, is not a member of AMPTP, and two of its current projects – “Mother Mary” and “Death of a Unicorn” – have been granted strike exemptions by SAG-AFTRA. Variety reported Tuesday that independent productions like A24’s ‘moving forward on the union’s terms’ showed that SAG-AFTRA’s demands are not as unreasonable as AMPTP claims them to be, according to SAG-AFTRA executive director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland.
