Since this is one of my first Blog posts, I’ve decided to write about something that I know I’m familiar with, movies. Specifically, a movie studio that I have been a passionate supporter of for the past few years of my life. This studio of course is A24. Like most people I learned about A24 through some of their famous horror titles like Hereditary or Midsommar, but I have found that if you dig a bit deeper than you will find yourself among some of the most incredible pieces of modern twenty-first century film.
There are a number of contributing factors to the rise of A24 but one of the biggest being its unique values that helped develop it as a prominent production studio. A24 was founded in late 2012 by Daniel Katz, David Fenkel, and John Hedges, all three being prominent names in the studio production and finance industries. Having this prior experience, they were able to start farther ahead than most of the bigger names in the studio production industry at the time. Having that experience they were able to make risky decisions smarter, decisions that began with their untraditional way of picking up movies. That being that they would send members of their relatively small team at the time to attend some of the world’s most prestigious film festivals and pick up films as seen.
Another very prominent aspect that contributed to the individuality and integrity of the films that they produce is also the almost unlimited amount of artistic initiative that they give to the directors of their respected films. I have personally found that giving more freedom to writers and directors is what makes such an incredible film its own personality. Big box office flicks might have a wider appeal to bigger audiences, but it strips any artistic integrity from the piece itself, whether it comes from a place of constant restrictions from big production companies or the need to appeal to a larger audience so you can receive a larger profit.
Going down this tangent I have started I think it is necessary to explain my predisposition contempt with bigger movie corporations. Though some of my favorite childhood movies come from such large corporations such as Dreamworks and Disney, now that I’ve grown and matured, I have become more aware of the past as well as current underlying issues with these larger production companies. Past examples of these controversies might include the problematic history of Disney’s past portrayal of people of color in their films, or even more recent issues like Disney’s attempt to monopolize holidays that have been held culturally significant to people for many years.
A24 is most notably known in the film community as being the producer of very psychological and modern film, modern in a way that a large community of people might call pretentious. Films such as: The Killing of a Sacred Deer and The Lighthouse, have experienced a large number of critiques from general audiences for not adhering to specific guidelines that cater to larger audiences. However, I would say that this comes predominantly from a group of people that aren’t sufficiently educated on the topic. A24 has created some of the best movies that I have ever had the privilege of watching. Notable titles such as Lady Bird, Hereditary, Moonlight, Everything Everywhere all at once, are just a few of the names that have received prestigious film awards such as best picture, best performance as well as an extensive number of academy awards.
Even though I think that this post was relatively informational I really hope that I can go farther in depth with a number of the movies they produced and the artistic backgrounds and interpretations of those films.
I think conversations around media, especially right now, very important. I also have certain gripes and hesitations with larger movie productions because at times they can feel like cash grabs. I prefer more independent projects where you can tell the writer/ director had a big part in its production and really put a piece of themselves into it.
It really brings me comfort knowing there’s someone with a similar opinion, I feel like without people with this opinion artistic integrity within film would be completely diminished.
I love how you included several perspectives in this post. You chose an interesting topic– love it!
I’ve heard of a few of these movies, but I’ve never personally seen any of them, Definitely going on my watchlist. Hereditary sounds especially interesting!