From left, Stephanie Hsu, Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan in “Everything Everywhere All At Once.” Credit: Allyson Riggs/A24 via TNS
Founded in 2012 and known as A24 Films up until 2016, A24 is a major player in the modern entertainment industry.
The film production and distribution company has repeatedly found success despite facing competition from streaming services and mass movie theater closures brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, Chris Stults, a film and video curator at the Wexner Center for the Arts, said. Young adults, in particular, are endeared to A24 because it often champions experimental movies, Dave Filipi, the head of film and video at the Wexner Center, said.
For the first few years of its existence, A24 acquired and distributed independently made films, such as 2013’s “Spring Breakers” or 2014’s “Ex Machina,” Stults said. A notable turning point for the company occurred when “Moonlight” was released in 2016, seeing as it was A24’s first attempt at producing a movie in-house, Stults said.
“Moonlight” — the three-part Academy Award-winning story of how a Black man named Chiron discovers his self-identity and sexuality — earned widespread critical acclaim and solidified A24’s reputation as a creative force to be reckoned with, Stults said.
“Before, they were just an independent distributor that was doing scrappy, weird little films that had cult followings,” Stults said. “Suddenly, they’re beating studios to win best picture.”
Stults said one defining factor of A24’s branding is its rejection of traditional advertising in favor of intense and almost enigmatic social media campaigns.
“It’s easy to kind of feel like you’re discovering things or some cool, little club that not everybody knows about,” Stults said.
On the other hand, A24 is also capable of globalizing its more eclectic and diverse films, Stults said. A24’s “Everything Everywhere All at Once” premiered in March 2022 and has since made over $135 million worldwide at the time of publication, according to Box Office Mojo, an extension of IMDbPro.
The movie follows Chinese American mother Evelyn Wang as she unexpectedly travels through the multiverse to save the world from an alternate version of her daughter, Joy Wang.
“That film could have only happened with [A24],” Stults said. “They held it back for a time when, I think, people were starting to feel more comfortable going to the movie theaters. So many people, that was one of their first films back, and it just reminded folks the joy of seeing a movie with a really engaged audience.”
As A24’s highest-grossing film to date, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” received 11 Oscar nominations and merited seven Academy Awards — including best picture — on March 12, according to the Oscars’ website.
Though many A24 films don’t possess a fraction of the notoriety “Everything Everywhere All at Once” has achieved, that doesn’t mean they lack artistic value, Filipi said. A24’s commitment to giving its films a theatrical life sets them apart from big rivals like Netflix, he said.
“I think there is an audience that still wants to go see movies in movie theaters,” Filipi said. “And they are embracing that.”
A24’s efforts to engage with college students, who are characteristically open to new and different experiences, don’t go unnoticed. In fact, A24 collaborated with the Wexner Center March 20 to host a pre-screening of “Showing Up” with filmmaker Kelly Reichardt in attendance, Filipi said.
Depicting a sculptor’s daily life and frustrations, “Showing Up” will be released Friday, according to A24’s website. The pre-screening likely generated some buzz for the film, whether by word of mouth or via social media, Filipi said.
“Once you get a college audience excited about something or interested in something, it’s going to spread like wildfire,” Filipi said.
Balancing commercial and niche success could be a challenge for A24 in the future, Filipi said.
“I would assume that is a pretty difficult dance,” Filipi said. “You know, to stay true to yourself, to stay true to the business model, to not blow it up by chasing after films that you think might be more financially successful.”
Filipi said so long as A24 continues to support films that demonstrate originality — even if they bring in modest numbers — it will retain the sense of authenticity moviegoers are currently drawn to.
“Those types of films may never make, you know, $900 million,” Filipi said. “But that’s OK.”
