A24 built its brand on distributing edgy, award-nominated debut and breakout films

Evidence

Moving on to Hollywood’s other trendy indie company: A24 has built a brand image similar to that of Annapurna, casting it as an award-winning (over 4,300 nominations, twenty-six for Academy Awards), artist-friendly company that ­specializes in unique, edgy, well-marketed films that cater to hip audiences. Established auteurs are welcome at A24 as well, with Sally Potter (Ginger & Rosa, 2012), Denis Villeneuve (Enemy, 2013), Noah Baumbach (While We’re Young, 2014), Andrea Arnold (American Honey, 2016), and Kelly Reichardt (First Cow, 2020). Cultivating new talent is another aspect of A24’s success, having distributed the debut films of directors including Alex Garland (Ex Machina, 2014), David Eggers (The Witch, 2016), Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird, 2017), and Ari Aster (Hereditary, 2018). Another strategy is helping directors who have a few films under their belt break through to wider audiences and award recognition, such as Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster, 2015; The Killing of a Sacred Deer, 2017), Barry Jenkins (Moonlight, 2016), the Safdie Brothers (Good Time, 2017; Uncut Gems, 2019), Lulu Wang (The Farewell, 2019), Trey Edward Shults (Waves, 2019), Joanna Hogg (The Souvenir, 2019), and Lee Isaac Chung (Minari, 2020). — Andrew deWaard, Derivative Media, 278

Categorization

• XREF: Direct parallel to Annapurna’s brand strategy within this same book’s chapter on Hollywood financialization.