On August 20, 2012, Daniel Katz, David Fenkel, and John Hodges founded A24.[10] Katz formerly led the film finance group at Guggenheim Partners, Fenkel was the president, co-founder, and a senior partner at Oscilloscope, and Hodges served as "Head of Production and Development" at Big Beach.[10] The name "A24" was inspired by the Italian A24 motorway on which Katz was driving when he decided to found the company.[25] Guggenheim Partners provided the seed money for A24. The company was started to share "movies from a distinctive point of view".[26] In October 2012, Nicolette Aizenberg joined as head of publicity from 42West where she was senior publicity executive.[27] In 2012, A24 contacted GrandArmy, a creative design agency based in New York, to design their logo. They had tasked the agency with creating a branding and logo that was modern but also echoed the golden age of Hollywood. GrandArmy made the logo and motion graphic intro for A24 alongside its website, and their deco-influenced look was featured internally and externally.
The company began its distribution of films in 2013.[29][30] The company's first theatrical release was Roman Coppola's A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III, which had a limited theatrical release. Other 2013 theatrical releases included Sofia Coppola's The Bling Ring, Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers, James Ponsoldt's The Spectacular Now, and Sally Potter's Ginger & Rosa.[25][31][32][33] In September 2013, A24 entered a $40 million deal with DirecTV Cinema, where DirecTV Cinema would offer day-and-date releases 30 days prior to a theatrical release by A24; Enemy was the first film to be distributed under the deal.[34] That same year, A24 entered a deal with Amazon Prime, where A24-distributed films would be available on Prime Video after becoming available on Blu-ray and DVD.
In May 2015, A24 announced that it would start a television division and began producing the USA Network series Playing House, as well as working to develop a television series that would later become Comrade Detective, produced by Channing Tatum. The company also announced that they would also finance and develop pilots.[36] In January 2016, Sasha Lloyd joined the company to handle all film, television distribution and business development in the international marketplace.[37] The company, with cooperation from Bank of America, J.P. Morgan & Co. and SunTrust Banks, also raised its line of credit from $50 million to $125 million a month later to build upon its operations.[38] In April, the company acquired all foreign rights to Swiss Army Man, distributing the film in all territories, and partnering with distributors who previously acquired rights to the film, a first for the company.[39] In June, the company, along with Oscilloscope and distributor Honora, joined BitTorrent Now to distribute the work of their portfolio across the ad-supported service.[40] In January 2017, the company acquired the United States and Chinese distribution rights for their first foreign language film: Menashe.
In May 2015, A24 announced that it would start a television division and began producing the USA Network series Playing House, as well as working to develop a television series that would later become Comrade Detective, produced by Channing Tatum. The company also announced that they would also finance and develop pilots.[36] In January 2016, Sasha Lloyd joined the company to handle all film, television distribution and business development in the international marketplace.[37] The company, with cooperation from Bank of America, J.P. Morgan & Co. and SunTrust Banks, also raised its line of credit from $50 million to $125 million a month later to build upon its operations.[38] In April, the company acquired all foreign rights to Swiss Army Man, distributing the film in all territories, and partnering with distributors who previously acquired rights to the film, a first for the company.[39] In June, the company, along with Oscilloscope and distributor Honora, joined BitTorrent Now to distribute the work of their portfolio across the ad-supported service.[40] In January 2017, the company acquired the United States and Chinese distribution rights for their first foreign language film: Menashe.
On February 28, 2018, A24 launched a podcast titled "The A24 Podcast".[42] Episodes are based around a discussion between two members of the film industry. Guests on the podcast have included Bo Burnham, Sofia Coppola, Paul Schrader, Martin Scorsese, and Alia Shawkat. Despite lacking any pre-defined structure, episodes generally contain discussions around recent works of the two guests, allowing for branching discussions to other areas. The first two guests were Barry Jenkins (director of A24's Moonlight) and Greta Gerwig (director of A24's Lady Bird), who both discussed what it's like to make a movie about the place they grew up.[43] As of October 18, 2023, 38 episodes have been released.[44][45] On March 26, 2018, co-founder John Hodges announced that he was exiting the company.[46] On November 15, 2018, A24 and Apple announced that they had entered into a multi-year partnership where A24 will produce a slate of original films for Apple. This was not a first-look deal, meaning that A24 can continue to produce and acquire films to release outside of the deal, and that it would not affect previous deals that A24 had signed with other companies. It is currently unknown if this slate of films will have a theatrical release or be exclusive to Apple's streaming service, Apple TV+.[47] On November 13, 2019, A24 entered into a premium cable television broadcast deal with Showtime Networks, covering all film releases through November 1, 2022. The deal excludes films that are already part of the Apple partnership.
In July 2021, A24 explored a possible buyout for between $2.5 billion to $3 billion.[49] In January 2022, former HBO and Amazon MGM Studios TV executive Nick Hall joined A24 to oversee creative for the company's growing television slate.[50] In April 2022, the company released its membership "AAA24" for subscription; members' benefits include early access to merch drops, exclusive merch for members only, monthly merch discounts for members, and a zine every four months.[11] In March 2023, A24 became the first independent studio to win Best Picture, Best Director, and all four acting categories in a single year at the 95th Academy Awards.[51][52][53] That same month, the company bought distribution rights to two older films released before the company's inception, starting with Darren Aronofsky's Pi (1998) and Jonathan Demme's Stop Making Sense (1984), both of which are remastered versions.[54][55][56][57] In May 2023, Leonine Studios, a German independent film distributor, partnered with A24 to set up a joint label called "A24 | Leonine Studios", which will distribute films in Austria and Germany.[58] The next month, it was reported that former Disney General Entertainment Chairman Peter Rice signed a deal with A24 as an independent producer, agreeing to co-finance films for global distribution.[59] During the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes, which took place from May 2 to November 9, A24 was approved to continue filming and promotional activities since it does not have ties to the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).