How does the marketing method of “Oscar’s biggest winner” A24 fit the new generation of movie audiences? | Hypebeast

At the 95th Oscars, the year’s hit movie “Everything Everywhere All at Once” swept away seven statuettes including “Best Picture”. Although it has been criticized for being “overrated”, it is undeniable that this film makes an old theme so novel, and it is eye-catching from the script to the editing. Another masterpiece “The Whale” won the “Best Actor” and “Best Makeup and Hair”. This also makes A24 behind the two films the first film company in the history of Oscars to win four performance categories, “Best Picture” and “Best Director” at the same time.

From the Oscar-winning for the first time in 2016 – “Room” (Best Actress), “Amy” (Best Documentary), “Ex Machina” (Best Visual Effects), to the dark horse “Moonlight” in 2017 won Under “Best Film”, “Minari” won “Best Supporting Actress” in 2021, and then to this year’s Grand Slam. To date, films released by A24 have been nominated for 49 Oscars and won 16 trophies. As a New York film company focusing on low-cost independent films, why has A24, which was founded only 10 years ago, been able to rise suddenly among the Hollywood powerhouses?

What is A24

The A24 is an Italian motorway that connects Rome with Teramo. In 2012, Daniel Katz, a film investor who drove to Rome with a group of friends, suddenly decided to start a film company on this road. So, together with two friends, David Fenkel and John Hodges, they established a “gateway” that really made them in the film industry. Rome” on the A24.

David Fenkel and Beastie Boys member Adam Yauch co-founded the film company Oscilloscope, which released “Polytechnique”, which made the famous director Denis Villeneuve famous all over the world; John Hodges worked as a producer at the independent production company Big Beach and the head of the development department, this company is famous for its low-cost comedy films, the representative works include “Little Miss Sunshine”; and Daniel Katz once worked for Lionsgate Films, and then entered the investment giant Guggenheim Partners to transform into a film investor, A24’s initial start-up capital From Guggenheim Partners. The three founders have extensive experience in film distribution, production, and investment respectively. It is no wonder that A24 has such a unique vision.

From the purchase of the first film “A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III” in 2013 to the release of more than 20 films a year later, A24 has always adhered to its original intention of “only making cool movies”. Among them, “The Lobster” (2015), “The Disaster Artist” (2017) and other films known for their absurdity have also made small, exquisite and B-level movies, and gradually become the logo for movie fans to recognize “A24 Movies” .

Every year, A24, which “diggs gold” at Sundance, tiff and other film festivals that gather niche works, has unearthed many new directors. For example, with “Good Time” (2017) blockbuster Safdie brothers, “A Ghost Story” (2017) director David Lowery, “Hereditary” (2018) director Ari Aster, and this time the Oscar director combination Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert (the two first collaborated on 2016’s shitty masterpiece “Swiss Army Man”). And the above filmmakers have all cooperated with A24 so far.

From the above-mentioned films, we can get a glimpse of A24’s film selection criteria-the perspective of the marginalized group, with the private emotions of the author’s film, but it can resonate with the public. Curiosity is just an appearance, just like the two Oscar-winning films this time, the core of the seemingly unconstrained “Everything Everywhere All at Once” is the most common parent-child relationship and self-realization; while “The Whale”, which focuses on obesity and gay groups ” actually explores guilt culture and self-reconciliation.

In just a few years, A24 has developed into a golden sign in the film industry. At the same time, it has expanded from a simple distribution business to a production and development department. The two award-winning films this time were both produced by A24. Participating in it from the early stage of the concept also allowed A24 to better control the quality of the movie. Today, A24 also produces series for major platforms, including “Euphoria”, which has become a phenomenon-level American drama since its launch in 2019.

A24’s good taste and sufficient respect for the value of movies have also attracted many first-line directors and actors to cooperate with them. The director of “The Whale” is Darren Aronofsky who has filmed “Requiem for a Dream” and “Black Swan”. Has become a regular male lead in Yorgos Lanthimos-style dark comedies.

new generation marketing

A24’s peripheral products for movies have always been sought after by movie fans. In addition to launching joint clothing with Online Ceramics and the hand-painted posters created by James Jean for the two Olympic films this time, which are relatively “normal”, A24 will also reproduce the props in the movie, or draw on movie elements to make very interesting products , such as the Dungeons and Dragons board game themed on The Green Knight, a plaster cast of the main character’s left hand in Lady Bird, and the hot dog finger and eye patches from Everything Everywhere All at Once, a recent hit.

At A24, publicity and distribution is no longer a cold process, but more like a secondary creation of the story, and the main creators will also participate in the planning process of the publicity and distribution. In the special books released by A24 for films such as “Hereditary” and “Minari”, in addition to including film scripts and behind-the-scenes footage, the director will personally analyze the plots and share precious materials from the creative process and growth experience.

The theme of A24’s independent publications is also unconstrained, and the main creative staff will act as guest editors to plan together. “Issue 18: Tax Season Zine”, edited by the director of “Everything Everywhere All at Once”, echoes the plot of the movie and shares tips on how to avoid taxes reasonably. At the same time, the main creator will also talk about behind-the-scenes interesting things in the A24 Podcast online interview.

When a large number of production crews died down due to Covid in 2020, A24 was not idle and launched the online auction platform “A24 Auctions”. At the first auction held in May 2020, classic costumes and props from movies such as “Midsommar” and “Uncut Gems” were sold at high prices, and all auction proceeds were donated to charity. The costumes and props for the subsequent shows, including the recent “Everything Everywhere All at Once”, were also sold out.

A24’s social media has always maintained a high level of activity, interacting with movie fans through humorous personification. In addition to sharing movie trailers, posters, stills, behind-the-scenes and other content, fun polls will also be released, and fans are welcome to contribute. The homepage continues to update funny snapshots such as “Discover A24” and “A24’s Animals”. A24 combines its own creative peripherals to create a meme culture related to the released movies.

Regarding A24’s marketing methods, fans may have heard a very famous story-during the South by Southwest Film Festival in 2015, many staff members successfully matched with a girl named Ava on Tinder. When the chat was hot, she Gets you to follow her on Instagram, and then people find that the page is full of information about the screening of the movie “Ex Machina”. The Tinder account is chatted by the A24 staff, and the user information comes from the AI ​​protagonist in the movie.

A24 is also good at creating buzz offline. In 2019 A24 hosted a series of summer open-air screenings in each film’s location – Sacramento in Lady Bird, New England in The VVitch. During the release of “A Ghost Story” in 2017, A24 set up a haunted house Pop-Up in Chinatown, New York. After the flash, the audience can continue to interact on the website.

A24 is able to accurately plan marketing methods that fit the habits of the new generation of users, thanks to its powerful data analysis department. In the past, most of the procurement, publicity, and scheduling of movies followed the theory of experience, but facts have proved that even the decisions of senior industry insiders may also appear Waterloo. A24 maintains long-term cooperation with the research company Operam and the digital creative company Watson Design Group. The movie’s release time, theater schedule, and online promotion will all calculate the best time through data analysis and capture online target users. , to maximize the dissemination rate of movie information on social platforms.

Now playing a production role, A24 is constantly exploring new themes. Recently, it announced plans to bring the popular sci-fi talk “Backrooms” to the big screen, and “break the rules” to find Kane Pixels, a 17-year-old video blogger famous for his short film series of the same name. The director invited Wen Ziren, the “Master of Horror” as a producer to escort him. This eclecticism may be due to the fact that the founders who have experienced the golden age of genre films at the end of the last century hope to fill the huge gap between big productions and low-budget horror films in the American film industry. Right now, A24 has indeed opened up the market space for independent films, and with its unique taste and marketing techniques, it has formed a popular culture called “A24” in addition to the film’s popularity and popularity.