Everything, everywhere, at once
Allison Riggs/A24/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
A24, an Oscar-winning indie studio that has become a cutting-edge brand name in its own right, has a huge influx of credibility and money.
The studio announced today that it has closed an investment round led by Joshua Kushner’s Thrive Capital. The Hollywood Reporter It turns out that Thrive has invested $75 million in the indie studio based on a pre-money valuation of $3.25 billion. A source close to A24 with knowledge of the investment said the company is currently valued at $3.5 billion, and that this latest round of funding brings the company’s total investment to about $250 million.
As part of the investment, Thrive founder Kushner will join A24’s board of directors.
News of A24’s new valuation and Thrive’s investment comes at a time when the studio is focusing on more commercial projects with bigger budgets and top-tier talent. Not long ago, Hollywood rumors were convinced that A24 was on the verge of being sold. Depending on the week, the buyer was Apple or Amazon. Then, in early 2022, the company announced it had instead raised a funding round: $225 million, at a valuation of $2.5 billion. Existing investors were also said to have contributed capital to the latest round.
A24 has long been synonymous with a filmmaker-first approach that has won it many fans in today’s increasingly risk-averse Hollywood. Early acquisitions included Alex Garland Ex MachinaHarmony Korine spring breakers Barry Jenkins moonlightThe latter gave A24 its first Oscar-winning title.
He’s become known for unearthing new directorial talent like Ari Aster.Midsommar and Hereditary) and Robert Eggers (witch, Lighthouse), A24 has focused on producing films such as: Zola, X The film won the award for Best Picture. Everything, everywhere, at onceIn television, A24 has had success producing hits for HBO. Euphoria (A24 only collects production fees) The company is expanding its lineup to include Netflix’s Emmy Award-winning shows. beef and the beloved Showtime series curse.
All of this has led to the studio’s current “cool kid” status, reinforced by the ubiquitous A24 logo on sweatshirts and hats worn by movie fans. A24 is a studio that has long sold coffee table books, candles and other movie-inspired knickknacks, and has become well known for its purposeful name. (Earlier this year, A24 struck a deal with London-based indie publisher Mack to sell A24 books in stores, a step up from its direct-to-consumer model.)
When it comes to box office, A24 isn’t known for making huge profits. The films it traditionally releases — passion projects by new and aspiring auteurs, festival wins, and the occasional genre hit — have low profit margins. Some of its films have been successful, while others have been failures (most recently Aster’s Bo is scary), and smaller films may barely be shown in theaters at all.
Still, by 2022, when the studio raised its first major round of funding since its inception, it was clear that A24 was poised for growth.
Recently, A24 executives have been calling for “A24 versions” of commercial titles such as: John Wick To suitAccording to multiple sources, “A24’s version hill or Laguna BeachSomething that people really loved from an audience standpoint. Maybe we can subvert that,” said Ravi Nandan, head of A24 TV. Bloomberg Earlier this year.
The request has confounded some industry insiders, including A24’s longtime partners, who are unsure how to view a company that has built its brand on unconventional filmmaking moving into more commercial work.
At the box office, A24 has had commercial success with genre films such as Aster and horror movies. Talk to meThe HBO series, produced by A24, was bought out of the Sundance Film Festival for 2023 and a sequel was rushed into production by the studio. But the march toward an era of more content hasn’t been without its bumps. Idol Plagued by production problems, the third season Euphoria It remains stubbornly out of reach.
The studio recently released its most ambitious project to date, an action movie from Alex Garland. civil warThe studio estimates the production costs will be $50 million, but multiple sources say it will be closer to $70 million. The film has grossed $68 million at the domestic box office and over $120 million at the international box office. (By comparison, Everything, Everywhere It grossed over $70 million domestically and was made on a budget of approximately $14 million.
The studio’s upcoming slate includes an MMA biopic starring Benny Safdie and Dwayne Johnson. Smashing Machinean action thriller from Adam Wingard Onslaughtand a project that teams up the studio with Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment.
Beyond investments like Thrive, A24 has bolstered its production activities with deep-pocketed production deals, including a pact inked at the end of 2023 for A24’s theatrical films to premiere exclusively on HBO and stream exclusively on Max. Other agreements include exclusive airline distribution deals with Anuvu and Happinet Phantom Studios that cover distribution in Japan.
Thrive was founded by Kushner in 2009 to invest primarily in internet, software and technology companies. Its investments include Instagram, Spotify, Slack, Patreon, Stripe and Fanatics, and it currently has approximately $14 billion in assets under management. In 2022, he joined the firm as a partner after Disney’s Bob Iger left the company before returning as CEO. A few months later, upon returning to Disney, Iger, along with other partners, acquired the stake in Thrive previously owned by Goldman Sachs.
Kushner is the son of real estate developer Charles Kushner and brother of former Trump White House adviser Jared Kushner, and is married to model and entrepreneur Karlie Kloss.
A24 said in a statement about today’s news: “We’re thrilled to be working with Thrive Capital, whose unique expertise will be invaluable to our growth. Together with Thrive and our existing partners, we look forward to expanding our support for groundbreaking storytellers and helping their voices reach audiences around the world.”
