The rise of A24 from scrappy but confident independent distribution, to major, Best Picture-winning, Hollywood power player has been remarkable to watch. But as you might guess, that path to success wasn’t easy, nor conventional. GQ has published a fascinating oral history of the company, and one of the many interesting stories revealed within is how they convinced producer Megan Ellison to let them release Harmony Korine‘s “Spring Breakers.”
2013 saw the company release their first five films which included Sofia Coppola‘s “The Bling Ring” (much to the disappointment of Harvey Weinstein, who wanted it) and James Ponsoldt‘s “The Spectacular Now.” Also part of that roster was “Spring Breakers,” but the hurdle in getting the film was persuading Ellison and Annapurna that the company was not only the right fit but truly passionate about Korine’s wild and weird movie. So, they concocted a crazy scheme.
Noah Sacco (head of acquisitions and production, A24): I woke up one morning to an e-mail from Daniel [Katz, co-founder of A24] that was sent at three in the morning: “Can you go to Pittsburgh?” I come into the office, and there are interns running around like in some crazy factory. Daniel’s like, “Okay. We’re putting together a gift basket of glass guns and a gift basket with munchies…”
David Fenkel (co-founder, A24): We made bongs.
Sacco: Gun bongs. And the interns are running around trying to find a glassblower.
Fenkel: An engraver, too.
Sacco: To engrave the ‘Spring Breakers’ logo onto the glass-gun bong. So everyone’s wrapping up this gift basket that I’m supposed to deliver to Megan [Ellison, one of the producers of ‘Spring Breakers,’ who was on location in Pittsburgh] and say, like, “This is why you should go with us. We’re passionate. We get movies.” And the only thing we could put it in was a cardboard box with duct tape. So I’m showing up to the airport with no luggage and a cardboard box with duct tape wrapped around it.
Fenkel: It looked like a bomb.
Sacco: I show up at the airport. And the guy asked me, “Is there anything we might find suspicious in there?” I said, “There’s an art piece inside in the shape of a gun.” And literally the entire security department was like, “What is wrong with you?” Long story short, it made it through.
Nicolette Aizenberg (distribution executive, A24): And we got the movie.
Indeed, the rest is history, and despite test screenings that “broke records” for how bad they went, A24 turned the movie into a huge hit that helped put them on the map in their first year. A mere half-decade later, I’d imagine movie producers are knocking on A24’s door to get the company to consider their projects.
