THE IDEA FOR THE COMPANY arose in the late aughts. HOT PROPERTIES | A24 projects include Moonlight (the first film fully financed by the company), 20th Century Women (released in December), Under the Skin, The End of the Tour, Room, Spring Breakers and Ex Machina. вЂњBut when you read something special, you work to figure it out.вЂќ вЂњWhoвЂ™s it for? WhoвЂ™s this director?вЂќ says Katz, imitating a skeptical executive. вЂњOn paper, itвЂ™s a tough movie to market,вЂќ says Fenkel. But the plan had long been to finance films, too.В A24вЂ™s first such effort was last yearвЂ™s Moonlight, an exploration of black masculinity by the writer and director Barry Jenkins that has proved a hit in limited release and received six Golden Globe nominations, including for best motion picture-drama. вЂњYou can do very well making lower-budget movies,вЂќ Katz says-a truth that sits at the core ofВ A24вЂ™s success, even if Hollywood seems increasingly estranged from it.ДЄccording to Katz, the company depends, first and foremost, on instinct: вЂњThe first question we always ask is: Is this cool?вЂќ At the outset,В A24В chased that vision of cool solely as a distributor, scooping up projects whose production other people paid for and then masterminding their releases. Such grosses sound small-fry compared to the gargantuan returns of, say,В Star TrekВ reboots, but the profits are healthy. Spring Breakers, which cost about $2 million to produce, made more than $30 million at the worldwide box office The Witch, whichВ A24В acquired for $1 million, earned $40 million. The companyвЂ™s rise is especially significant at a time when countless obituaries have been drafted for the kinds of ambitious mid-budget movies, aimed at audiences hungry for originality and complexity, that once filled release calendars. Among the movies itвЂ™s ushered into the world are the James Franco neon-noir Spring Breakers В the eerie sci-fi parable Ex Machina В the austere horror smash The Witch В and the wrenching survival drama Room, which was nominated for four Oscars, including best picture. You may not knowВ A24вЂ™s name, but you almost certainly know its work: Not since the вЂ™90s-era heyday of Miramax-a big influence onВ A24вЂ™s founders-has a single outfit cranked out so much offbeat, critically adored, zeitgeist-tapping cinema.

вЂњWe shouldnвЂ™t and donвЂ™t normally care about that, but when you live in Los Angeles, every other step you take is about trying to get to the center table-versus just trying to do good work.вЂќ вЂњOur table was off to the side, and IвЂ™m like, вЂOh, what a shitty f-ing table!вЂ™ вЂќ Katz says, laughing.

While Katz figures that he and Fenkel travel west roughly once a month for business, he cites the Governors Awards to illustrate the value of keeping L.A., mostly, at a 2,500-mile remove. Katz is at a Beverly Hills breakfast spot alongside David Fenkel, 41, his longtime friend and a fellow co-founder both men live and work in New York City, with an office in West Hollywood. WeвЂ™re not asking that question enough when it comes to sex.The 39-year-old Katz is a co-founder ofВ A24, a relatively tiny entertainment company that has somehow carved out a spot for itself at HollywoodвЂ™s upper end while also remaining a resolute outsider. The problem is we donвЂ™t think about how erotic sex, when it comes to teens and media, affects their behaviour. вЂњI donвЂ™t care if youвЂ™re twelve or fifteen. вЂњI havenвЂ™t seen this film, but I know theyвЂ™re marketing it to a ton of teenagers,вЂќ she said. Last week the movie was slammed by The View presenter Elisabeth Hasslebeck for promoting sex to young teenagers. The sexual content on the movie has earned it wide spread condemnation. She went on: вЂњThere are younger ones that watch it but I mean for me, I wanted to do this movie because it was so different from who I am on the show and what IвЂ™ve done previous so I just thought of it as a great opportunity and a new experience so I really didnвЂ™t want to think about what the fans would think.вЂќ вЂњThe party scenes were pretty insane girls were getting completely naked like about to have sex or something and we were just witnessing it.вЂќД«enson admitted she hadnвЂ™t considered the reaction of fans when choosing the movie and had only thought about the вЂњexperience,вЂќ it could offer her. Selena Gomez sheds good girl image on set of Spring Breakers (Splash News)

Pictures from the movie spring breakers