A24 film venture launches in New York

A24 will acquire finished films and finance and produce its own slate. The principals aim to distribute eight to ten titles each year, some of which will receive wide theatrical release.

The venture is backed by US-based private equity and the first film on the slate is expected to be announced later this week.

“We see an exciting opportunity right now for movies in the domestic space especially given all the new ways to target moviegoers and the changes that are happening in the marketplace,” the trio said. “We are looking forward to working with great storytellers to bring their films to audiences.”

Katz led the film finance group at Guggenheim Partners where he participated in more than $500mm of film, TV and digital financing transactions, including The Social Network, Zombieland, the Twilight franchise and Tenderness. 

Until recently Fenkel served as president and partner at Oscilloscope Laboratories alongside the late Adam Yauch. Fenkel and Yauch co-founded the company in 2008 and their acclaimed release slate included We Need To Talk About Kevin, The Messenger and Wendy & Lucy.

Earlier in the year Fenkel segued to a consulting role which is expected to wind down shortly. O-Scope is run by Dan Berger and David Laub.

Hodges previously served as head of production and development at Big Beach Films, the company behind Little Miss Sunshine, current release Safety Not Guaranteed, Away We Go, Sunshine Cleaning and Our Idiot Brother and the upcoming Toy’s House.