Nick Offerman, Nicole Kidman, and Elle Fanning at the premiere of A24's 'Margo's Got Money Troubles' (Stephanie Augello/Getty Images)
Three A24 shows landed within days of each other this month: 'Euphoria', 'Beef', and the new David E. Kelley drama 'Margo's Got Money Troubles' (Kelley being the veteran TV creator behind 'Big Little Lies' and 'Ally McBeal'). The indie studio has become the most disruptive buyer in the TV business, winning bidding wars with speed and terms that have rivals scrambling.
How they got here: A24 launched its TV arm back in 2015, best known at the time for distributing indie films like 'Spring Breakers' and 'Ex Machina.' The early slate leaned small, with comedies like 'The Carmichael Show.' The breakthroughs came in 2019 with HBO's 'Euphoria' and 2023 with Netflix's 'Beef' (both Emmy winners). In 2024, a cash infusion from Josh Kushner's Thrive Capital (at a $3.5B valuation) signaled the company was done being just an art-house movie darling.
A few things industry insiders are noticing:
- Legacy studio deals can take 8 months to over a year to close, and many projects sit in development for years after that. A24 routinely compresses both timelines. 'Margo' is a case in point: the rights landed at A24 in October 2023, the show set up at Apple TV by February 2024, and it's streaming now. At a legacy studio, it would probably still be in development.
- Creators are being offered up to 50% backend, well above the ~35% long considered standard.
- Rival buyers now tell their execs to prep for $1M+ if A24 is in the room.
- 'Overcompensating,'Â the A24 comedy at Amazon based on Benito Skinner's semi-autobiographical coming-out story, was considered dead internally before A24 fought to bring it back for a second season. That kind of advocacy is becoming a key part of the pitch.
Why it matters:Â A new aggressive buyer in the market is good news for creators. More competition means faster deal closes, richer backend, and fewer situations where a few giants dictate the terms. With the Paramount-WBD merger about to shrink the field further, A24's rise is a real counterweight to the legacy studios, and a headache for the ones being forced to match its pace.
What's your favorite A24 TV series? Let us know in the comments!
