What I’m Hearing: A24’s $2.5B Deal

Welcome back to What I’m Hearing...

Some big personal news today: Puck has teamed with The Ringer, the Spotify studio founded by Bill Simmons, to launch a new podcast called The Town. It expands on What I’m Hearing, with me and a rotating stable of experts discussing the biggest issues and most talked-about stories in Hollywood. The show debuts on Monday and we’ll be dropping two to four episodes per week, depending on the pace of news.

The Town is available on all podcast platforms, sign up here if you’re on Spotify, here if you’re an Apple person, or go to wherever you get your podcasts.

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Thursday Thoughts…

The next week will be key to Bob Chapek’s future as C.E.O. of Disney. His Florida “Don’t Say Gay” flip-flop, and the ongoing fallout, seem like an existential moment, and that Pixar employee letter alleging censorship of LGBTQ content was a brutal indictment of his “we make change through content” excuse for inaction. I predict he survives, but if major Disney talent starts calling for his removal, all bets are off.
Ken Auletta’s Harvey Weinstein book has a release date: July 12. This is the one I’ve been looking forward to. The New Yorker’s Auletta was in court every day during the rape trial, and Hollywood Ending: Harvey Weinstein and the Culture of Silence is said to include extensive interviews with Harvey, Bob, victims and enablers, plus emails from prison. I already pre-ordered.
WME may have canceled its Oscar party in favor of a $1 million Ukraine donation, but CAA’s event is still on, I’m told, as is UTA’s (it will be smaller). CAA will also be making a donation to International Rescue Committee in support of displaced families in Ukraine and elsewhere.
Elsewhere, events and parties seem to be back to semi-normal. MPA chief Charles Rivkin is actually launching a new event in D.C. on Tuesday to honor policymakers and talent for work on behalf of the content industry. Dubbed the “MPA Awards,” it will honor Senators Patrick Leahy and Thom Tillis, Gov. Phil Murphy and filmmaker/professor Nikyatu Jusu.

Now on to the deal of the week, and a subject of Hollywood fascination…

The Cool Kids of New York Film Are Now Worth $2.5 Billion

Inside Hollywood, A24 has always punched above its weight for an indie studio. Now the arty New York media brand is trading on its hipster ethos for $225 million in private equity cash—and, in this overheated market, why not?

MATTHEW BELLONI

What are you hearing about A24? For the past five years, pretty much since the morning after Moonlight was awarded the most famous Oscar ever—well, not awarded it, then quickly awarded it with apologies—people in Hollywood have been asking that question about the independent studio behind the movie. And nearly everyone claimed to have the inside track. Apple was in negotiations, then Amazon was interested. Maybe Comcast? A supposed $3 billion asking price spilled into the trades, sparking mockery. Just last month, a prominent lawyer whispered to me that Apple was back with A24, doing its due diligence as part of an anticipated acquisition. The guy was sure it was happening.

Part of that was just normal industry gossip. But within Hollywood, A24 has always generated more chatter—and, at times, outright jealousy and anger—than you’d think for a decade-old company that has never released a movie that grossed more than $50 million domestically...

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