A Tale of Two Indies: Amazon Studios and A24 in the Streaming Age

ABSTRACT:This article tracks the evolution of the US indie film sector in the 2010s by examining as case studies two newly formed film companies, Amazon Studios and A24. Through historiographic and industrial analyses, I reveal how the companies simultaneously embraced new streaming technologies, thus destabilizing long-standing notions of indie film culture, and established brand identities around the culture’s traditional hallmarks, auteur filmmaking and theatrical exhibition. This examination of the separate but intersecting trajectories of A24 and Amazon Studios provides insight into a decade of indie filmmaking marked by the incredible rise in global importance of streaming services.