"Everything Everywhere All at Once" Jonathan Wang Producer Couldn't have made it anywhere other than A24 [Director's Interview Vol.309]

The sensation that ``Everything Everywhere All at Once'' created was incredible: it became the highest-grossing A24 film, a huge hit that grossed over $100 million worldwide, and even won an Academy Award. Daniels' ability to create such a fantastical story goes without saying, but the ability of producer Jonathan Wang to invest in this project and bring it to fruition is in large part due to his skill. Jonathan Wang, who has previously produced Daniels' films, accomplished the feat of winning an Oscar less than 10 years after entering the film industry. How did Jonathan Wang create this work? And how exactly did Daniels, a creative genius, turn his talents into a business? I spoke to him.

Index

• Unexpected blockbuster hit and Oscar win
• In order to realize Daniels' plan
• It did not work for anything other than A24.
• It's all about "making quality movies"

Unexpected blockbuster hit and Oscar win

Q: You started your film production career with music videos (hereinafter referred to as MVs), then shifted your focus to feature film production and won an Oscar less than 10 years later. Did you expect this sense of speed from the beginning?

Wang: No, no one could have imagined that it would win the Best Picture Oscar so quickly (lol). Asians have won Best Picture in the past, but this is the first time an Asian American has won the Oscar. I never could have predicted that it would be me. I believe this is the result of repeated efforts over the 12 years since my lucky encounter with Daniels.

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” © 2022 A24 Distribution, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Q: Were A24's biggest hits ever and an Oscar winner anticipated from the planning stage?

Wang: I had a special feeling from the beginning that it would definitely be a great work. However, I had no idea how things would develop after that. When I got the call saying, ``We're going to do an Oscar campaign!'', I was like, ``You're lying! What kind of stupid thing are you talking about?'' (laughs) Winning an Academy Award isn't the only sign of success, but there was a sense of mainstream acceptance. I thought fans of indie films and people of my generation would like it, but I couldn't imagine it reaching any wider audience than that. But it was the premiere at SXSW that made me feel that way. The audience responded in the emotional way that we had hoped for, and it felt cathartic. It wasn't just the crazy parts that were interesting, it resonated with the parent-child relationship. From that moment on, I knew this was going to be a hit.

In order to realize Daniels' plan