Elara Pictures is an American independent film production and television production company founded by Josh Safdie, Benny Safdie, Ronald Bronstein and Sebastian Bear-McClard.
They have produced such films as Heaven Knows What (2014), Good Time (2017), Uncut Gems (2019) and Funny Pages (2022).
Uncut Gems, starring Adam Sandler, is Elara's highest-grossing film. It is A24's third-highest-grossing film domestically, behind Marty Supreme (2025) and Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022), and was the company's highest-grossing film at the time of its release.
History In 2014, Josh Safdie, Benny Safdie, Ronald Bronstein and Sebastian Bear-McClard launched the company to produce projects. The company's first film Heaven Knows What had its world premiere at the 71st Venice International Film Festival in September 2014, and was released in May 2015, by RADiUS-TWC.
In May 2020, the company entered a two-year first-look deal with HBO and A24. Under the terms, A24 will executive produce all HBO-Elara projects and partner with Elara on select projects outside of the HBO first look.
The company has additionally produced the television series Chillin Island (2021), Telemarketers (2023), Love Has Won: The Cult of Mother God (2023) for HBO, and The Curse for Showtime.
In March 2023, Sebastian Bear-McClard was accused of sexual misconduct, with allegations including reaching out to an underage girl on Instagram for Good Time, who felt pressured into performing a nude scene, which was ultimately removed from the final cut of the film, and not discussing pay; instead paying her with cigarettes. Bear-McClard additionally was alleged to be in contact with another underage girl and had an inappropriate relationship with an assistant on the set of Uncut Gems. Bear-McClard was fired by Elara in July 2022 due to the allegations.
By 2024, the Safdie brothers had amicably ended their creative partnership and had since pursued solo careers.https://www.theringer.com/2025/10/03/movies/josh-benny-safdie-brothers-the-smashing-machine-marty-supreme-the-rock-timothee-chalamet As a result of the their split, Josh and Benny had formed their own companies. Josh founded Central Pictures with frequent collaborator Ronald Bronstein, where it produced If I Had Legs I'd Kick You and Marty Supreme, the latter serving as Josh’s first film as solo director since The Pleasure of Being Robbed (2008). Benny formed Out of The Count Productions, where it produced The Smashing Machine, which serves as Benny’s solo directing debut. As of 2026, the status of Elara Pictures remains unknown.https://variety.com/2024/film/news/skinamarink-kyle-edward-ball-a24-horror-movie-the-land-of-nod-1236192427/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/dwayne-johnson-mark-kerr-a24-benny-safdie-1235752777/
Filmography Release DateGenre Title Distribution or Network May 29, 2015 Feature film Heaven Knows What distributed by RADiUS-TWC August 11, 2017 Good Time distributed by A24 December 13, 2019 Uncut Gems distributed by A24 December 10, 2021Reality seriesChillin IslandHBO August 26, 2022 Feature film Funny Pages distributed by A24 August 13, 2023 Documentary series Telemarketers HBO August 31, 2023 Documentary film Thank You Very Much November 10, 2023 TV series The Curse Showtime November 13, 2023Documentary seriesLove Has Won: The Cult of Mother GodHBO June 2, 2024Ren Faire May 23, 2025 Pee-Wee as Himself
References
External links