The first film that Astrachan produced under the Animal Kingdom banner was
Short Term 12 by writer/director
Destin Daniel Cretton. The film stars
Brie Larson,
John Gallagher Jr.,
Kaitlyn Dever,
Rami Malek and
Lakeith Stanfield – and premiered at SXSW in 2013, where it was awarded the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature. The film subsequently won awards at festivals from Little Rock to Los Angeles to Locarno – where the film had its international premiere. With Animal Kingdom, Astrachan has also produced
Jim Jarmusch’s
Paterson (Cannes Official Selection, 2016),
Adam Leon’s
Tramps (Toronto International Film Festival, 2016),
Joachim Trier’s English-language feature debut,
Louder Than Bombs (Cannes Official Selection 2015), and
Justin Tipping’s debut feature,
Kicks. He executive produced
David Robert Mitchell’s
It Follows (Critics’ Week, Cannes 2014); and
Trespass Against Us, starring
Michael Fassbender and
Brendan Gleeson, written by Alastair Siddons and directed by
Adam Smith. Prior to founding Animal Kingdom, Astrachan was a producer for the American film director,
Robert Altman for the better part of a decade. He produced Altman's last film,
A Prairie Home Companion (2006), written by
Garrison Keillor and starring
Meryl Streep,
Lily Tomlin,
John C. Reilly,
Woody Harrelson and
Kevin Kline. He also produced
The Company, Altman's narrative feature set in the world of dance, starring
Neve Campbell,
James Franco,
Malcolm McDowell and the company members of the
Joffrey Ballet of Chicago. Astrachan co-produced the film
Gosford Park starring, among others,
Maggie Smith,
Clive Owen,
Kelly Macdonald,
Kristin Scott Thomas,
Jeremy Northam,
Emily Watson and
Bob Balaban. For
Gosford Park, Altman received the Golden Globe and New York Film Critics Circle Award as Best Director. ==Personal life==