“Paramount to produce more micro-budget films”
With the astounding success of Paranormal Activity, why the hell not:
Seeking to replicate the stunning success of “Paranormal Activity,” Paramount’s launching an initiative that will spend $1 million annually to develop and produce microbudget films.
Move, unveiled Thursday, is designed to place between 10 and 20 projects in development by the end of next year, with no individual budget topping $100,000.
Disney did a variation on this years ago, giving each of their execs $150K to develop their own personal passion projects. But this is specifically targeting micro-budget movies:
Paramount Film Group prexy Adam Goodman, promoted to the slot in June, cooked up the plan in the successful wake of “Paranormal,” made for $15,000 and grossing more than $100 million domestically.
Goodman indicated the funds, which will come out of the studio’s overall production budget, will be targeted at both unknowns and established filmmakers, with the goal of increasing the studio’s ability to find new voices and ideas. In addition, the initiative’s aimed at giving Paramount a more diverse portfolio of titles at a time when Hollywood’s devoting most of its resources to megabudget pics, such as Par’s “Transformers” and “Star Trek” franchises.
“…targeted at both unknowns and established filmmakers.” Okay, people. Call up your friends to act and crank up your DV-cams!