Spotlight: Film Producer Jason Blum
Another in a series of occasional posts focusing on movie producers. From the LAT, a feature on film producer Jason Blum:
The gig: Jason Blum is a producer whose career took off when the low-budget horror film “Paranormal Activity,” which he played a key role bringing to the big screen, became a surprise hit in 2009 and spawned a new Hollywood franchise with annual sequels.
After spending most of his career in the independent film world, the 42-year-old has reshaped his business around the “Paranormal” model, aiming to make inexpensive movies with mass audience appeal. He produced April’s hit horror film “Insidious,” is working on more “Paranormal” sequels for Paramount Pictures and is developing projects under a newly signed deal with Universal Pictures.
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Making connections: Blum’s roommate at Vassar College, where he studied economics and film, was the writer and director Noah Baumbach. After graduating in 1991, Blum raised money for, and received his first producer credit on, Baumbach’s debut movie, “Kicking and Screaming.” A turning point was a supportive letter he solicited from actor and family friend Steve Martin, who liked the screenplay.
That letter helped Blum make a connection at independent studio Arrow Films in New York, where he landed his first industry job as a vice president of acquisitions.
Not taking “no” for an answer: After Arrow, Blum moved to Miramax Films, where he became co-president of acquisitions in 1998. A big part of his job was making sure his bosses, independent movie pioneers Bob and Harvey Weinstein, never heard the word “no.”
When a Spanish producer told the Weinstein brothers he didn’t want to sell them filmmaker Alejandro Amenabar’s horror script called “The Others,” Blum flew unannounced to his Madrid office and waited hours for a personal meeting. Impressed, the producer agreed to go to lunch and the two eventually made a deal. The movie that resulted was a big hit in 2001.
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Sharing in rewards: For his first jobs out of college, Blum didn’t want to become a waiter, as friends had done. Instead he sold real estate and cable TV subscriptions on commission. “I never wanted to get paid by the hour,” he recalls. “If I was going to do more work than another guy, I wanted to get paid more.”
He’s now applying that same mantra to movies. Based on the millions of dollars he has made off of “Paranormal,” Blum eschews significant upfront producing fees in exchange for a large share of profit if his films succeed.
He advises aspiring producers to do the same: “Don’t keep your eye on what gets you the most money; keep your eye on what gets your movie made.”
Apart from your agent and manager, a movie producer can be a writer’s best advocate. After all, if you’re both attached to a project, each of you has a strong interest in seeing it go forward and get produced. Plus they can act as a helpful intermediary between you and the studio, you and the director. Finally since Hollywood is a town built on relationships, producers tend to know just about everybody, so if you do them right on a project, you shouldn’t be surprised if they act as a conduit for you to meet with other players in the business.
For more of the LAT article, go here.