Let’s give the guy in the following video points for trying. And for making us crack up on multiple occasions. Using the lyrics he has listened to in endless Taylor Swift videos , filmmaker Tommy Wooldridge tries out various pick-up lines, from telling random women they’re the teardrops on his guitar… to asking if they remember when the two of them were sitting there by the water. He even manages to incorporate ” I Knew You Were Trouble ,” which only just hit iTunes! Watch the hilarity and awkwardness ensue now: Taylor Swift Lyrics: Do They Work?
Dree Hemingway and Besedka Johnson star in this SXSW Film Festival special jury prize winner set to hit theaters November 9th. Hemingway (great-granddaughter of Ernest and daughter of Mariel) plays a young aspiring actress who befriends an elderly widow set against the backdrop of Southern California’s San Fernando Valley. The trailer opens with a Yard Sale where Hemingway buys a thermos. She takes the purchase home and discovers a wad of cash inside… Now what does she do? The trailer hints at strains with similarly aged friends as Jane’s (Hemingway) bond with her elderly friend grows. Official log line below : Starlet explores the unlikely friendship between 21 year-old aspiring actress Jane (Dree Hemingway) and elderly widow Sadie (Besedka Johnson) after their worlds collide in California’s San Fernando Valley. Jane spends her time getting high with her dysfunctional roommates and taking care of her chihuahua Starlet, while Sadie passes her days alone, tending to her garden. After a confrontation at a yard sale, Jane finds something unexpected in a relic from Sadie’s past. Her curiosity piqued, she tries to befriend the caustic older woman. Secrets emerge as their relationship grows, revealing that nothing is ever as it seems. Director Sean Baker continues in the naturalistic style of his previous films, the Spirit Award nominated Prince of Broadway and Take Out , capturing the rhythms of everyday life with a rare authenticity. Featuring exceptional debut performances by Dree Hemingway (great granddaughter of Ernest and daughter of Mariel) and 85 year-old Besedka Johnson, who received a Special Jury Recognition at SXSW, Starlet is at once provocative, haunting, unpredictable, and surprisingly sweet. Starring: Dree Hemingway, Besedka Johnson, Stella Maeve. James Ransone, Karren Karagulian Read more on Starlet newcomer Dree Hemingway in Movieline’s SXSW interview. Follow Brian Brooks on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Despite their enormous successes, the Wachowskis are known for being among the more press-shy filmmakers in Hollywood. But for their latest opus, the sprawling, soul-stirring Cloud Atlas (co-directed with Tom Tykwer), the duo have blazed a trail talking up their ambitious passion project — partly, as Lana Wachowski explains, because of the film’s deeply personal connection to her own recent transformation. The film, adapted from David Mitchell’s novel, tells six interconnected nested stories across the span of hundreds of years, following the same souls evolving through multiple lifetimes. The cast, including Tom Hanks , Halle Berry , Jim Sturgess , Jim Broadbent, Ben Whishaw , James D’Arcy, Hugh Grant, Hugo Weaving, and Doona Bae, play multiple parts often under make-up and prosthetics in the gender- and race-bending ensemble. [ GALLERY: First images from sci-fi opus Cloud Atlas ] Lana Wachowski, a bubbly and luminous presence on the Cloud Atlas press tour with her bright pink dreads and beaming smile, spoke of the privacy she and brother Andy fought for years to protect — and why it was important to trade that veil now, with the world watching. “Anonymity enables you to inhabit civic space, and that way of being in the world is very important to us,” said Lana over the weekend in Beverly Hills. “We like the access that anonymity gives you to the world. As soon as you give it up, you give up a part of your human experience, your humanity.” The decision to peel back the curtain for the first time in 13 years was a tough one, but co-director Tykwer’s experience with press was encouraging and Lana’s opportunity to raise awareness for and give voice to the LGBT experience compelled the Wachowskis to submit to interviews and appearances for their $100 million indie film (which incredibly enough given their past work on the game-changing Matrix series, is their most ambitious and challenging project to date). “When I was a kid one of the reasons that I was depressed about my life and my situation was that there weren’t people like me — there weren’t transgendered people in Hollywood,” Lana offered. “I didn’t even know a writer that was transgendered. There was this feeling that because I was the way I was I would not be able to do something that I imagined that I wanted to do. It would be closed to me, it would be denied me just because of who I was.” “By being more public I, perhaps, am fulfilling a role in my own life in terms of a sort of Cloud Atlas ian consequence, a past life and future life,” she continued. “In a way, I am a future life for that younger part of me looking for someone like me, a role model like me. And if I can suggest to younger people or other LGBT people that it is possible to be in Hollywood and be trangender or is possible to be a writer and be transgender and that gives them hope or lets them shed fear about being who they are, then it’s worth it to sit down with [journalists].” Added Andy: “It’s worth it for me to give up my anonymity as well for that young Lana out there as well. Solidarity to all of our LGBT brothers and sisters out there.” Cloud Atlas hits theaters October 26. Read more on the film here . Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Victoria Jackson has created yet another Internet stir. The former Saturday Night Live cast members – who has made headlines in the past for accusing Glee of making viewers gay and for singing that Barack Obama is a Communist – appeared this morning on Howard Stern’s radio show. Victoria Jackson: What is Gay Marriage?!? Asked for her take on gay marriage, Jackson said: “You have to take it up with God. God made the rules. He made a man and woman’s bodies fit together, he made the Ten Commandments. I believe the Bible is God’s word and I base all my world view on the Bible… “… I don’t think there’s such a thing as gay marriage. The definition of marriage is man and woman.” A couple weeks ago, Jackson also took to her personal YouTube channel and spoke with a woman conceived from a rape. She opened the video by saying: “If I was raped, I would have the baby and think of it as God making a blessing out of something bad.” Watch that exchange here: Victoria Jackson Talks Abortion, Rape
Here is Emmanuelle Chriqui wearing a sexy leather dress at the The Mentalist 100 Episode Celebration. You know what would really take that outfit to the next level? A whip, handcuffs and me on my hands and knees saying “Thank you Mistress Emmanuelle, I’ve been a really bad boy”.
In a sea of lumpy Spandex, half-assed Harry Potter costumes and face paint, Bruce Campbell set quite a sartorial standard at New York Comic-Con on Saturday. The square-jawed actor — who’s currently seen in the USA Network cable TV series Burn Notice but built a hardcore following by playing the character of Ash in Sam Raimi’s groundbreaking 1980s The Evil Dead comic-horror trilogy — wore a beacon-like red tuxedo jacket and complementary black-and-red patent leather shoes. The colorfully candid Campbell was on hand at the Javits Center to draw attention to the remake of Evil Dead that he, Raimi and Rob Tapert are producing. (The three were producers of the original films as well.) Set for an April 12, 2013 release by Columbia Pictures’ Screen Gems division, Evil Dead will mark the feature debut of Uruguayan commercial producer Fede Alvarez and feature young cast that includes Jane Levy ( Suburgatory ) and Jessica Lucas ( Cloverfield). The screenwriters include Raimi and hyper-stylist Diablo Cody ( Juno ). Like the original, the remake is about a group of young friends in a remote cabin who discover The Book of the Dead and, one by one, succumb to its evil. But, as Campbell tells Movieline, the comparisons end there. Read on to find out how the movies will differ, what Campbell really thinks of basketball shorts, actress Jane Levy’s performance, CAA agents and George Lucas’ decision to tweak his Star Wars movies. And if you haven’t seen Panic Attack!, the short film that got Alvaraez the Evil Dead job, it’s posted below. Movieline: Those shoes are something else. Do you own them or did you rent them? Campbell : These are mine, baby. They’re beautiful. It’s Comic-Con. C’mon, let’s step it up! I’m trying to encourage other people who go to Comic-Con: Put on a nice shirt –and pants, too. While you’re at it, could you press your fucking t-shirt? And what you think about the basketball shorts? Should we just get rid of those? I’m trying to class this joint up a little bit. How will Fede Alvarez’s Evil Dead compare to the original? Higher quality production, better actors, better special effects and a different telling of a similar story. You’ve still got your five kids and a nasty book in an isolated cabin. Is there an Ash? Nope. There are no similar characters whatsoever. And we wanted that. That was intentional. We didn’t want anything compared to anything. We didn’t want to put any burden on any actor to act like Ash or to imitate him. I hear you turned down a cameo in the movie. Nobody said “yes” or “no” to anything, so that’s false. We discussed it as filmmakers: Would it be worth it? Should we do it? But the tone of the movie is dead serious. It’s not jokey enough. This not a funny movie. If there’s laughter, it’s nervous laughter. There will not be ha-ha laughter. None. It’s a full-on old-school horror movie with make-up effects. Alvarez got this gig because of his short film Panic Attack! That’s what got us started. Fede is a Uruguayan filmmaker. He made commercials, Pepsi commercials. He does Panic Attack! in his spare time. He puts it out there on a lark. It went viral. Three weeks later, he was literally in Spielberg’s office. He met everybody. His agents are CAA now. I can’t get those assholes on the phone. How did he get on Sam Raimi’s radar? Sam was one of his meetings. They liked each other. Sam wanted to develop Panic Attack! into a feature, but that got bogged down. Fede was a big fan of Evil Dead , and so he pitched a story that we all liked. The three of us — myself, Sam Raimi and Rod Tapert — decided to get back involved in this and support this guy. He’s a very smart, talented guy. I mean, he really is too smart for his own good. [A man in basketball shorts walking through the conference room distracts Campbell.] See? Basketball shorts. Would it kill him to put on a pair of pants? I hate how right I am. I’m glad I wore long pants. You were talking about how the Evil Dead remake came to be. So that’s how it was born. It could have gone either way, you know. The guy had never made a feature film before. He’s telling a story longer than a 60-second Pepsi commercial. That’s a big challenge, and he succeeded on many levels. His actors are good and solid and give great balls-to-the-wall performances when they have to. Fede was also very mature about the whole thing. He’s very respectful of the genre. He’s not making fun of it. He’s not punking it — he’s just telling his version of it. And he didn’t over-shoot it. He didn’t over-edit it. It’s such a well-edited movie, and that’s pretty rare. Most movies — the editing sucks. Like, they’ll never hang on a full sentence. They’ll come in halfway through. They’ll cut away after ten seconds. There’s a lot of shitty work out there. Where did you shoot the movie? We shot it in Auckland, New Zealand because we did all the Hercules and Xena shows down there. The Kiwis are top-notch workers; great crew members. So, we just gave Fede all the support that we could possibly give him — a better budget, qualified crew members, good actors. We liked his script and we left him alone. You don’t need to sit over a guy’s shoulder. You turning up on the set would probably be pretty intimidating. I sat in on the auditions, and some of the actors that came in were like, Nyaaaaaa! I felt bad because the idea was not to freak them out. It was to let them know that we’re into it and we’re taking it seriously. And I just think we pulled the right actors. Jane Levy — I’m going to crown her the new Ash myself. She’s got it. She’s got it. You never know, either. We thought she was good in the room, but you get on a film set and what are they like? Are they tough? Are they pussies? Are they assholes? Are they crazy? What were you? Tough. And Jane was a tough little shit, too. Really tough. I asked her in the room: “How are you with extensive special effects for an extensive period of time. Have you ever done that?” No. “Well, do you know what that’s going to be like?” What’s it like? It’s the fucking worst experience you can think of. It’s terrible for your skin. You’re an hour and a half, two hours putting it on. You shoot a 14-hour day, and it’s a hour to take it off. Then you start the whole damn thing over the next day. This goes on for 10 weeks. I wanted to hang myself after those movies. And we pushed every actor to the limit. Jane, we pushed her over the edge. So, she’s the new Ash. You said it, not me. You said you were going to crown her the new Ash. If they want me to crown her, I’ll crown her — because I support her. I’m really impressed with what she did. Could this be a trilogy in the way that the original Evil Dead movies were? Easy, but you have to talk to Fede about that because I don’t know if he would do it. He’s got lots of crazy ideas. I want to go to double bills. The original Evil Dead paired with the remake. It would be a great midnight double bill. Alamo Draft House, Austin, Texas. Lines around the block — I’m telling you. I’ll go introduce it myself. If you could fix anything about the original Evil Dead movies, what would you do? I wouldn’t because that’s pussy filmmaking, man. It is. You see the garden hoses shooting shit? Yep, that’s right! We did the best we could, pal. In 1979, we got the movie in the can for $85,000. You’re going to get what you get. We’re not George Lucas going back to fix our effects. Sorry man, you blew it. You got to get over it. You can’t obsess like that. That’s cheating. What’s next for you? I’m finishing Burn Notice . I’ve been six years on that spy show for USA. It’s been a fun show. That’s my day job, and it eats up seven months out of my life. So the other five months I don’t feel like doing anything. The last break I just worked on developing a bunch of new scripts because you can’t do stuff without scripts. I’ve got three new ideas that I got written up last year. I like all kinds of genres. I want to do a few more little low-budget movies. I love low-budget movies. Are there any recent horror movies that you like right now? I don’t watch movies — it’s the weirdest thing — because I feel like I’m going to work. I see actors looking at their marks. I see them cheating to the camera. I see out -of-focus shit. I see a lousy shot. Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
Will Mila Kunis star in the sexy Fifty Shades of Grey movie trilogy? That’s the current buzz going around. The Black Swan actress and Esquire Sexiest Woman Alive is allegedly the frontrunner to play Anastasia Steele. Emphasis on allegedly. The Kunis rumor looks to be just that. Not that she wouldn’t be deserving, necessarily. The 26-year-old’s girl-next-door charm (and beauty) could make her a great fit as Ana, Christian Grey’s lover. Harry Potter ‘s Emma Watson, Vampire Diaries ‘ Nina Dobrev, Twilight ‘s Kristen Stewart and Gilmore Girls’ Alexis Bledel have also been talked about as potential Anas. Ryan Gosling, Ian Somerhalder and Matt Bomer are among some of the more popular fan choices to play mysterious billionaire businessman Christian. No one has been cast in either role. One addition to the 50 Shades team that has been confirmed is Kelly Marcel , who will pen the screen adaptation. Michael De Luca and Dana Brunetti are on board to produce. Fantasy casting the two leads in the movie version of the S&M-filled, Twilight fan fiction-inspired saga has become a favorite online pastime in recent months. Kunis’ possible casting is sure to inspire strong opinions. What do you think: Would Mila make a good Ana? Yes, she’d be so perfect! No, someone else. View Poll »
Jason Blum had produced a dozen projects before he hit upon 2007’s sleeper phenomenon Paranormal Activity , a micro-indie horror pic with no stars that in turn became the model for Blumhouse Productions, his own genre-leaning multimedia label. Fast forward just five years and Paranormal Activity 4 is set to continue the series’ low-budget thrills (with webcam technology!) next week, while the Blum-produced Sinister , about a writer (Ethan Hawke) contending with a house haunted by insidious forces, opens today. (For a third new venture, The Blumhouse of Horrors, Blum & Co. take over a historic theater in downtown Los Angeles. More info here .) Movieline caught up with the man behind many of the most profitable — and cost-effective — horror hits in recent memory for a peek behind the curtain: What’s the Blum secret to success? What was it that first interested you in Sinister , these filmmakers, and this story – and given your past horror projects, how do you think it fits into your portfolio? I’m super happy with the movie. I think it works because very simply [writer C. Robert] Cargill and [director Scott Derrickson] did a terrific job on it. They first pitched it to me a year and a half ago and the movie they first described to me in my office and the movie you’ll see are very close, they’re virtually the same thing. All I did was give these guys the creative freedom to make what they wanted to make. Your name has been so closely associated with the Paranormal Activity franchise and its success – how do you feel about being known for these particular films? I love genre movies. I’ve made a handful of other ones in addition to the Paranormal movies, and my favorite thing about what Paranormal allowed our company to do is that the company is based on this idea of betting on yourself. That’s what Oren Peli did on Paranormal Activity , that’s what James Wan did on Insidious , and that’s what Scott and Cargill did on Sinister . It’s given birth to all these movies and I’m really pleased that our company is associated with them. I’m really interested in genre, but I’m also doing TV shows and a haunted house in L.A. Having Paranormal and it allowing my company to expand in all things genre, I feel really lucky. Has the Paranormal franchise gotten a bad rap, a reputation it doesn’t deserve? It’s been so successful and the more these sequels charge on the more complaints you hear about found footage, or sequel fever, and all that. I’m sort of proud of the way the franchise has evolved. We’ve taken directors with very specific visions – Kip Williams was a real art house director and Henry and Rel who did 3 and 4 did Catfish . All the directors of the sequels of Paranormal , none of them had ever done genre movies before. And not that we would do that or not do that specifically going forward, but I feel that’s kept it fresh. The way each sequel has built on what’s come before and evolved the mythology has been fresh, but how much can you keep innovating? How much more difficult does it then become to find a new angle for the next one? The cool thing about Paranormal is now we have a real built-in mythology, of the demon and the family that the demon has upset, so it allows for a lot of places to go. And obviously technology changes so fast, so found footage can shift. Paranormal Activity 4 uses Skype webchat technology, which is new to movies – but it was also used recently in V/H/S . I did see that in V/H/S . It’s an interesting coincidence, that both of these films picked up on that same emerging technology at the same time. Sure. And I think I’ve seen it in some other movies too. I think because Skype is becoming so much more prevalent and you’re looking at someone else on a screen it’s going to work its way into movies and TV shows in all different ways, which I think is really cool. Where do you go from there? In this franchise alone you’ve gone through film, video, home movies, now Skype – are cell phone cameras and iPads and the rearview camera on my Prius next? I hope so! I think surveillance, and cameras are so prevalent everywhere that it allows for different possibilities for found footage. I wish I could see the future but I can’t, but I do think that cameras are everywhere now, and they’re so inexpensive. That’s a great thing. I read an interview where someone said “It’s a shame that anyone can make a movie now” and I feel the exact opposite. It’s much less cost-prohibitive… and to answer your question, that will allow Paranormal hopefully to grow and be different each time out. You came across Paranormal Activity early on, and that was a case in which the film was almost curated and then brought into the mainstream consciousness. The idea of discovering a micro-budget independent film and having that platform to bring it to audiences, is that a formula that’s easy to replicate — and is that even your plan at this stage? A hundred percent. I saw Paranormal as a rough cut, but I felt my job on Paranormal and my job on Sinister weren’t wildly different. I’m proud of Sinister because Scott and Cargill did a great job on the movie and I set up a framework for them to make what they wanted to make. They gave me the idea and I figured out how to get it out into the world. Oren did the same thing. I don’t have any aspirations to be a writer or director; I really like identifying a story or a pitch, whether it’s a script or a rough cut of a movie that resonates with me, and trying to get it out into the world. That’s what our company does and that’s what, personally, I’m passionate about. That’s kind of our mission. This is a big question, but: What is the state of horror cinema now, in your eyes? The realm of independent horror and studio-released mainstream horror are divided, with independent original stories balancing against studio-released sequels and remakes. Where do you feel you stand in the grand scheme of it all? I feel the state of horror cinema is the same as it’s been for the last ten or 20 years. When there’s a great horror movie, people are like, “Horror’s back!” And when there’s a series of not so good ones, “Horror’s dead.” I think it’s all about the quality. When there are one or two good horror movies in a row, people come out interested again. I think our company’s specific role is that we straddle both of those worlds. We make all of our movies independently – with the exception of the sequels of Paranormal – but Sinister , Insidious , and the first Paranormal Activity were made completely outside of the studio system but then distribution is through the studio system. Paranormal Activity was the model for what my company does, from that experience. For me, and I can’t speak to other people, it’s the best of both worlds. We get to make these movies with the director’s vision and a singular vision, and to me that’s the definition of an independently made film – it’s one person’s vision. The movies that our company is involved with have the director’s vision, and then we get the great benefit of studio distribution – which no one has figured out a way to compete with. Maybe in five years someone will but at the moment it’s virtually impossible to compete with the studios in terms of distribution. You’ve used the word “independent” to describe your films, but when I think of indie horror I think of the You’re Next and V/H/S filmmakers. They seem to be in a separate camp within the world of indie horror, while you tend to bring in directors from outside the genre community and work with studios. Do you see that as a distinct separation? From a consumer’s point of view I don’t think there’s a separation. You’re Next is going to come out wide from Lionsgate. I loved the movie, I think it’s a terrific movie. I think it’s a very commercial movie. It’s going to be released by a studio and was made independently, so I don’t think from a consumer’s perspective it’s radically different from the movies we’re doing. You have identified something; we tend to work with directors who have a few movies under their belt. You’re opening a haunted house attraction in L.A. – The Blumhouse of Horrors. Where did that concept come from? It’s a great extension of what we’re doing in movies and TV – almost all of our movies shoot in L.A. and we work with the same crews, so we approached the haunted house as if it was a movie production. We got a big crew of people who’ve been prepping for about as long as it takes to prep a movie and we took over a building in downtown L.A. It’s going to be a really cool live experience that’s scary, and hopefully great. That sounds like a clever extension of horror culture, taking it off the screen. But horror cinema has been going increasingly meta in recent years – look at Cabin in the Woods , for example – and it already feels like the serpent is eating its tail. What happens after horror comes all the way full circle ? Boy, I wish I had the answer to that. I just love that people are into it and I’m just really passionate about exploring all different media to scare people, whether it’s a haunted house or a reality show or a scripted show or a movie, it’s a really fun, creative place to be playing in. But what eventually happens… your guess is as good as mine. Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Jason Blum had produced a dozen projects before he hit upon 2007’s sleeper phenomenon Paranormal Activity , a micro-indie horror pic with no stars that in turn became the model for Blumhouse Productions, his own genre-leaning multimedia label. Fast forward just five years and Paranormal Activity 4 is set to continue the series’ low-budget thrills (with webcam technology!) next week, while the Blum-produced Sinister , about a writer (Ethan Hawke) contending with a house haunted by insidious forces, opens today. (For a third new venture, The Blumhouse of Horrors, Blum & Co. take over a historic theater in downtown Los Angeles. More info here .) Movieline caught up with the man behind many of the most profitable — and cost-effective — horror hits in recent memory for a peek behind the curtain: What’s the Blum secret to success? What was it that first interested you in Sinister , these filmmakers, and this story – and given your past horror projects, how do you think it fits into your portfolio? I’m super happy with the movie. I think it works because very simply [writer C. Robert] Cargill and [director Scott Derrickson] did a terrific job on it. They first pitched it to me a year and a half ago and the movie they first described to me in my office and the movie you’ll see are very close, they’re virtually the same thing. All I did was give these guys the creative freedom to make what they wanted to make. Your name has been so closely associated with the Paranormal Activity franchise and its success – how do you feel about being known for these particular films? I love genre movies. I’ve made a handful of other ones in addition to the Paranormal movies, and my favorite thing about what Paranormal allowed our company to do is that the company is based on this idea of betting on yourself. That’s what Oren Peli did on Paranormal Activity , that’s what James Wan did on Insidious , and that’s what Scott and Cargill did on Sinister . It’s given birth to all these movies and I’m really pleased that our company is associated with them. I’m really interested in genre, but I’m also doing TV shows and a haunted house in L.A. Having Paranormal and it allowing my company to expand in all things genre, I feel really lucky. Has the Paranormal franchise gotten a bad rap, a reputation it doesn’t deserve? It’s been so successful and the more these sequels charge on the more complaints you hear about found footage, or sequel fever, and all that. I’m sort of proud of the way the franchise has evolved. We’ve taken directors with very specific visions – Kip Williams was a real art house director and Henry and Rel who did 3 and 4 did Catfish . All the directors of the sequels of Paranormal , none of them had ever done genre movies before. And not that we would do that or not do that specifically going forward, but I feel that’s kept it fresh. The way each sequel has built on what’s come before and evolved the mythology has been fresh, but how much can you keep innovating? How much more difficult does it then become to find a new angle for the next one? The cool thing about Paranormal is now we have a real built-in mythology, of the demon and the family that the demon has upset, so it allows for a lot of places to go. And obviously technology changes so fast, so found footage can shift. Paranormal Activity 4 uses Skype webchat technology, which is new to movies – but it was also used recently in V/H/S . I did see that in V/H/S . It’s an interesting coincidence, that both of these films picked up on that same emerging technology at the same time. Sure. And I think I’ve seen it in some other movies too. I think because Skype is becoming so much more prevalent and you’re looking at someone else on a screen it’s going to work its way into movies and TV shows in all different ways, which I think is really cool. Where do you go from there? In this franchise alone you’ve gone through film, video, home movies, now Skype – are cell phone cameras and iPads and the rearview camera on my Prius next? I hope so! I think surveillance, and cameras are so prevalent everywhere that it allows for different possibilities for found footage. I wish I could see the future but I can’t, but I do think that cameras are everywhere now, and they’re so inexpensive. That’s a great thing. I read an interview where someone said “It’s a shame that anyone can make a movie now” and I feel the exact opposite. It’s much less cost-prohibitive… and to answer your question, that will allow Paranormal hopefully to grow and be different each time out. You came across Paranormal Activity early on, and that was a case in which the film was almost curated and then brought into the mainstream consciousness. The idea of discovering a micro-budget independent film and having that platform to bring it to audiences, is that a formula that’s easy to replicate — and is that even your plan at this stage? A hundred percent. I saw Paranormal as a rough cut, but I felt my job on Paranormal and my job on Sinister weren’t wildly different. I’m proud of Sinister because Scott and Cargill did a great job on the movie and I set up a framework for them to make what they wanted to make. They gave me the idea and I figured out how to get it out into the world. Oren did the same thing. I don’t have any aspirations to be a writer or director; I really like identifying a story or a pitch, whether it’s a script or a rough cut of a movie that resonates with me, and trying to get it out into the world. That’s what our company does and that’s what, personally, I’m passionate about. That’s kind of our mission. This is a big question, but: What is the state of horror cinema now, in your eyes? The realm of independent horror and studio-released mainstream horror are divided, with independent original stories balancing against studio-released sequels and remakes. Where do you feel you stand in the grand scheme of it all? I feel the state of horror cinema is the same as it’s been for the last ten or 20 years. When there’s a great horror movie, people are like, “Horror’s back!” And when there’s a series of not so good ones, “Horror’s dead.” I think it’s all about the quality. When there are one or two good horror movies in a row, people come out interested again. I think our company’s specific role is that we straddle both of those worlds. We make all of our movies independently – with the exception of the sequels of Paranormal – but Sinister , Insidious , and the first Paranormal Activity were made completely outside of the studio system but then distribution is through the studio system. Paranormal Activity was the model for what my company does, from that experience. For me, and I can’t speak to other people, it’s the best of both worlds. We get to make these movies with the director’s vision and a singular vision, and to me that’s the definition of an independently made film – it’s one person’s vision. The movies that our company is involved with have the director’s vision, and then we get the great benefit of studio distribution – which no one has figured out a way to compete with. Maybe in five years someone will but at the moment it’s virtually impossible to compete with the studios in terms of distribution. You’ve used the word “independent” to describe your films, but when I think of indie horror I think of the You’re Next and V/H/S filmmakers. They seem to be in a separate camp within the world of indie horror, while you tend to bring in directors from outside the genre community and work with studios. Do you see that as a distinct separation? From a consumer’s point of view I don’t think there’s a separation. You’re Next is going to come out wide from Lionsgate. I loved the movie, I think it’s a terrific movie. I think it’s a very commercial movie. It’s going to be released by a studio and was made independently, so I don’t think from a consumer’s perspective it’s radically different from the movies we’re doing. You have identified something; we tend to work with directors who have a few movies under their belt. You’re opening a haunted house attraction in L.A. – The Blumhouse of Horrors. Where did that concept come from? It’s a great extension of what we’re doing in movies and TV – almost all of our movies shoot in L.A. and we work with the same crews, so we approached the haunted house as if it was a movie production. We got a big crew of people who’ve been prepping for about as long as it takes to prep a movie and we took over a building in downtown L.A. It’s going to be a really cool live experience that’s scary, and hopefully great. That sounds like a clever extension of horror culture, taking it off the screen. But horror cinema has been going increasingly meta in recent years – look at Cabin in the Woods , for example – and it already feels like the serpent is eating its tail. What happens after horror comes all the way full circle ? Boy, I wish I had the answer to that. I just love that people are into it and I’m just really passionate about exploring all different media to scare people, whether it’s a haunted house or a reality show or a scripted show or a movie, it’s a really fun, creative place to be playing in. But what eventually happens… your guess is as good as mine. Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
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