3. Festival find
With no money to market the thing, Peli did what seemed natural, and submitted the film - finally finished in mid-2007 - to the festival circuit.
Its first airing was at Screamfest LA in October that year, where the first inklings of what would become a tidal wave were clear.
Audiences reacted exactly as Peli hoped - terrified, clutching at each other for support and excitedly jabbering about their experiences as they left the cinema.
Among one of the earlier screening crowds was an assistant for the Creative Arts Agency. Realising it might have something special on its hands, the agency snapped up Peli and started sending DVDs of the film in its early form around Hollywood hoping to snag a a deal to distribute it and to drum up some work for Peli as a director.
The response? Crickets. A lonely dog howling as a tumbleweed rolls across a barren prairie. A single bell tolling mournfully - pick your own metaphor for the silence that greeted Paranormal Activity from within the community.
But then something changed. Producer Jason Blum, a former Miramax man with credits on the likes of The Others and The Reader, got his hands on a copy and liked the film enough to support it.
With his producing partner, Steven Schneider, Blum contacted Peli and offered to help get it a little more exposure. Together, the pair edited the film down a little, streamlining the story and amping up the dread.
The plan was to get the movie into Sundance, but the festival folk passed on it. All was not lost, however- the fest's punkier little brother, Slamdance, was only to happy to get the micro-budget horror on to its screening slate.
Still no one decided to buy the thing for distribution. And then Activity's seemingly boundless reservoir of luck welled up again, when a production executive at DreamWorks became a champion for the film.
The next step was convincing production chief Adam Goodman chief to see it. "It's what you don't see that scares you," Was Goodman's reaction. "What's really scary in the movie is a door closing half an inch." The positive buzz surged up the chain of command until one very important part of the DreamWorks team got a look.
His name? Steven Spielberg…
Next: Spielberg's Encounter
Comments
sowasred2012
Oct 20th 2009, 12:44
This feature is all well and good but it's not helping us Brits get it any faster! I've been hearing about how much this film is scaring the s**t out of people across the pond for a few months now, and I've done my little 'demand it' thing several times - and it's still not out till next sodding month! What are we supposed to watch at Halloween? The Fourth Kind? f**k that (although Milla Jovovich is in it, and she *is* hot so... but then again, she's in all three Resident Evil movies so her presence maybe doesn't make a film watchable). Actually, anyone know if any cinemas are planning to do some kind of Halloween night, featuring this?
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graverobber666
Oct 20th 2009, 13:36
Don't believe the hype, saw it last night. Creepy? Absolutely. Terrifying and THE SCARIOEST FILM EVER? Absolutely not.
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Comex
Oct 20th 2009, 16:49
ROTFL! The funniest part of this interview is: "From my research, I learned the more violent entities are demonic. We wanted to be as truthful as we could be." I could not have kept a straight face if I said this in an interview.
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chuffster
Oct 23rd 2009, 11:30
They say you won't sleep after watching it....they were right,I had so much sleep during this over hyped bore fest,I didn't need any at bedtime! Only scary to children under 3 and anyone with a seriously over active imagination...
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chuffster
Oct 23rd 2009, 11:31
They say you won't sleep after watching it....they were right,I had so much sleep during this over hyped bore fest,I didn't need any at bedtime! Only scary to children under 3 and anyone with a seriously over active imagination...
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JimmyJump
Oct 23rd 2009, 14:50
We should all remind ourselves that, luckily, there's different points of view, i.e. different points of experiencing something. I saw the movie, and although it didn't 'scare' me, I found myself at the edge of my seat at times. Because the movie is well done and grabs (and keeps) your attention. The intro is rather lengthy, but once the 'action' gets underway, the flick is thoroughly enjoyable. And that's the most important thing, no? JJ
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