Oct 16 2009
Why Paranormal Activity Sat Around For Two Years
Paranormal Activity, the hit new horror movie, was made in 2007. Have you ever wondered just why the movie sat around for two years? Well I did, so I researched it and wrote about it for Den of Geek. Go read it, and when you come back, we can talk about the companies that control the flow of movie prints from region to region, theater to theater.
That’s kind of important, as it ties in to the masterful way in which Paramount and DreamWorks went back to the future to distribute their little $15,000 scary movie.
I don’t think companies just control the flow of movie prints. So many people have trouble getting published, because bookstores will only buy the Steven King stuff, and tend to overlook the John Q. Public stuff. Only by word of mouth does some stuff get around, like you talking about Monster Island a few months ago. I still love how you tell people not to be cheap in that post.
I have a friend who made a movie called The Commune (http://www.thecommunemovie.com/), and I know she has worked her butt off trying to get it out there. I kind of think I will never see it in theaters though, but I really hope to, because I think it looks like a great story and I think word of mouth would make it sell. Plus, I want to support her. She is having a viewing tomorrow in L.A. and is already saying it’s the last one.
And even after reading it three times, I think your article is fantastic.
Well, odds are it’ll never get into theaters, but most movies don’t. She can definitely shop it around at buyer’s markets, but that can cost a lot of money to just get the prints out. I know Tommy Wiseau has paid through the nose to get The Room screened in LA in a theater for, like, YEARS. It’s just a question of returns. Theaters *can* be rented, even now. But are you willing to pay for it? Sounds to me like she’s at her limit of buying screenings.
For most movies, just getting it into the right hands or onto DVD is an accomplishment. Let alone selling it to a premium channel or SyFy as an original picture. Has she considered that route? Just taking it to the chain rental places and trying to get it on shelves that way?
That’s the thing. Movie theaters either pay for these printings, or have their screens paid for. That’s why you’ll see some movies be exclusive to certain theater chains. My friend manages theaters, and he can only deal with certain companies. There’s a lot of payola, and if you don’t have connections, it’s hard to get even the best product out there.
At this point, since she’s getting a lot of good blurbs, she needs to be selling the DVD directly from her site, maybe through Amazon.
I know she has shopped movie theaters to see about them playing it. I know she’s had some reviews and good feedback from reading her blog. She says Hollywood is really different right now than it was a few years ago, but she seems like she knows what she is doing so I only harass her with when am *I* going to see it in theaters. :)
I hope she plans to release to DVD. I just kind of stand on the sidelines and watch what she does.
Oh, she also was in Atalanta at the Atlanta Horror Film fest a few weeks ago, so hopefully some word of mouth there, too.