It was announced last year, after the amazing box office success of the micro-budget horror film Paranormal Activity, Paramount was setting up a micro-budget division at the studio. IndieWire is now reporting that the division is expected to be announced as early as today, dubbed Insurge Pictures.
It was said that the unit has a total budget of $1 million per year, and they already have 10 films lined up, said to be budgeted at $100,000 apiece. Amy Powell, who was a key factor in Paranormal Activity's success, was said to be heading up the new film unit.
The site is reporting that a website for the unit at InsurgePictures.com has already been established, but upon clicking on the site it redirects you to the Paramount Page, so it appears to have been taken down for the moment. The site also heard from an insider close to the division, which you can read below.
quote"We want to build a community online to engage people in the filmmaking process," explained an insider connected to the division. For example, fans may help cast a role in a film or vote on a film's one sheet. "We want to open it up, engaging [fans] in the process and keeping them involved."
"Insurge Pictures is devoted to the distribution of micro-budget movies and we're the little crew running it," reads the division's website. "We want to try something different and deconstruct the Hollywood system. We're about to conduct an experiment and we're building a team of mad scientists to help."/quote
We'll be sure to keep you posted on any new developments surrounding Insurge Pictures as soon as more information comes in.