Paranormal Activity

Favourite film:

Taken, not for creative reasons, but because it showed that a mid-budget, foreign-made English-language movie without, what the studios would consider, a bankable star could become a significant US box office success.Unlike the lightening strike of a Paranormal Activity (main picture), a film like Taken is a repeatable business model.

Biggest news story

A good news/bad news story for the independent producer. The good: we didn’t have to adjust to the curtailing of massive amounts of “stupid money” as did the US studios (because we never got any of it in the first place). The bad: it was just as hard to independently finance movies in 2009 as it was in any other year that I can recall. Harder? Maybe.  But when something is a herculean task, a little harder is still herculean.

Changes in store for 2010

2010 will see the growth of independently financed, mid-range budget movies.These movies, largely internationally financed and produced for budgets between $20m to $40m, will become the most viable film product across multiple territories and, therefore, will be the biggest opportunity for many independent producers in the coming decade.