Interview with Todd Miro, writer/director of the short film "Enter The Dark"

I'm going to reiterate and clarify something that we, at Dead Harvey, preach to lots of indie filmmakers... and that is, make your film fit the medium. What I mean is, if you're shooting on 35mm or HD with great lenses and light kits, the world is your oyster. Do what you want, you paid for it. However, as you move down the trough, as far as equipment, budget and cameras... you need to be a bit more creative when it comes to telling your story. The best example of what I mean is features being shot on basic DV. When you're shooting on a basic digital video camera, you really need to make the concept fit the medium. "Paranormal Activity", "Blair Witch Project" and, recently, "Meadowoods". (By the way, watch for an interview with the "Meadowoods" guys soon!) are all examples of great, successful films that shot on basic digital video. They're generally shot in 1st person style and justify the footage being shot on low-budget DV by claiming that it's found footage or a home video that's edited by one of the characters. What that does is create a suspension of disbelief that engages the viewer and makes what they're watching believable. Now, imagine the opposite... how effective would your suspension of disbelief be if you, say, tried to shoot "Laurence of Arabia" on a handicam in your backyard? Not good. Moral of the story? Think about your concept and how you want to shoot it, make sure it all matches up.

Todd Miro, the writer/director of the short film "Enter the Dark", did exactly what I'm talking about. However, he twists it around a bit by expertly weaving back and forth between two mediums. One, an HD camera with great lenses that gives a polished, professional look and, two, a handicam that gives that gritty, creepy 1st person feel. The story evolves from a guy that's invited his friend over to help him film some of the paranormal activity that's going on in his house. The film then takes a few dark and creepy turns, all before it's twisted and surprising ending. All I can say is, the 1st person, shot on DV stuff is as creepy as anything in "Paranormal Activity" and the rest helps craft the story perfectly. It's a great short, engaging until the end and the twist ending really will catch you off guard. We had the chance to talk with Miro about the film...

Tell us about “Enter the Dark”, what’s it all about?

Enter the Dark is a short horror movie that I wrote, directed and edited that tells the story of two good friends who are led on a paranormal adventure of EVPs, apparitions and a mysterious talking children's book. By the end of the evening it becomes clear that things were not what they had expected. It took about six months to shoot in my own house (much to my wife's great displeasure).

One thing I found out quickly is how complex it is to produce even a simple short movie such as this. We all have full-time jobs and families, so the scheduling was a nightmare. I had a small crew, only two actors and had one location (my house), and it still took six months to find the nights when we could all get together. Having backup crew was a must, so when my DP, Rob Weiner couldn't shoot, I had my buddy Eduardo Silva step in. Both did an amazing job. The best thing about this experience was being able to work with a cast and crew made up of my friends - my actors, Rob Sandusky and Charles Yoakum were absolute troopers - I've known those guys since the 7th grade. Having people like Kristin Nelder there doing whatever was necessary - from rigging lights to making script suggestions made all the difference - everyone pitched in. Seeing Rob Weiner working alongside his son Ben, and watching him hand down his expert knowledge of sound recording - those kinds of things make all the hassles worthwhile.

If you don’t mind us asking, what was the budget and how did you secure financing?

The budget was roughly $2,000 - mostly for pizza, beer, Oreos and lens rentals. I own my own edit suite, my DP, Rob Weiner, donated all his gear and everyone worked for free so those were our only expenses. I financed the movie myself - with the help of my wife of course!

You flipped between two different cameras – one for the 1st person shots and one for the rest. Both looked great, what cameras were you using?

The main camera was a Canon 7D with fast lenses - a 50mm 1.4 prime and a 17-55mm 2.8 zoom. This incredible camera allows you to shoot full HD video (1920x1080) at 24fps with beautiful 35mm lenses and depth of field for around $2,000. This allows for a very convincing film-look at a bargain price. The second camera, our POV cam, was a Sony HDR-CX12 with the infrared NightShot turned on. The camera was setup with a wide-angle lens, and an additional IR light.

The amazing thing about this shoot was that the entire movie (except for the opening scene) was lit with only a flashlight. Ben Weiner, our sound recordist had this high-powered LED flashlight and it gave off so much light we quickly realized that was all we needed. I wanted to have a very naturalistic look and also wanted the blacks to drop off to absolute darkness and this one flashlight gave us that look - depending on where you bounced the light you could have a wash of light, rim light, harsh shadows or silhouettes.

The other thing to consider is that my actors, Rob & Charles, actually lit most of the movie, since they were carrying the flashlight in each scene. So, not only were they delivering their lines and worrying about blocking for each take, but they had to remember to bounce the light where it looked the best. Otherwise, the image was just mud. Oh yeah, and they also shot the majority of the POV shots as well. Geez, those guys deserve a friggin medal!

Most of your effects were practical effects, but it did look like you used a bit of cgi. What program did you use and how were they created? I’m thinking of the ghost in the doorway, mostly.

Yes, I wanted to try to do physical effects as much as possible. I just felt that the organic nature of them lent themselves better to the style of this movie. Plus it was fun to do all the rigging and run around like a stunt coordinator or something. The only CGI in the movie is in the hallway scene where they see the apparition. For that, first I shot Rob doing a bunch of different takes of walking across the camera's field of view. Then I picked the best one, brought that into After Effects, rotoscoped it and added some filters to break up the shape a bit.

The film was genuinely creepy. Talk about creating that creepy tone.

Thanks - that is definitely what I was going for! My writing process was pretty simple - I would lay in bed at night and think about the scariest thing that could happen to me right at that moment. Obviously, this led to many sleepless nights! Then I looked at those ideas and picked the ones that I thought I could actually pull off. I also watched tons and tons of scary movies, trying to analyze what made each scene work. There are obvious homages to famous scenes in my movie - I'll leave it for the viewers to pick them out.

One issue I had with writing these scenes was that I actually had to reign myself in. If I made them too scary then my character Rob, who's there to help his buddy out, would just naturally say, "Eff this... I'm outta here!" And then my movie would just end. I kept thinking about that old Eddie Murphy joke:

In the Amityville Horror the ghost told them to get out of the house. White people stayed in there. Now that's a hint and a half for your ass. A ghost say get the f*&# out, I would just tip the f&*% out the door.

I would've been in the house saying: "Oh baby this is beautiful. We got a chandelier hanging up here, kids outside playing. Its a beautiful neighborhood. We ain't got nuttin to worry, I really love it this is really nice."

"GET OUT !"

"Too bad we can't stay, baby !"

You obviously pulled from “Paranormal Activity” a lot, however you throw all similarities out the window with your ending. Now, did you start with the ending in mind or did that twist come to you later?

Actually, the idea for this movie came to me way before PA was produced. I always loved Blair Witch Project and wondered why no one had ever done another POV horror film - it seemed so obvious. So, I started tinkering with an idea of a guy videotaping mysterious things going on in his house. Of course, I never actually did anything with this idea. Then REC and Cloverfield and PA all came out and I thought, "You doofus! You sat on a good idea and now it's too late - it's already been done." After I picked my shattered soul off the ground I decided to pursue my idea anyway. During the final writing process, I intentionally avoided watching PA because I didn't want to be influenced by it. I only saw it once my script had been written. Then I tweaked it a bit to avoid comparisons, but I knew they would be inevitable.

As for the ending, I knew all along that the paranormal activities would only be one element to this movie. I myself am not particularly scared by conventional ghost stories - they usually unfold more like mysteries than horror films - if you can discover the mystery of who died here, and why, then you can send the entity on its way and all will be well. For me, true horror has to say something more - something about the state of mankind, or the nature of true evil. Movies like Se7en and The Ring do this for me, and that was more the tone I wanted at the end of my movie.

Now, tell us a bit about yourself. What are your influences and what got you in to film?

I have been making movies since I was ten years old - my buddies and I running around with my Super-8 camera doing Monty Python ripoffs, and me making stop-motion claymation epics in the tradition of Ray Harryhausen. The movies that influenced me the most are Alien, The Shining and the Excorcist - those for me are the Big Three. My literary influences would be Stephen King, Clive Barker, and especially, H.P. Lovecraft.

Film school: yes or no?

Yes. I pretty much knew I wanted to work in the biz since I was ten or so, so it was an obvious choice for me. I attended San Francisco State University and got my film degree and then got into the real world and got my first job...

In a bookstore.

I quickly realized that this business had little to do with a degree and hustled my way into internships and eventually became a partner in a video editing facility. From there I became a freelance editor working on documentaries, corporate videos, commercials and eventually, back to independent filmmaking. My first foray into indie filmmaking was editing Elisabeth Fies' cult-thriller, The Commune, which has received lots of great buzz and recently got onto Netflix. This gave me the confidence to write and direct my first short movie - and that's where Enter the Dark came in.

Even though my film degree did not lead directly to any work, I know I rely on the depth of knowledge it gave my every single day. To be able to think critically about cinema, and understand the language of film is invaluable.

Talk about your goals behind making “Enter the Dark”. Is it for accolades, for a reel, for festivals?

To be honest, I really just wanted to finally finish something of my own. As an online editor, I have overseen so many other people's projects to fruition. It is my job to take their fragile visions, give them final form, and send them off into the world. That is rewarding in and of itself, but I knew it was time for me to step up and see if I could do the same.

Hopefully, Enter the Dark will run in the festival circuit for a while and then it will be available for download.

Talk about the indie horror scene, where do you think it is now and where do you see it going?

The indie horror scene is very vibrant right now. There are so many festivals, blogs, websites and dedicated fans. With the availability of such great equipment at such a low cost, anyone who wants to, can now make a movie. That is both a blessing and a curse. Just because anyone can have access to Microsoft Word, that does not make them a writer. And just because anyone can have access to a camera and Final Cut Pro, that does not make them a filmmaker. There will be a tremendous glut of bad stuff out there and a few hidden gems. Finding those gems will be more and more difficult. Hopefully more and more beginners will focus less on the latest cool gear, or trying to copy the latest Saw movie and will strive to learn their craft - especially story. Those who understand how to tell an engaging story in new and exciting ways will succeed and lead a new vision of horror into the future.

Where can people check your film out?

Enter the Dark premieres at the Chicago Horror Film Festival, Sunday, Sept. 26 at 9:20pm. We are excited to screen on closing night, right before the final feature. Actor Charles Yoakum and I will be attending so we hope to see you there.

It has also been entered into many other film festivals including Screamfest, New York City Horror Film Festival, Sacramento Horror Film Festival and SXSW, so please visit enterthedarkmovie.com for updates and for more info on the movie.

What’s next?

Well, I love the short story, Smoke Ghost by Fritz Leiber and would love to adapt that for the screen. I'm also working on a script influenced by Lovecraft's The Whisperer in Darkness which updates it while keeping the core themes.

If I can get the financing, I also have a couple of ideas of how to turn Enter the Dark into a feature-length film.

I also plan on getting some well-needed sleep. In my house. Without thinking about scary scenes anymore.

Weekend Wrap-up and What's New on DVD, including: Lesbian Vampire Killers...

Well, they talk about this whole recession thing and they say that piracy and home entertainment is cutting into the box office, but... last weekend was the highest grossing weekend at the box office... ever. All time. No shit. "Avatar" pulled back less than 3% from its opening weekend and "Sherlock Holmes" had the second biggest open ever for a film that didn't finish number 1... which was only bested by "The Day After Tomorrow", which opened the same weekend as "Shrek 2". Even "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The squeakuel" raked in over $50Million. I did my part, too. I finally went to check out "Avatar" at Imax. Say what you will about the story and plot, the film is an f'ing spectacle. I've NEVER seen anything like it before and I can't wait to see something like that again. Unreal. If you haven't seen it, I suggest seeing it at Imax. It's an unbelievable experience.

As for the week in DVD releases, we've finally got ourselves a stellar week. As usual, you can click on the title and be taken to the films page on Amazon, where you can read more about it and even buy it. You can also go to our Youtube page and check out all the trailers.

For the indie crowd, the big movie of the week is, without question, "Paranormal Activity". The best part about it, I don't think it'll lose a bit of its effectiveness when seen on the small screen. In fact, it may be better. Think about it, they way it's filmed, it could be even more effective... it'll certainly add to the intensity and suspense. Anyhow, if you're a reader of this site and you haven't seen it, you really ought to go pick it up and watch it. It's only the most successful micro-budget film to date, not to mention it's the most profitable film ever.

"Jennifer's Body" is the follow up film for "Juno" scribe, Diablo Cody, and the film was a disappointment on a few levels. First up, it just wasn't that great. Secondly, it got slaughtered at the box office. Some of the executives blamed the marketing efforts, others blamed timing... at the end of the day, it just wasn't that good. Having said that, if you're desperate to check out a horror film with some budget and Megan Fox, go right ahead...

I'm not really sure what happened with "Carriers", which was written and directed by Alex and David Pastor. The film was completed, and actually screened, way back in 2007... it even got a lot of good reviews. Then, Paramount Vantage was going to release it last September, but I don't really remember it coming out. It must've been one of those projects that fell to the wayside when the studio's started shuttering their indie arms. In any case, it's finally coming out on DVD this week. It's about four people that are fleeing a viral pandemic that's spread world-wide and it stars Chris Pine, AKA Captain Kirk from the new "Star Trek".

"Vampire Killers" was originally called "Lesbian Vampire Killers" during it's run in the UK, where it was made. It's a horror comedy written by Stewart Williams and Paul Hupfield, directed by Phil Claydon. The funniest thing about the film is that the writers, who were both working in the comedy development department at MTV in Europe at the time, were challenged to come up with the most commercial film project and title they could to pitch as a low-budget, straight to DVD feature... this is what they came up with. It toiled around for a while, but did, obviously, eventually get made. Can't say that the reviews are good, but... with a title like that, the bar is set low. Don't know about you, but I'll be checking it out.

Lastly, there's the low-budget "Evil Offspring", directed by Tommy Brunswick and released by R Squared. The trailer that I found is in German, but the film isn't... so, it looks like the film had an overseas release. I don't know much about the plot, but the film opens with the trees and wilderness ripping two guys apart, then raping a girl. The girl then goes on to spawn some evil offspring, which go out and wreak havoc... thus the title.

What I Would Say To Adam Goodman, Production Chief of Paramount

There's been a flurry of activity surrounding the indie and micro-cinema world over the last few days and it all started with Paramount announcing that they're going to get into developing and producing micro-budget films. I recently read a post from Mark Stolaroff, the guy behind "No Budget Film School" and a writer for Film Radar, that lit Paramount up. Here's a link to the post. He's 100% right, for sure... however, as an optimist, I'd like to hear what Paramount's game plan is before I lambaste them. As someone who's been involved in indie and micro-budget filmmaking, when I hear that Paramount wants to get involved, I certainly hope that they do it right and doing it right would definitely involve reaching out to the existing micro-cinema community. In fact, I read through every article I could find, trying to find some sort of lead on who I could contact, and the only name mentioned is Adam Goodman, who happens to be Paramount's production chief. So, I guessed at his email address and sent him an email. Will I get a response? Doubt it. But if he did and he asked for help... after asking for some sort of paid position in guiding this micro-cinema initiative, coupled with some sort of signing bonus, this is what I would tell him...

Micro-cinema is a different animal than indie film. Really, there's less of a jump from indie film to studio film than there is from indie film to micro-cinema. When I talk about "indie film", I'm talking about stuff like "The Wrestler" or "Little Miss Sunshine". When I'm talking about micro-cinema, I'm talking about "Paranormal Activity" or "Blair Witch". I'm not going to touch on studio films here, they're put together by armies of lawyers, marketers, writers and producers. For studio films, the story and how the films are shot pales in comparison to what the overall concept is and how marketable the film will be. For example, "Transformers 2" was one of the biggest grossing films of the year... I'm not sure 'story' was high on their list of concerns. In any case, when dealing with indie films, story becomes extremely important. In fact, the film is ALL story. You'll need an impeccable screenplay and you're going to need great actors to bring characters to life, adding to what's on the page and giving them three dimensions. You'll probably want the director to work closely with the writer, if they're not one in the same, and you'll want an editor who's fully on board with the directors vision. In the end, it's all about story. With micro-cinema, you require an equally impeccable story, but micro-cinema filmmakers have to deal with another element that no other filmmaker has to deal with... and that's the medium itself. Micro-cinema, by its own nature, has a distinct look and feel. It's handheld, it's choppy, it's shot on DV, the lighting sucks, the sets are cramped, locations are never ideal... it's called micro-cinema for a reason. Fix all of those things and you're really not a micro-cinema film anymore. So, you have to justify the medium. "Paranormal Activity" and "Blair Witch" were both shot as documentaries. The handheld HD on "Open Water" gave it that 'real' look, like something you'd see on the National Geographic channel. A recent film that I saw, "The Butcher", was shot as a first person snuff film. The list goes on, but the point is that you need to embrace the look and feel and justify it... try to be something you're not and you're going to fail.

So, I agree with Mark when he says, "Good Luck, Paramount", but I'm cautiously optimistic. There's a lot of good micro-cinema filmmakers out there... and they're not all offspring of current Paramount employees, toiling around in L.A.. They're everywhere. Hopefully Paramount realizes this and reaches out. There would be something very cool about a studio reaching down into the micro-cinema community and asking for assistance in lifting this little sub-genre, that we all love so much, out of obscurity. If Paramount wanted to do it right, that's just what they would do. They would reach into the micro-cinema community, find some filmmakers, give them some budget... but also give them the keys to the kingdom. Keep the budgets under $100K, BUT let the filmmakers use the resources that they take for granted... Treat it like a training ground, work with them. Have your team of lawyers, marketers and developers sit in with them every once in a while and everyone can learn from each other. Sounds good, doesn't it? Well, we'll see what happens... at least I know what I'm going to say to Adam Goodman if he gets back to me.

STOP THE PRESSES! This just in...

Well, I was going to comment on the how AOL was spun off from AOL Time Warner and then segue into Comcast buying out NBC Universal from GE. I was going to discuss how NBC Universal came to be, how they're a media and entertainment conglomerate powerhouse that was formed in May of 2004 when GE and Vivendi merged them. Then, I was going to get into my thoughts on what this could mean and how it's a bit of a game changer...

Very quickly, I do want to say that the idea that a huge cable and internet provider now has a huge entertainment studio is pretty crazy. I don't think it'll effect Universal and film that much, but it will really effect TV. It'll effect how TV is delivered, how it's consumed and what TV can do. Think about it, this merger could very will be the catalyst that pushes online entertainment past the tipping point. Comcast's "TV anywhere" and NBC Universal's "Hulu" are now, in effect, one. I think this is going to open a lot of doors for indie content makers... and I'm going to have to discuss my thoughts on that later, as I just read something that stopped me dead in my tracks. So, hold the presses...

I just read on Variety that Paramount, the studio that picked up and distributed the micro-cinema smash, "Paranormal Activity", is launching an initiative that will spend around $1Million annually to develop between 10 and 20 micro-cinema films a year... and no individual project will have a budget over $100,000. Here's a link to the article on Variety. Is this it? Is this the point in time when micro-cinema makes the jump to prime time? I only have one question - how do I get in on this?

I'm definitely going to be looking deeper into this and I hope to have more news for you soon!

What "Paranormal Activity" Has Done To AFM and Positioning Your Film

Well, this is kinda lame... I was telling you about this great article called "Paranormal Fever at AFM" and it was the whole basis of this post and now it's not available. (Ted's note: just as I was about to post this, it came back live. Here's a link to the article)

Anyhow, horror tends to be a big thing at AFM because it's the best genre for international audiences. Things like dramas and comedies don't sell well, as what's funny in Des Moines, may not be funny in Saigon. However, a guy with a chainsaw is scary everywhere. Having said that, no one's buying at AFM this year because everyone's tauting their film as the next "Paranormal Activity" and they're clogging the pipeline. Basically, since everyone's claiming to have the next version of that one movie, AFM is oversaturated with one type of film, which drives prices down and leaves the distributors weary.

So, Brad was actually at AFM last weekend. I told him to write up a post on the experience, as he had a suppliers pass and talked to a few people about both Dead Harvey and another project that he's working on... hopefully we get to see that post soon. He said it was a bit of a gong show and that, really, AFM is all about low-budget horror. People are pitching ideas based on poster art and a name, people are pitching on having certain actors, they're pitching on just a logline. Everyone who's in the low-budget horror scene is there and it's a big, sleazy, sweaty pitch and sales fest. Just the brief conversation that Brad and I had about it made me want to have some project ready for next years AFM and attend. It sounds crazy... long and short, from his perspective, there was a lot going on and there was no shortage of projects.

Okay, so where are we at, then? There were tons of low-budget horror projects there, but no one was buying because everyone was saying that they had the next "Paranormal Activity". Now, I think I know why no one was buying. Remember, I come from the marketing and advertising world and what all these guys are not doing, and what you should always keep in mind, is something called positioning. Or, how you can position your film to stand out in a crowded marketplace like that. There's a whole book on this, called "Positioning - The Battle for Your Mind" by Al Ries and Jack Trout, and it's considered to be a bit of a classic marketing book. The long and short is, when someone's already positioned as the best no-budget film, you can't try to position yourself as the same and that's what all these guys are doing. You're going to fail. You need to position yourself differently. "Paranormal Activity" is a low-budget, first person, mock-documentary on ghosts... we're an alien abduction mock-doc. We're a first-person slasher film. They were confined to the home, we take the haunting on the road. Here's a better example, say you were selling me a car and you said to me, "I know you want a Mazda, but take a look at this Hyundai... it's basically a Mazda" I probably wouldn't buy the Hyundai, I probably wouldn't even give it a second look. However, if you said, "I know you're looking for a Mazda, but let me show you this Hyundai... it's the cheapest and most fuel efficient car in its class, plus it has a great record of dependability". Well, now I may take a look at it. You've positioned it differently and given me a reason to think about it.

This positioning thing is one of the main principles in marketing and advertising and if you're interested in reading more on it, I found a page that summarizes it all up, you can find it here. I think it's important stuff... stuff you should be thinking about when you're in the pre-prodution or writing stage, even. If there's a market leader out there, don't try to position yourself as the same. Figure out a way to position yourself differently, it'll make you stand out and, therefore, help you get noticed... which is really what you want.

Anyhow, that's all we got for this week. Have a great weekend and we'll see you on Monday!

Three Thoughts and A Cocktail

I don't know about where you are, but here... it's officially Fall. So, to celebrate, let's share a good, Fall cocktail. It's called a 'Dr. Morgan'. First, you take 2 oz (minimum) of Captain Morgan's Original Spiced Rum, then add a splash of Dr. Pepper Soda... and stir together in a highball glass that's filled with ice cubes. Delicious.

So, as happens about once a month or so, I've been dealing with internet problems this morning... I finally got it working again, but now I only have a short period of time before I have to head out. However, there are a few, cool things that came through my inbox this week and I wanted to share.

First off, we've been talking about "Paranormal Activity" quite a bit and so we should. It's a film that was born from our little world of micro-budgets that broke through to the big time and launched a career. Really, all we can hope is that this story shines just a bit of the spotlight on the indie scene and maybe, just maybe, it can help other filmmakers out... in any case, TheWrap.com did a piece on writer/director Oren Peli and it discusses the film, what it's done for him and what's next for him. Here's a link to the article, it's pretty cool... even though it downplays how long it took for the film to get to this point.

I was reading an article on Indieflix that directed me over to a blog by Jon Reiss. He's a filmmaker, but he also just wrote a book called "Think Outside The Box (Office): The Ultimate Guide to Film Distribution And Marketing For the Digital Era". I'm going to do my due diligence and look in to the book a bit more and I may actually try to reach out to Jon to see if he'll talk with us, but I highly recommend you look into it, too. As an indie filmmaker, you really need to know about marketing. It's essential knowledge. Even if you have someone doing the marketing for you, you should know how to be marketable. Really, at absolute worst, you should read through his blog every once in a while. There's some great info in there. Here's a link.

Lastly, I'm going to embed episode one of a new web series called "The Scare Game". It's a horror/comedy series from Uncanny Entertainment that's cast and crewed out of New Mexico. Season one will consist of thirteen 7 - 10 minute episodes exploring horror, voyeurism and fandom...



Have a great weekend... see you next week.

More "Paranormal Activity" Talk and What You Can Learn From It

So, it's official... "Paranormal Activity" can be added to micro-cinema filmmaking lore. It has done what only "El Mariachi", "Open Water" and "The Blair Witch Project" have managed to do before it... and that is make a film, for next to nothing, and have it become a veritable Hollywood hit. How much of a hit was "Paranormal Activity"? Well, The film opened on September 25 on 12 screens, taking in $77,873 on its first weekend for an average of $6,489 per venue. Then, it opened to 33 theaters on October 1, doubling the box office reception, and it grossed $532,242, for an average of $16,129 per venue, bringing the 10-day total to $776,763. After that, it expanded to 160 theaters on the October 9-11 weekend and has now grossed, in total, $7,900,695. Should we compare that to the other big-budget Hollywood films that came out over the weekend? Why not? "Paranormal Activity" came in at #4 for the weekend, behind "Couples Retreat", "Zombieland" and "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs", but it had the best per-theater average for any film in release... and the buzz isn't dying. In fact, you can expect another big weekend, this weekend. There's not question about it - made for $15,000, it's going to be the most profitable film in Hollywood this year.

I'm sure that a lot of budding and fledgling filmmakers are salivating at the fact that a no-budget film came out of nowhere to make millions. Hey, if they can do it, we can do it! Of course, people rarely know the backstory, they just see it as an overnight success. So, what is the backstory? The idea came to writer/director Oren Peli a few years back, who knows when, really... Around 2005, he began prepping his house for shooting, while doing piles and piles of research on actual paranormal activity. The film was shot over 7 days in 2006, then he went into post-production.... for a while. He pushed the festival circuit as much as he could and eventually caught the attention of a rep at CAA, who signed him and helped him get the film into Screamfest in 2007. They gave away DVD after DVD to any distributor that would listen, but all to no avail. Then, they tried to get it into Sundance, but Sundance wouldn't accept it, but they did get it into Slamdance in 2008 and it screened well, but STILL no distributor would accept it. Later in 2008, a copy wound up at Dreamworks and it was passed around, people pestered their superiors, and it wound up in the hands of Studio Chief Stacey Snider, who then passed it on to Steven Spielberg... who gave it a thumbs up and THEN it got it's limited theatrical debut, which brings us to about where we are today. Easy journey, huh? Only 5 years or so for the pay day... and that goes without mentioning the amount of luck involved.

By no means am I trying to dissuade you from making your film, I'm just trying to tell you what was involved in making this film the success that it was... and if you have aspirations to follow suit on these very few films that have made the jump from micro-cinema to Hollywood success, we should look at the traits that they share. First up, notice that NONE of them were comedies... or even had comedic elements. They all took their subject matter realistically and extremely seriously. The only exception may be "El Mariachi", but it was more of dramatic piece and the humor fit. Further, they used the format to fit the film. "El Mariachi" was shot on grainy 16mm, which fit the film; "Blair Witch" and "Paranormal Activity" used camcorders and shot the films as if they were documentaries; and "Open Water" was shot on HD digital video, which gave it that real-life feel. So, use the format to your advantage and make it make sense. Also, all of the filmmakers took years, with huge sacrifices, before finally getting the film out. Oren Peli and company showed enormous amounts of patience over 5 years to get it to this point. The "Blair Witch" guys dedicated years into building an online campaign that built their fanbase. Robert Rodriguez lived off giving blood while he made "El Mariachi". Lastly, and possibly most importantly, all of them managed to get someone in the industry on board at an early stage and almost all of them passed on early distribution deals, holding out for some sort of representation and a better deal.

At the end of the day, "Paranormal Activity" will not be the last micro-cinema hit... there's more to come. The next one could come out this year, it could come out in 5 years... but it will come out and it may be because they watched what these guys did and built on that.

A little "Paranormal Activity" and a dash of "The Filmmakers Book of the Dead"

By now, I'm sure you've heard of this little no-budget indie horror film from Oren Peli called "Paranormal Activity". No? Well, it premiered at Screamfest in 2007, then Peli got picked up by CAA, then it had a big screening at Slamdance in 2008, was eventually picked up by Dreamworks / Paramount and is now getting a limited theatrical release. It was shot for around $15,000 and rumor around the campfire says it's genuinely frightening... in fact, when things were stalled at Dreamworks, Studio Chief Stacey Snider and Production Chief Adam Goodman gave a copy of the DVD to Steven Spielberg, who took it home to watch... and then, legend has it, he brought it back in a garbage bag the next day because he thought the DVD was haunted. Another story has him turning it off halfway through... but only because he was too scared to get through it. In any case, he did see it and he did get it the release they wanted AND he greenlit a remake that was to be made by Oren Peli because they wanted to be "in business" with him. It's the kind of story that indie horror filmmakers lean on. Bank on. Get jealous of. It's the kind of story that makes an indie filmmaker think, "I can do that".

Well, our congratulations go out to Oren Peli, it's an awesome success story, and I'm not saying you can't do what he did. In fact, you most certainly can... but, you need to realize a few things first. One, success stories like this aren't exactly common. There's probably 5,000 micro-budget films released every year (and I feel like I see maybe 1,000 of them). Then, there's probably more than that that are actually made, but never see the light of day... we can call them wastage. Films that probably didn't get finished because the filmmakers didn't actually think things through. Further, we'll go years before seeing a "hit" out of that pool. In fact, you can count the micro-cinema "hits" on one hand. "The Blair Witch Project", "Open Water", "El Mariachi" and... "Paranormal Activity"? I can't think of any other MASSIVE success stories off hand, please post a comment if you can think of others. Now, do the math. That's around 5 films over 10 years. So, 5 in a minimum of 50,000 or a 1 in 10,000 chance.

I don't mean to dissuade you, the odds are better than winning the lotto and Lord knows how much money I waste on that. Also, your goal may just be to get a film made and, obviously, the definition of a successful film is different for everyone. Maybe you don't want a blockbuster, maybe you just want to make more than your initial investment back? Regardless, what I would urge you to do is to know what you're getting in to. Know how this scene works and really figure things out before you spend your first dollar. There's various ways to do this... the easy, and most entertaining way is, watch a lot of indie horror films. The other, read everything you can on the subject. Blogs like this, Variety, Hollywood Reporter, other horror sites and whatever books you can find. Granted, there aren't too many books on the subject, but they do exist and we had the chance to talk to the author of one such book, here.

The following is an interview with Danny Draven, a filmmaker and author. He recently wrote the book "The Filmmaker's Book of The Dead" and it's all about the indie horror industry. We discussed the book and he offered up some good advice for you filmmakers... if you want more advice than this, well... you're going to have to pick up the book.

First off, tell us a bit about yourself. What are your influences, what got you into indie film?

I'm an independent filmmaker that mainly makes horror films. My new film, GHOST MONTH, just came out on DVD and Blu-Ray. I started out making movies with J.R. Bookwalter of Tempe Entertainment and that led to making films with Charles Band at Full Moon Pictures. I've always wanted to make indie films as a springboard to learn everything I could about making movies.

Film school: yes or no?

Yes. I'm a graduate of Emerson College in Boston where I attended film school. I learned a lot of theory and practice and was turned onto a lot of films and filmmakers at school, so for that I'm grateful. But, almost everything I learned about filmmaking was from being on set and doing it myself. I would say take your film school money and make your movie! You don't need a school to validate or qualify you to make a film, all it takes is your desire to do it yourself.

Tell us a bit about your book, “Filmmaker’s Book of the Dead”

The book was written for indie filmmakers. It's over 300 full color pages and I promise you it's packed with information you need to avoid the pitfalls of making and selling a film. It took me a year to write it, and I include everything I wish someone told me before I started making movies. The goal is to give you an insider's look and help you along the way.

Take us through the process of getting a book published… as an indie filmmaker yourself, what are the similarities and differences between that and getting a film distributed?

Actually, writing a book is a lot like a film production except it takes a bit longer. It all starts with an idea and concept, develops into an outline, gets approved, goes into the writing stage, gets edited, and finally gets printed and marketed like any product.

Is the book specifically for indie horror filmmakers or would the casual reader get anything out of it?

It's NOT just for horror filmmakers, anyone interested in indie filmmaking and distribution can benefit from the information. Don't let the cover fool you, it is very specific for horror subjects in areas, but the content on how to save money, run an efficient production, marketing, and distribution make with a valuable guide for all. It also has very exclusive interviews with filmmakers like Lloyd Kaufman, Robert Kurtzman, James Wan, Stuart Gordon, Robert Englund, and many more, talking specifically about things like directing, acting and production tips.

As our readers our mainly indie horror filmmakers and your book is about indie horror filmmaking… if you could pass on just a few key tips, what would they be? What should every indie horror filmmaker know?

Shoot your movie in the highest HD quality you can afford, and make sure the quality stays high throughout the post process. If you want to SELL your film, it must be deliverable to a distributor. You must create an attractive, sellable product.

As it’s the one topic that everyone’s interested in, let’s talk about getting distribution for an indie film. What should every filmmaker know before they start sending out screeners and contacting distributors?

This is such a massive topic and I go into detail in my book on it. The most important thing to remember is to make sure your movie is deliverable to a distributor. This means having the proper masters and documentation ready and a passed QC report.

Talk about the indie horror scene right now. Where’s it at and where do you see it going?

I think the horror genre is better than ever, however, there is a lot of product on the market. There are a lot of films not getting distribution deals. In my book, I talk about getting a studio distribution deal VS. self-distribution. I think the biggest problem for the indie horror guys is usually distribution.

Where can people find out more about “The Filmmakers Book of the Dead” and/or buy a copy?

It will be in bookstores everywhere from Focal Press on Janaury 8, 2010. You can pre-order a copy at Amazon.com, buy.com, bn.com, borders.com, and many other fine retailers. I recommend pre-ordering to secure your copy!

What’s next for you?

A new film and book coming soon.