At Variety's Future of Film forum today, PARANORMAL ACTIVITY director Oren Peli spoke about what inspired him to make the film, and why he shunned the direct-to-video market.  He also discussed the budget, which sources have claimed to be several different numbers;  he confirms it was roughly $15,000.

Perhaps most interesting is when Peli discussed with the rest of the "Game Changers" panel how it would be hard to continue making films without the studio system behind him.  Filmmaking is an incredibly expensive art, even with the proliferation of cheaper equipment.  With studio involvement, there's always a compromised vision, and it's almost impossible to be an auteur in the modern studio system.

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY is an anomaly, and the business model Paramount used to promote it was likely a one-trick pony.  As he moves on to future projects, only time will tell how successful his ventures will be.  After all, he does mention that the BLAIR WITCH PROJECT was an inspiration for PARANORMAL, and the BLAIR WITCH guys haven't had anywhere near the success since.

Read the full article at Variety here.

--Phil Fasso