Twenty years ago, “The Blair Witch Project” debuted at Sundance, creating an impact that’s still felt today.
The movie’s “found footage” format inspired multiple imitations and was a reminder to Hollywood of the huge audience potential for micro-budget storytelling. The movie’s biggest impact: It was a triumph of marketing, mixing old media with the newly booming Internet.
Directors Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez filmed for six days and nights in Maryland, on a budget pegged at $35,000. In a key move in 1998, before anyone had screened the film, they hired respected Los Angeles PR firm Clein + White. Then Haxan Films created a website to answer questions about the film’s “missing” students. And in December, Endeavor agreed to rep the producers.
The film screened in the Midnight section at Sundance on Jan. 25, 1999. By morning, Artisan Entertainment had acquired it for $1.1 million and added more post-production work, boosting...
The movie’s “found footage” format inspired multiple imitations and was a reminder to Hollywood of the huge audience potential for micro-budget storytelling. The movie’s biggest impact: It was a triumph of marketing, mixing old media with the newly booming Internet.
Directors Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez filmed for six days and nights in Maryland, on a budget pegged at $35,000. In a key move in 1998, before anyone had screened the film, they hired respected Los Angeles PR firm Clein + White. Then Haxan Films created a website to answer questions about the film’s “missing” students. And in December, Endeavor agreed to rep the producers.
The film screened in the Midnight section at Sundance on Jan. 25, 1999. By morning, Artisan Entertainment had acquired it for $1.1 million and added more post-production work, boosting...
- 2/1/2019
- by Tim Gray
- Variety Film + TV
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