Paramount’s Insurge Resurfaces

PCN has followed the mysterious development of Paramount’s micro-production unit Insurge with interest. Several media outlets covered the announcement story with screen shots and links to the division’s web site but shortly after, the link was redirected to the main Paramount site and the elusive Insurge web page was never to be seen again. Until now.

Anne Thompson’s blog Tomson on Hollywood, ran a story earlier this month detailing the troubled start for Insurge:

Insurge is happening, but not in the form the studio had originally envisioned. Reportedly allotted a budget of $1 million to seek out promising young filmmakers and give them $100,000 budgets, Insurge is now more under-the-radar . . . . the trade guilds prevent a major studio from funding movies at that level

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A New Model: The Micro-budget Studio Picture

Paramount is doing something revolutionary, and it couldn’t be better news for aspiring filmmakers.

Last week, the studio announced the creation of its new arm, Insurge. Working with a mere million-dollar budget, the studio will produce ten films over the coming year, each with a budget of no more than $100,000. As this leaves virtually no money for print and advertising costs, the studio plans to promote the films via social networks like Facebook and Twitter, and most importantly through word-of-mouth.

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