Case Study

Shanice Carmenate
AICE Media
Mr. Furman
8 February 2016
Case Study: Blumhouse Productions
Blumhouse is an American horror movie production company. Originally founded by the
Jason Blum himself. Blumhouse mostly produces micro- and low-budget horror movies. In
2014, Blumhouse produced the Academy Awardnominated drama film Whiplash, for which
Blum was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. The company currently has a 10year first-look deal with the studio Universal Pictures.
Blumhouse has done a series of productions. From its first film in 2009, Paranormal
Activity, to new releases such as Curve. Blumhouses top-selling films are Paranormal Activity,
the film was released by Paramount Pictures and grossed over $193 million worldwide;
Paranormal Activity sequel, Insidious, which grossed over $99 million worldwide; and Sinister,
which grossed over $82 million worldwide.
The company's model is to produce movies independently and release them wide through
the studio system. On the television side, Blumhouse has a first look deal with Lions gate, which
helped with the ratings of Whiplash. They also use the help of Paramount Pictures to push their
movies to be seen more by their targeted audience.
Since Blumhouse began in 2009, there are not a series of technological advances to
cover, but there are some. Blumhouse started with low resolution digital video cameras. They
also had artificial lighting that was too easily picked apart by the audience watching. Some nondiegetic sound was caught that didnt fit the scene, as in upbeat music in a horror. Since then,
they have been able to upgrade to better camera equipment, better quality of mise-en-scene, and
better use of non-diegetic and diegetic sound.
Blumhouse Productions tweak traditional distribution patterns and marketing strategies
with some of their upcoming horror releases. Theyre trying to take advantage of the continuing
evolution of marketing and distribution options within the horror genre. They believe theres a
middle ground that focuses on a more controlled theatrical release driven by digital and social
engagement with a specific and identifiable audience. This was discussed with John Hegeman
who was helping Blumhouse with marketing their films.
As well as marketing, Blumhouse talked about the diversification of the slate and creating
more of an atmosphere for filmmakers to make movies of their choice. In assuming a hierarchy
between the different strands of media convergence, it is possible to overlook how the strands
relate to and impact one another. In two films from Blumhouse, this is extremely expressed.
Blum, himself, believed in producing movies to get the directors point of view out there that
wasnt ordinary horror.
Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation is a CanadianAmerican entertainment company.
This company was formed on July 3, 1997 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Lions gate is
headquartered in Santa Monica, California. Lions gate was formed by Frank Giustra and Avi
Federgreen with a $16 million investment including another $40 million from other investors.
These investors were Keyur Patel and Yorkton Securities' executives, such as G. Scott Paterson.
Lions Gate continued making acquisitions during the decade to boost distribution and its film
library. Lions gate acquired Artisan Entertainment for $220 million on December 15, 2003. Aside
from home video distribution of films sub-licensed from other studios, Lions gates library
consists of films from the respective companies they succeeded-in-interest, such as Trimark
Pictures, Vestron Pictures, and Artisan Entertainment.
Universal Pictures is an American film studio, owned by Comcast through its entirely
owned subordinate company, NBCUniversal, and is one of Hollywood's "Big Six" film studios.
Its production studios are in Universal City, California. Universal was founded in 1912 by the
German Carl Laemmle, Mark Dintenfass, Charles O. Baumann, Adam Kessel, Pat Powers,
William Swanson, David Horsley, Robert H. Cochrane, and Jules Brulatour. It is the world's
fourth oldest major film studio. In the early 1950s, Universal set up its own distribution company
in France, and in the late 1960s, the company also started a production company in Paris called
Universal Pictures France. These companies are a hit or miss for most people, but are always a
good representation for Blumhouse Productions.
Works Cited:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blumhouse_Productions
http://variety.com/2015/film/news/jason-blum-green-inferno-delirium-distribution-1201595868/
http://variety.com/2015/film/spotlight/im-global-gearing-up-with-mid-budget-films-1201491132/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lions_Gate_Entertainment
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Studios

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Shanice Carmenate

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