Word: artisanal
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Starring Owen Wilson, Janeane Garafalo, Shooting Gallery & Artisan Entertainment
...quote Chris Rock, "Where did all the money go?" For $60,000, Blair Witch still seems like a ripoff. It's a gimmick of low quality wrapped in marvelous packaging. Without a doubt, the best production you'll see all year is the marketing magic of Artisan Entertainment, the small studio that suddenly isn't so small anymore. (I also think that Dramamine could have made a fortune by handing out samples at movie theatres to solve the rampant nausea.) But the movie itself was trifling --even though that wickedly clever little ending almost redeems the whole exercise (I like...
...woods, does anybody hear it? When movie buyers first saw The Blair Witch Project at January's Sundance Film Festival, the silence from bidders was deafening. Some bored viewers even walked out during the premiere; others were too afraid to walk home afterward. The acquisitions team of independent studio Artisan Entertainment also felt divided, but figured the cheapo horror flick had at least enough potential to justify an offer of $1.1 million for worldwide rights. With U.S. box office now climbing toward $100 million, it may have been the smartest deal since Peter Minuit bought Manhattan for a handful...
Regarded, until now, as a Hollywood fringe player, Artisan hopes to define itself as a brash alternative to the established indies. "We don't want to be another Miramax or New Line," says co-president Amir Malin, formerly co-president of October Films. "We want to be involved with hip, off-center movies that skew toward younger audiences between 18 and 35." Artisan, which is run by the triumvirate of Malin, longtime agent Bill Block and Mark Curcio, a former consultant to Artisan's majority backer, Bain Capital, rose in 1997 from the ashes of a firm that held video...
...though, Artisan is basking in its good fortune with Blair Witch. Its executives plan to meet with the filmmakers this week to discuss sequels and prequels. The film's success has even earned Artisan higher visibility on Wall Street, where there's been talk of an IPO or debt offering. In at least one way, however, Artisan does hope to emulate its chief indie rival, Miramax. "In five years' time," says Block, "we certainly want to win an Academy Award for Best Picture." Blair Witch in Love, anyone...