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Horn: Paramount to launch micro-budget movie division

Fresh off its stunning "Paranormal Activity" success -- a $15,000 thriller that has grossed more than $107 million in its domestic release with little paid advertising -- Paramount Pictures is set to launch a new production business for movies budgeted at less than $100,000.

The as-yet-unnamed division plans to finance as many as 20 "micro-budget" movies annually starting in 2010, according to people familiar with the studio's plans who spoke on condition of anonymity because the formal announcement has not been made. A current Paramount executive will run the business, but the selection has not yet been revealed  publicly. Funds for the movies -- no more than $2 million total annually -- will be part of Paramount's existing production budget. The division does not plan to acquire completed movies at film festivals and markets.

via latimesblogs.latimes.com

Rumors of this new "micro-budget" division at Paramount went around a couple of weeks ago, but I still don't understand how under-$100k movies get made at a studio.  Hopefully John Horn will elaborate next time he appears on "The Business" with Kim Masters (the KCRW radio show that you should be downloading from KCRW.com or iTunes if you're not already).

Thoughts?

New Project: Seven figure deal for Sacha Baron Cohen pitch

After making movies out of all three characters he created for "Da Ali G Show," Sacha Baron Cohen has created a production company to generate scripted comic vehicles for himself.

Baron Cohen has formed Four By Two Films, and has gotten his production shingle off to a rousing start with a spec pitch auction that saw Columbia Pictures spend seven-figures to beat out two other studios for an untitled vehicle for him. 

Baron Cohen will write the script with Ant Hines, Peter Baynham and Dan Mazer., the quartet scripted both “Borat” and “Bruno,” getting an Oscar nom for the former.

via weblogs.variety.com

Click through to the Variety.com article -- lots of good details on a number of topics. We'll get it all into the grid tomorrow, too.

P.S.  Interesting term, "spec pitch auction."  I get it, but it took me a second to realize the above guys hadn't written the script already.