Viacom’s Paramount Pictures is launching a division specializing in something the studio had largely abandoned, micro-budget films, and calling it Insurge Pictures.
An announcement is expected Thursday morning.
Executives at Paramount did not immediately return a request for comment. A representative for the studio had no comment.
A Web site – insurgepictures.com – currently redirects to Paramount’s homepage. And a Twitter feed for Insurge describes the division like this: "We love talking about everyone else's movies, so we decided it would be awesome to create a new distribution label to find and share our own movies with all of you. And here we are -- Insurge Pictures, an official division of Paramount Pictures."
According to Indiewire, Paramount will announce that the new division – Insurge Pictures – will produce 10 films in its first year, each with a budget of $100,000.
Insurge will be headed by Amy Powell, a Paramount executive who was crucial in the marketing of “Paranormal Activity,” which grossed $107.9 million ($183 million worldwide) according to Box Office Mojo. (The film cost a scant $15,000 to produce.)
According to the report, the imprint will specialize in “horror films, comedies and animated movies” targeting moviegoers in the 13- to 34-year-old demographic.
