I see in The New York Times that there’s another low-budget sleeper making the rounds, people. I’m sure you remember last year’s Paranormal Activity, which came out of nowhere to become one of the more profitable flicks in recent memory. Made by first-time filmmaker Oren Peli over seven days for a reported $15,000, Paranormal Activity ended up being distributed by Paramount and went on to gross almost $100,000,000. (Fun fact: 100,000,000 ÷ 15,000 = 6666.666666. Bwa ha ha ha!). Yes, a sequel is planned.
Soon to be swooping down upon us is first-time filmmaker James Nguyen’s Birdemic: Shock and Terror. The touching story of monster birds attacking a sleepy little town, Birdemic is already garnering raves and comparisons to “classics” such as Plan 9 From Outer Space. Made for $10,000 over the course of seven months’ worth of weekends, Birdemic was recently picked up for distribution by Severin Films and has a wonderful story behind it. Nguyen had taken his baby to the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, where the fest’s selection committee immediately rejected it. But he persevered, staying in town and showing it in whatever bars would allow it. And it paid off. Birdemic is now knocking them dead on the midnight movie circuit, much like Paramormal Activity did before it took off.
Birdemic was screened in Los Angeles last month (hosted by Eric Wareheim and Tim Heidecker, stars of Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!) and it makes its New York premiere this weekend. Will it go on to do $100,000,000 worth of business? I think it’s doubtful. Paranormal Activity was a legitimate supernatural thriller, where Birdemic: Shock and Terror is a Z-grade cheese fest. And while that’s reason enough for me to love it, I don’t believe it will translate into mass acceptance. But who knows—stranger things have happened.
~Theron Neel
Writer and director Chad Clinton Freeman has a dream and he’d like your assistance in making it come true. His new project, Parabella Nigel: Saiko Saikik Witch Bitch, is in the planning stages, but it’s a little low on cash. So, Freeman is trying something novel to fund his film’s $16,666 budget: he’s looking for financing online. No cast or crew attachments will be made until funding is in place.
“It’s going to be a mind trip of a film that is sort of like Saw meets The Sixth Sense on crack,” said Freeman, a producer on Amateur Porn Star Killer 3D and Killer Biker Chicks. “This is a dark and ugly story that I hope to turn into a beautiful film that is part arthouse and part grindhouse. I hope to make a project that is creative, full of energy and has something to say.
Freeman is a Las Vegas-based mass media specialist and is best known for his entertainment website 
