#Blair witch project cast movie
#Blair witch project cast professional

said 'feature film to be shot in a wooded location,' I think it said improvisational feature film… Improv and camping required.

#Blair witch project cast professional

Williams : I didn't really have any professional experience, other than training at SUNY New Paltz for four years. The Blair Witch Project turns 20 this week, so we spoke to the cast and crew to look back at the making one of the most legendary horror films of all time. The film managed to do so much with so little, and it also introduced one of the first viral marketing campaigns, gaining a following before it even hit theaters. Part of what made The Blair Witch Project so groundbreaking is that you never see the actual Blair Witch, and the filmmakers didn't use special effects to scare audiences instead they had genuine reactions from a cast that didn't know what awaited them in the woods. Williams played fictionalized versions of themselves, heading out to the Maryland woods to film a documentary about the legend of the Blair Witch. In one of the most intense filmmaking experiences imaginable, actors Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard, and Michael C. Sanchez and Myrick had to find actors who were quick on their feet, because although the duo had written a very detailed outline of the script, the dialogue would be almost entirely improvised. Though Sanchez and Myrick first came up for the concept as film students at the University of Central Florida in 1991, they put their plans into action in 1996, and due to funding issues, they didn't start casting the film until 1997.

#Blair witch project cast movie

The movie was the most-talked about horror movie of the season, but it took years to become a reality. Just hours after the midnight screening, the two young directors sold the film to Artisan Entertainment for $1.1 million. The film ended up earning $140 million in the U.S., with an additional $108 million overseas.Made with a budget of only $60,000, the film premiered at Sundance in 1999.

It widened to 1,101 theaters on July 30, then doubled that number on Aug. The movie opened on July 19 in 27 screens, averaging $56,002 per screen. There was also mainstream media buzz: covers of Time and Newsweek and stories on network news programs. Sci-Fi Channel aired a faux-documentary called “Curse of the Blair Witch,” with actors portraying historians and witches, the docu re-creating the “reality” vibe of the film. The film’s own website received 160 million hits in the first three months, astonishing at that point. By morning, Artisan Entertainment had acquired it for $1.1 million and added more post-production work, boosting the cost to a still modest $500,000.Īrtisan began screening at colleges to generate word of mouth, and “leaked” trailers to the Aint It Cool News website, then to MTV News.

The film screened in the Midnight section at Sundance on Jan. And in December, Endeavor agreed to rep the producers. Then Haxan Films created a website to answer questions about the film’s “missing” students. In a key move in 1998, before anyone had screened the film, they hired respected Los Angeles PR firm Clein + White. Directors Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez filmed for six days and nights in Maryland, on a budget pegged at $35,000.