YouTube Short Film Director Gets $30 Million Deal

Federico Alvarez' short film Panic Attack! hit YouTube last month and became the latest example of viral video, a term I genuinely despise because studios have co-opted the idea to try to force marketing maneuvers to "go viral." Doesn't work that way. But Alvarez' short, produced for $300, has already grabbed over 1.5 million hits, the attention of Sam Raimi, and now, a $30 million contract for Alvarez to develop a feature film. The BBC reports that the deal has been consumated, although based on the success of something like Paranormal Activity, the amount may seem quite high, given what Alvarez was able to accomplish for 1/100,000th of the new contract. There is some symmetry here, though, because $30 million was what director Neill Blomkamp used to create District 9 with producer Peter Jackson. And there are some real similarities between the two sci-fi projects. "I uploaded (Panic Attack!) on a Thursday and on Monday my inbox was totally full of e-mails from Hollywood studios," Alvarez said. "It was amazing, we were all shocked." The director says, however, he's not interested in making a feature version of Panic Attack!, choosing to start from scratch on a new story. I'm not sure why, frankly, especially given the money involved, but maybe Raimi saw enough of his talent to give Alvarez the chance of a lifetime. Who knows whether or not he'll return to this story down the line.We shared the video the week after it was posted online, but in case you missed it, here it is again:

Comments

[Chad]

i heard about it and was like hey maybe i could do that. Then i saw the video and i was like No WAY i could do that. Do you have any idea how he did that? I was blown away because it said 300 dollars. How did he pay for the special effects for that? Studios are paying i dont know how much for effects. Im also assuming this took more than a week to finish this movie. I really don't understand how it was done. But im like wow

[J]

I, too, was impressed by the film. However, I wonder where they got the $300 figure. Did they factor in the exchange rate, or not? According to my handy on-line exchange rate calculator, $300 comes out to just under 6000 Uruguayan Pesos. Regardless, it's still a very fine accomplishment.

[Jeremy]

Not really sure how they'd turn this into a whole movie anyway, but nonetheless this guy has a serious talent, and given the success of District 9 it's no suprise he's getting that much money. I for one can't wait to see what gets cooked up from this.

[Jeff]

A deal like that doesn't pay the artist $30 million - that would be the potential budget for a film that could be produced if the idea that he creates passes through all the various hoops that a film must pass in order to be made. Nonethless, to be discovered in this way is a big accomplishment that could lead to the beginning of a successful career.