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Post by The Ultimate Nullifier on Mar 24, 2015 8:40:49 GMT -6
www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/paramount-downgrades-low-budget-insurge-783745Paramount Pictures is dismantling its microbudget film branch Insurge Pictures, reducing it from a separate division although it intends to keep the name for use as a label on future genre pictures. Amy Powell, who was hired as president of Insurge Pictures when it launched in 2010, will focus on her TV and digital responsibilities as president of Paramount TV and Digital Entertainment, sources confirm. She was originally put in charge of Insurge after her success on digital marketing with the Paranormal Activity films. On the TV front, Paramount is currently working on such projects as Grease Live and Minority with Fox; School of Rock with Nickelodeon; and Shooter with USA. The other executives at Insurge Pictures will be integrated into the film team under Mark Evans, the new president of the studio's motion picture group. Paramount, which has been trimming back on staff as part of parent company Viacom's restructuring, will continue to use the Insurge label on some genre films. The news comes on the heels of Adam Goodman's exit as president of the studio's motion picture group after a six-year stint in the role. Evans was promoted to Goodman's old post last week. Insurge was launched in 2010 to serve as the studio's microbudget film distributor following the strong success of the Paranormal Activities series. Some of its releases included Katy Perry: Part of Me, The Devil Inside, Project Almanac and the upcoming Valencia.
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Post by The Ultimate Nullifier on Mar 24, 2015 10:14:33 GMT -6
variety.com/2015/film/news/paramounts-insurge-gets-absorbed-bad-robots-the-cellar-moves-to-big-studio-1201458545/Paramount’s Insurge Gets Absorbed; Bad Robot’s ‘The Cellar’ Moves to Big Studio Paramount Pictures is folding it microbudget division Insurge into its main movie studio, forcing the label’s president Amy Powell to give up all film duties. The only film on Insurge’s slate, Bad Robot/Insurge thriller “The Cellar,” starring John Goodman, will be released under the big Paramount banner. Of the division’s three remaining staffers, two will now report to newly appointed president of production Marc Evans. Powell will now answer to Paramount chairman and CEO Brad Grey and focus on TV and digital projects, with one other staffer moving with her. Powell is currently overseeing four pilots including “School of Rock” at Nickelodeon (which was ordered at right to series), “Minority Report” at Fox and “Shooter” at USA. New hire Dina Hillier will join Powell as an exec focused on scripted comedy. On March 13, Variety asked Paramount whether the studio was shuttering Insurge, and Par spokeswoman Katie Martin Kelly said that it was “utterly untrue.” The news comes only weeks after president of production Adam Goodman was fired and replaced by Evans, and the sense around the lot was that more dominoes could still fall. Several sources who had business with Insurge told Variety they had already began reassessing further development on some projects based on the rumblings of the division’s demise. Insurge launched following the success of “Paranormal Activity” in 2010 in hopes of delivering low-risk products at smaller budgets with a high profitability potential. The division saw early success with pics like “The Devil Inside,” which overperformed with $101 million worldwide, but subsequent movies struggled. The division’s most recent pic, “Project Almanac,” disappointed at the box office, and except for “The Cellar,” no other project was even close to a greenlight from the studio. This is the second niche label, after Paramount Vantage, that the Viacom-owned studio has failed to turn into a viable business. TheWrap first reported the news about Insurge.
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