Blair Witch's online magic
By Michael Eskenazi, Reuters - July 30,
1999 4:20 PM PT
LOS ANGELES - The summer sleeper "The Blair Witch Project" has crept
into popular consciousness like a spell cast over theatergoers -- due in part to a little
cyberspace hocus pocus. While the $25,000 horror flick's marketing approach has
raised eyebrows in Hollywood boardrooms, Internet circles are rife with talk its rookie
filmmakers brewed up intense online buzz about the film, helping it smash per-screen box
office records in limited distribution.
With minimal traditional advertising, "The Blair Witch Project" has
garnered nearly $65,000 per screen in its second week, while no other film -- including
major releases like "Eyes Wide Shut" -- exceeded $10,000 per screen. This
weekend, the film will move from 30 screens to about 1,000 nationwide.
"The biggest factor in the approach to this film is that its Web page
existed for a long while before the film was released," Kevin Foxe, the film's
executive producer, told Reuters.
Weaving a web of hype
Little else is known for sure about the movie that since its birth has blurred
the line between fiction and reality.
An article in online magazine Salon.com suggested the filmmakers themselves
could be behind some of the more than 20 "Blair Witch" Web site rings, which are
supposedly created by fans of the project.
"Whoever was doing it, the reviews were working. How else to account for
the increasing number of rabid fans whose postings began 'I've seen a tape of the Blair
Witch Project..'??? Particularly when the film's distributor was enforcing a strict
no-tapes policy," wrote Salon.com contributor Patrizia DiLucchio.
The film, made in the "mockumentary" tradition of Rob Reiner's
"This is Spinal Tap," is ostensibly about three film students who disappear in a
forest while searching for a fabled 200-year-old witch. It was conceived by University of
Central Florida Film School buddies Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sanchez, Greg Hale and Robin
Cowie.
In 1998, before a script had even been penned, Sanchez developed a Web site
about the fictitious Blair Witch to show his friends and showcase the project to potential
investors. As Web surfers found the site, the myth of the Blair Witch began to grow.
From start-up to Sundance and beyond
The project gained steam when independent film producer John Pierson devoted a
segment of his cable TV show "Split Screen" to it, including an eight-minute
short by the filmmakers and a mock history of the Blair Witch.
Viewers were never told that the so-called documentary was fiction, and the next
day hits on Sanchez's site began to blossom and other fan-generated Web sites appeared.
With the money they received for the "Split Screen" segment, the crew
financed a trip to Maryland for eight days of filming last June. It was all the footage
they would need.
The filmmakers hooked up with Foxe, who created a buzz about the project ahead
of January's Sundance Film Festival.
"The biggest part of the buzz was that we wouldn't let anyone see it,"
Foxe said. "That frustrated the press. People were calling me from the LA Times and
from Entertainment Weekly saying they'd spent four hours on the site, begging me for an
advanced screening. I'd just tell them 'you'll have to wait until Sundance.'"
"The Blair Witch Project" aired during Sundance's late night
"Park City at Midnight" slot. Los Angeles-based Artisan Entertainment quickly
bought the rights for $1 million.
Artisan took over the Web site, revamping it and turning it into an interactive
serial about the witch. Web surfers followed the story through biweekly installments
providing further clues. The film generated a strong following among college students; the
site has received over eight million hits.
Related URLs:
"The Blair
Witch Project" - Technique Helps Terrify Viewers
'Blair' scares off
'Bride' - Infobeat poll
Filmmaker Makes 'Blair
Witch' Claim
BlairWitch.com
Blair Witch Fanatics Site
Blair WItch CD
Blair
Witch Screensavers
R2D2
Blair Witch Parody
The Walt
Witch Parody
