What every creative can learn from Blumhouse producer Jason Blum
Plus National Novel writing month.
Pinch, punch, first of the month! It’s November 1st, All Hallows Day, the aftermath of Halloween. How was your night yesterday?
After having to put out a ‘Sorry - All Out of Sweets’ notice on our front door last year, I stockpiled packets of Haribo this year, only to have a lower turnout of Trick or Treaters. I’ll be eating gummy cola bottles until Christmas….
We also went to watch Five Nights At Freddy’s which has broken Halloween records at the box office; making more than Killers of the Flower Moon, Trolls Band Together and Taylor Swift’s cinematic Eras tour combined, this weekend at UK cinemas.
As a movie - FNAF is fun. It’s got a great cast including Peter from The Hunger Games and Matthew Lillard from Scream although it’s a bit slow and needed a more coherent storyline. But hats off to anyone making $130 million in their opening weekend from a $20m budget. That’s smart film-making and keeps cinemas open and film-makers in business.
The producer of Five Nights at Freddy’s is Jason Blum, who is shaping up to be one of Hollywood’s most influential players. If you’re even half-way interested in movie-making, read up on him. His business model, I believe, is the future of the entertainment industry.
Here’s what he does and why everyone should take note.