They Believed In the Magic

By Jeffrey Ressner

If a blockbuster falls in the woods, does anybody hear it? When movie buyers first saw The Blair Witch Project at January's Sundance Film Festival, the silence from bidders was deafening. Some bored viewers even walked out during the premiere; others were too afraid to walk home afterward. The acquisitions team of independent studio Artisan Entertainment also felt divided, but figured the cheapo horror flick had at least enough potential to justify an offer of $1.1 million for worldwide rights. With U.S. box office now climbing toward $100 million, it may have been the smartest deal since Peter Minuit bought Manhattan for a handful of trinkets.

Regarded, until now, as a Hollywood fringe player, Artisan hopes to define itself as a brash alternative to the established indies. "We don't want to be another Miramax or New Line," says co-president Amir Malin, formerly co-president of October Films. "We want to be involved with hip, off-center movies that skew toward younger audiences between 18 and 35." Artisan, which is run by the triumvirate of Malin, longtime agent Bill Block and Mark Curcio, a former consultant to Artisan's majority backer, Bain Capital, rose in 1997 from the ashes of a firm that held video rights to Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Total Recall. The company gets its primary income from a film library of 6,600 titles that generates an annual $35 million in cash flow, but it scored its first cult hit with 1998's dark fantasy Pi. Coming are more genre films, including Roman Polanski's The Ninth Gate, as well as works from directors Atom Egoyan, Steven Soderbergh and Jim Jarmusch.

For now, though, Artisan is basking in its good fortune with Blair Witch. Its executives plan to meet with the filmmakers this week to discuss sequels and prequels. The film's success has even earned Artisan higher visibility on Wall Street, where there's been talk of an IPO or debt offering. In at least one way, however, Artisan does hope to emulate its chief indie rival, Miramax. "In five years' time," says Block, "we certainly want to win an Academy Award for Best Picture." Blair Witch in Love, anyone?

--By Jeffrey Ressner