then The Blair Witch Project After the movie premiered, the producers desperately searched for their star. They distributed “missing persons” fliers featuring the three main actors at the Sundance Film Festival, imploring anyone with information to call the local sheriff. The film’s website shows video of police conducting investigative interviews, while the IMDb page lists the actor as “missing, presumed dead.”
However, the actors are not dead or missing. Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams and Joshua Leonard – whose real names are used in the film per their contracts – are still alive but were forced to lay low for several months in order to Let fans believe the horrors in the movie are real. This was one of the earliest examples of viral marketing for a movie, and it was extremely successful.
As the film’s fame grew, Artisan Entertainment (which acquired the film for $1.1 million at Sundance) banned Donohue’s publicist from booking her for interviews. Leonard was heavily criticized for accepting another independent film role. Williams accepted a job as a furniture mover, unable to get any other acting opportunities while playing dead.
The marketing plan was so convincing that when Artisan Entertainment surveyed moviegoers, 50% believed The Blair Witch Project It is true. The program helped the film become a blockbuster, grossing more than $248 million worldwide on a $35,000 budget and earning the film the Guinness World Record for highest grossing.
As the film passed the $100 million mark, Donahue, Williams and Leonard believed that by coming out of hiding, they would finally get their dues as actors who shot, improvised and brought the story to life . They recently told us that instead they got a fruit basket type.
The three actors, all in their early 20s and Hollywood outsiders at the time, took on the independent film for $500 a week. Now they’re middle-aged, working jobs like high school counselors and marijuana growers, and are ready to sue, or tell everyone typeto get a small share of the profits they say corporate executives defrauded them.
“You can’t take care of the people you love.”
When young actors first signed on, they didn’t give much thought to the clause requiring them to use their real names in the film. After all, the movie was just another indie movie with a ridiculous premise that allowed them to gain on-set experience and offered them a meager salary of $500 a week (they shot over eight days).
“I did a lot of unpaid work,” Williams told type. “It says ‘Paid’ on it, so you think, ‘Oh, maybe I can become a professional.'”
Donoghue said another provision offered them the opportunity to profit, which at the time seemed “ridiculous”. If the project nets more than $1 million, the actor is entitled to “a share of one percent (1%) of profits in excess of $1,000,000.”
Of course, the film ended up making far more than $1 million in profit. But 1% is a minuscule number, and since actors’ real names are tied to their roles, they have a hard time finding casting directors who take them seriously. Actors found themselves poor but famous: working for their own agents, or breaking down in old cars under giant advertising boards with their faces emblazoned on them.
For the actor, the result was both humiliating and ironic. Williams burst into tears during game type In an interview, he explained how difficult it was to explain his situation to others.
“I’m embarrassed that this happened to me,” Williams said. “You have to put that stuff away, because if you can’t, you’re a loser. Because everyone wants to know what happened, and your wife is in line at the grocery store and can’t pay because the check bounced. You’re Being in the middle of the most successful independent film of all time and not being able to care for the people you love.
at the end of summer vacation The Blair Witch Project After its release, the actors’ “performance improvements” reached five figures. Meanwhile, Lionsgate has acquired Artisan and then Blumhouse, continuing to profit from their names and likenesses and produce new, profitable sequels.
In the mid-2000s, Donohue brought her two partners together to sue Artisan, eventually reaching a $300,000 settlement that would be paid to each of them over several years. Meanwhile, production company Haxan The Blair Witch ProjectThe film is estimated to have earned “$35 million to $40 million.” New York Times.
Last month, the three actors wrote an open letter asking Lionsgate to pay them the remainder of the money, which “would have been equivalent to being paid through American Actors had we had proper union or legal representation while the film was being made.” The union and the Association of Broadcasters have also asked for “meaningful consultation” on any further issues. Blair Witch Derivatives utilizing their name or likeness. They also requested a grant of $60,000 per year (original amount) Blair Witch Lionsgate pays an annual budget to unknown filmmakers).
The trio’s message to young actors: “Don’t do what we did.”
“I’m so grateful for what I have now and how hard I worked to get it,” Williams said. type.“But it still affects me. I buried it all. Big companies don’t care that this happens to young artists. It’s bullshit. This has to change somehow.
