Jason Blum is the founder and CEO of Blumhouse Productions, a multi-media production company that has pioneered a new model of studio filmmaking- producing high-quality micro-budget films for wide release.
Since its launch in 2000, Blumhouse has produced more than 30 feature films including the highly-profitable Paranormal Activity franchise, Sinister and Insidious.
In the past two years, Blumhouse, a director driven company that helps filmmakers like Scott Derrickson and James Wan tell genre stories that they are passionate about, has produced five movies that out grossed their budgets on opening weekend.
On October 12th, 2012 Blumhouse’s Sinister, directed and co-written by Scott Derrickson and starring Ethan Hawke for Lionsgate/Summit, debuted and earned six times its $3 million budget on opening weekend. The following weekend, October 19th, Blumhouse’s Paranormal Activity 4 debuted to over $50 million worldwide.
In 2011, Blumhouse produced James Wan’s Insidious which had a budget of $1.5m and grossed close to $100m worldwide and Paranormal Activity 3, which had a budget of $5m and grossed over $200m worldwide.
Blum’s first production following the high-quality micro-budget model was the original Paranormal Activity, which was made for $15,000, released by Paramount Pictures, and grossed close to $200 million worldwide, making it the most profitable film in the history of Hollywood. The sequel Paranormal Activity 2, grossed close to $170 million worldwide, setting additional box-office records.
The company’s next movie is the Scott Stewart directed Dark Skies for Alliance/Dimension which opens on February 22nd, 2013.
Since announcing a first-look deal with Universal Pictures, Blumhouse has wrapped production on The Purge with Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes and Mockingbird, directed by Bryan Bertino. Blumhouse has also wrapped on Jessabelle for Lionsgate.
For Halloween in 2012, Blumhouse built The Blumhouse of Horrors, an innovative and frightening haunted house experience in the heart of downtown Los Angeles. Blumhouse’s Los Angeles-based movie production team used its expertise in horror film production, storytelling, and movie set design to transform the Variety Arts Theater into a fully-immersive and chillingly intense Halloween attraction.
In addition, Blumhouse has a first-look television deal with Lionsgate and is working on both scripted and non-scripted projects. Blumhouse executive produced The River for ABC and is also working on projects with HBO, MTV and Syfy.
Previously, Blumhouse has had deals with Paramount Pictures, Alliance, Miramax and HBO Films. From 1995 to 2000, Jason served as co-head of the Acquisitions and Co-Productions department at Miramax Films in New York. At Miramax, he was instrumental in acquiring over 50 films including The Others, Smoke Signals, A Walk On the Moon and The House of Yes.
Blum’s credits also include: The Tooth Fairy, starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, The Reader, for which Kate Winslet won an Academy Award; Hysterical Blindness, starring Uma Thurman, which aired on HBO and garnered Thurman a Golden Globe Award; and Hamlet starring Ethan Hawke, Bill Murray, Sam Shepard and Kyle MacLachlan.
Blum began his career as the producing director of the Malaparte theater company, which was founded by Ethan Hawke. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the New Group Theater in New York City.
