Paranormal Activity producer to appear on film panel

The producer of Paranormal Activity, the horror film shot for US$15,000 (Dh 55,095) but which grossed $192 million (Dh 702m), will be part of a panel at this week's Circle Conference in Abu Dhabi.

Jason Blum, the president of Blumhouse Productions, will appear at the conference, which centres on film production and financing. Paranormal Activity is one of the most profitable films of all time. Blum will be part of a panel entitled 'Funding Independent Features in a Global Market'.

The fourth edition of the Circle Conference is held between October 13-15, and runs concurrently with the opening of the Abu Dhabi Film Festival. This year's keynote speakers are the Tunisian financier and producer Tarak Ben Ammar, and American producer Ed Pressman, whose credits include Wall Street and Conan the Barbarian. Nicholas Chartier, the Oscar-winning producer of The Hurt Locker, will be part of a panel about success stories in Middle East film. The panel will presented by HRH Princess Rym Ali of Jordan, who is a board member for the Royal Film Commission in Jordan.

The conference will also include a discussion on women in film, and will culminate in the presentation of The Shasha Grant, a US$100,000 grant towards the development of a film script.

Participation at the conference had almost doubled to 600 guests, up from 350 last year, according to David Shepheard, the director of the Abu Dhabi Film Commission (ADFC), which organises the event.

bflanagan@thenational.ae