Friday, October 14, 2022.
Four days earlier, Variety had published the interview they did with Owen, an interview that quickly gained significant attention:
Variety - October 11, 2022
By: Daniel F. Jenkins
Owen Ashford, the young filmmaker behind the surprise horror phenomenon that has already surpassed $50 million: "I never thought about selling my movie, I knew it had potential."
Through a video call from his apartment in Los Angeles, Owen Ashford appears relaxed, wearing a simple T-shirt and without the excitement one might expect from someone whose film has already passed the fifty-million mark at the box office.
At just 20 years old, Ashford is the actor, producer, screenwriter, and financier of Paranormal Activity, the independent horror film that has become the year's unexpected breakout. Released in early September, the movie has grossed over $50 million on a budget of just $20,000.
"From the very first day I knew it would be something different," Ashford says, recalling the shoot. "We could make something far better than anyone imagined with twenty thousand dollars. I was lucky to have Matt as director, he's very talented, and Sophie, a wonderful actress. Back then she wasn't having much luck with auditions, so I was fortunate to hire her," he adds with a restrained smile.
Even so, he admits he didn't foresee the size of the phenomenon. "Not quite… I really understood it could become something big when Palm Springs accepted it and it had an incredible reception."
A24, Blumhouse, and a key decision
During the conversation, Ashford confirms something that until now had only been rumors.
"Two studios were interested in buying the film," he says.
-Was one of them A24? And the other?
He pauses briefly, shrugs slightly, and answers, "Blumhouse. Yes, the rumors were true."
He recalls that moment as the one when he realized his project had real momentum. "When you get real offers from two major studios, you know something serious is happening."
The interviewer brings up Saw and The Blair Witch Project, classic examples of micro-budget films that exploded at the box office but whose creators didn't see major profits due to selling their rights too early.
"I kept that in mind," Ashford explains.
"I financed everything myself, so from the very beginning I knew I wasn't selling anything. If two studios want your movie, it's obvious they see potential. I wasn't looking for a one-time payment, I wanted to secure a percentage."
He doesn't go into numbers. He only says, with a smile, "Everyone talks about it now, there's no point in trying to hide it, even though I'd rather not give exact figures."
The unconventional path: from USC to independent filmmaking
"I auditioned, but it's a very competitive system. Hundreds of people for a single role," he says. "At some point I felt like I wasn't moving forward, so I decided to create the stories I had in my head and act in them the way I had always imagined."
He admits that choice was also influenced by a less glamorous episode: his departure from the University of Southern California.
"I was a USC student," he confirms.
-From the acting program? What happened?
"I dropped out… or rather, I was expelled," he answers without drama.
He explains that USC is an extremely demanding program. "You have to maintain a high GPA and be consistent. I was never known for that. My grades dropped a lot, I missed several classes, it was inevitable."
When asked whether he can salvage anything positive from that period, he thinks for a few seconds.
"Yes. Thanks to that I was able to write Paranormal Activity in peace," he finally says, laughing.
Then he clarifies, "Jokes aside, I did learn a few things. It opens your mind when you come from high school and realize you're not the center of the world. It was a short stage, but not entirely bad."
From creator to A24 lead actor
Beyond its box office success, Ashford sold a script to A24 that is about to begin filming, one he also managed to star in.
-Does being the screenwriter help when it comes to landing the role?
"I think so," he admits. "A24 owns all the rights and they could have hired anyone they wanted. But they chose me. When I auditioned, I had a different understanding of the character. I wrote him. And he also has elements based on my own story, so my insight is deeper. The director notices that, and it always helps."
An unusual future for a 20-year-old
While Paranormal Activity continues to grow in theaters and his YouTube short films accumulate tens of millions of views, Ashford is certain he wants to keep writing, acting, and producing, with work, instinct, and a surprisingly mature intuition for his age.
"For now, I'm enjoying everything that's happening," he says before saying goodbye. "And trying to stay focused. There's still a lot left to do."
…
Since surpassing fifty million dollars, Paranormal Activity continued growing at a steady pace. The domestic drop was moderate, expected for a horror film in its fifth weekend, but overseas the film kept expanding strongly after its international rollout on September 29.
Everything indicated it would hold solidly through Halloween and finish its commercial run in the first days of November.
The weekend of October 7-9 added $9.2 million globally, and during the week, from the 10th to the 13th, it brought in another $3.7 million, reaching a total of $65.7 million.
The interview published by Variety on October 11 further boosted the project's visibility. Owen's name kept circulating on social media, which helped increase his following.
His YouTube channel was less than fifty thousand subscribers away from reaching 1.5 million.
Lights Out had already surpassed 30 million views, while One-Minute Time Machine reached 12.4 million.
On Instagram, Owen was nearing 1,200,000 followers, and on Twitter he was closing in on 450,000.
And with the interview spreading, comments quickly began to appear:
@blooz06:
He got expelled from USC and now he has a movie with over $60 million at the box office... Inspiring and chaotic at the same time.
@EstherKI:
"If two studios want your movie, it's obvious they see potential. I wasn't looking for a one-time payment."
Good choice, long-term thinking.
@michael5862:
I can't believe they kicked him out of USC for poor academic performance. Bro, you've accomplished more than all your former classmates combined 😂🔥
@JVc_studios:
Paranormal Activity is officially this decade's Blair Witch.
@carrieandowenforever:
I love how he answers everything so casually. He doesn't seem aware of the creative monster he's becoming. I adore him.
@spcywolrds:
I got expelled from my film school too. Right now I only have debt and zero success… This guy makes me feel a lot of things.
@JennaO_fan6:
If it weren't for the Variety article, I wouldn't have even known he also wrote The Spectacular Now. How is it possible for a 20-year-old to do ALL of this?
@rowasway:
As a former USC student who also got expelled, it gave me a dark kind of joy to know he was too.
@NYUFilm77:
The secret brotherhood of film-school dropouts.
@MusikEliot337:
USC must be banging their heads against a wall right now.
@IrinaMawlek:
The part where he says Sophie wasn't getting auditions and he "was lucky to hire her" is adorable 😭
@Benstrid2001:
That's a classy way of saying "I saw her talent when nobody else did."
@haileydepark459:
Is it just me or does this guy sound like someone who's going to win an Oscar before he's 30?
…
"What are you reading?"
Elijah lifted his eyes from his phone at the sound of Cristian's voice. They were in one of the rehearsal rooms at A24's offices in Los Angeles, a place where the director practically lived ever since he'd been hired for The Spectacular Now.
There were about fifteen minutes left before Owen and Jenna would arrive for the final rehearsal before flying to Georgia the next day.
"About Owen," Elijah replied, setting his phone down on the table. "Can you believe he got expelled from USC?" he added in a tone of disbelief.
For nearly two weeks, Elijah had spent between three and five hours a day working with Owen and Jenna. That had allowed him to get to know them on a deeper level.
He had already seen Owen during the audition, of course, and he hadn't hesitated then: he was perfect for the role. His performance was solid, he understood every nuance of the script because he had written it himself, and he was almost the exact age for the character, twenty years old, just three years older than Sutter.
To Elijah, choosing anyone else would have been absurd, and there was something about Owen that felt familiar.
When Elijah directed Timothée Chalamet in Hot Summer Nights, the actor had also been twenty and at an early stage in his career.
Elijah had written that script in 2013, when he was only twenty-six, and it was featured on the Black List that same year. A24 acquired it and production didn't begin until 2015. The film ended up premiering in 2017, much later than originally planned.
During the shoot, Timothée wasn't yet the phenomenon he would become after Call Me By Your Name and Lady Bird. He earned around thirty-five thousand dollars for the role, a reasonable figure for a young, unknown talent. By the time the film came out, he was already Hollywood's new golden boy, an Oscar-nominated actor under twenty-five.
Elijah couldn't help drawing certain parallels: age, talent, that youthful energy, but there were also huge differences.
Owen wasn't arriving as a promise, but as a media phenomenon.
He had written, financed, and starred in a twenty-thousand-dollar film that had already grossed more than sixty-five million at the box office, something that hadn't happened since The Blair Witch Project. And on top of that, he had managed to keep the intellectual property. That wasn't something you saw every day.
For that reason, in terms of attention and reputation, Owen was much better known than Timothée had been in 2015 when he was twenty. And of course, Owen's salary for this new film was far higher than what Timothée received for his first leading role.
And it wasn't like Owen had a long career behind him: he had been working in the industry for less than ten months. He was also the screenwriter of this film, which gave him an additional layer of influence within the project.
"Crazy, right?" Cristian commented with a slight smile. He had known Owen for a few months and already knew that part of his story. Even so, it still surprised him, and in a way, it was a relief to see he wasn't the only one reacting that way.
"Yeah…" Elijah said, sighing as he locked his phone. "How does someone who works with such professionalism get expelled from school for low grades and for showing up late to class?" he added, still incredulous.
In the two weeks he had been working with him, he hadn't seen a single late arrival, not a hint of disorganization, not even a trace of ego.
Owen accepted every note, listened, and worked with focus. With Jenna, he had found chemistry and rhythm immediately, he was respectful and collaborative. Nothing about him matched the image of a disinterested or problematic student.
That way of working seemed to Elijah just as surprising as everything else.
"Who knows…" Cristian said, shrugging. "Maybe he just didn't like the academic side. Art history, film history, theoretical assignments… those subjects can be heavy for some people. Some just want to jump straight into the practical part, acting or creating. Keeping a high GPA at USC isn't for everyone."
Elijah nodded, unsure whether that clarified or complicated his perception of the boy.
At that moment, footsteps and voices could be heard coming from the hallway. The door was slightly open, so Elijah and Cristian recognized Jenna's and Owen's voices. They were chatting in a relaxed, natural tone, the kind of camaraderie they had built during the last rehearsals.
A second later, the door opened fully and both of them walked in, ready to begin. They greeted them, settled in, and started working without wasting any more time.
The rehearsal moved forward with the same fluidity as the previous ones. Adjustments in tone, some run-throughs of key scenes, small corrections, and deeper readings Elijah wanted to reinforce before the trip.
After several hours, the rehearsal came to an end. Almost without Owen realizing it, the trip to Georgia arrived faster than expected.
On Sunday afternoon, he and the rest of the team were already settled in the hotel, getting ready for the intense days ahead.
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