At first glance, there is nothing particularly special about Jason Blum. He makes low-cost horror films that sell a lot of tickets. Producers have been getting rich from that formula for decades: rinse (the fake blood) and repeat.Adelaide Kaine in \u201cThe Purge,\u201d a Blumhouse Productions film that cost $3 million to make and took in $87 million.<\/p>\n
But start adding the numbers, and Mr. Blum, 44, becomes interesting in a hurry. Over the last five years, for production costs totaling a mere $27 million, his company, Blumhouse Productions, has churned out eight hit horror films \u2014 including \u201cParanormal Activity,\u201d \u201cSinister\u201d and \u201cThe Purge\u201d \u2014 that have taken in $1.1 billion at the worldwide box office. \u201cInsidious: Chapter 2,\u201d for instance, cost $5 million to make and last month sold $116.5 million in tickets.<\/p>\n
To achieve low budgets while attracting high-caliber actors and directors, Mr. Blum uses an unusual business model. Established directors and stars work for union scale. In success, profits are shared. \u201cSo basically people work for free,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd we don\u2019t do frills. Everyone\u2019s trailer on the set is the same: nonexistent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not all his movies have been successful. Disappointments have included Catherine Hardwicke\u2019s \u201cPlush,\u201d which made a total of $3,080 and cost about $2 million. But because of the growth in global video-on-demand and streaming services, even the movies that do not succeed at the box office have a good chance of earning back their low costs. Some of the duds even end up turning a profit for distributors.<\/p>\n
Blumhouse movies, some of which rely on bouncy camera work and surveillance-style video, seem tailor-made for an audience raised on flip-phone cameras, reality TV and YouTube. And horror movies, which tend to do especially well among Hispanics and blacks, have been a bright spot lately for an otherwise troubled North American box office.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is always amazing when a producer can capture a niche so completely,\u201d said Peter Schlessel, the departing chief executive of FilmDistrict, which has distributed Mr. Blum\u2019s \u201cInsidious\u201d series.<\/p>\n
Mr. Blum\u2019s success has led to no small amount of envy among rival producers, while prompting some studio executives to wince at the degree to which he is exposing their inefficiencies. The big studios have been in hot pursuit of the opposite strategy recently \u2014 spending more to make more \u2014 leading to a cycle of bloat and steep losses on films like \u201cR.I.P.D.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Blum, a son of the art dealer Irving Blum, is hyper, witty, serially punctual and charming. He can be a bit of a gossip. One of his best friends is Ethan Hawke, who has starred in two of his films. People often describe Mr. Blum as \u201cquirky,\u201d which is not entirely accurate, although he did spend $25,000 to turn an old Chevy Astro van into a mobile office. An assistant chauffeurs him between studio meetings while he answers e-mail, talks on his cellphone and screens film on a 36-inch flat-screen TV.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m visiting studios; I\u2019m visiting agencies \u2014 television. I\u2019m out pitching a lot of TV at the moment, a ton, actually,\u201d he said in his mile-a-minute way on a recent trip down Venice Boulevard, his feet propped up on a cushion.<\/p>\n
Mr. Blum is trying to expand his low-cost, share-in-the-rewards business model to the small screen. He has two series on the air and seven scripted and unscripted shows in the works at various networks.<\/p>\n
People close to him say his motivation seems to go beyond money. Mr. Blum\u2019s father helped change the art world by giving Andy Warhol one of his first shows; he wants to prove that he can change Hollywood, or at least a corner of it.<\/p>\n
Still, the sustainability of the Blumhouse empire remains a question. Mr. Blum came along just as horror fans were tiring of \u201cSaw\u201d-style torture films. Eventually, audiences may also tire of his brand. Moreover, every successful producer has at one time or another seen a hot hand turn cold \u2014 look no further than Jerry Bruckheimer, fresh off the disastrous \u201cLone Ranger.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHistorically speaking, the audience eventually moves on,\u201d said Harold L. Vogel, an analyst and author of the textbook \u201cEntertainment Industry Economics.\u201d \u201cI don\u2019t think there is any exception.\u201d<\/p>\n
And nobody becomes successful in Hollywood without rubbing some people the wrong way. Mr. Blum\u2019s relationship with Paramount Pictures, which controls the horror franchise that propelled him, \u201cParanormal Activity,\u201d has been frosty at times, with executives chafing over what they see as attention-grabbing. (\u201cParamount has been a great partner,\u201d Mr. Blum responded.)<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the price of success,\u201d said Mr. Schlessel, who is taking over the top job at Focus Features, the specialty division of Universal Pictures. \u201cThis is a competitive business and, to some degree, a zero-sum game.\u201d Mr. Schlessel\u2019s advice for surviving it: \u201cHe has to stay humble and he has to stay hungry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Blum, who is sometimes compared to Roger Corman, the low-budget B-movie kingpin, understands the challenges. But he does not have time to ruminate on them. Blumhouse is on fire.