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The Blair Witch Project 10 Years On with Directors Ed Sanchez and Dan Myrick
10 Years of 1999: The pair share their memories of making and releasing Blair Witch.
by Joe Utichi | January 28, 2009
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10 Years Since 1999

1999 was one of the most important years for modern cinema. From defining originals like The Matrix and Fight Club to sleeper favourites like Office Space and Election, 1999 was a landmark year for the internet generation of movie fans and set a high standard for the big screen as we headed into the new millennium. Ten years on, we're celebrating a remarkable twelve months of movies with new features around some of the year's best and most important releases.

Shot on a budget of just $22,000 by film school graduates Eduardo Sánchez and Daniel Myrick, The Blair Witch Project premiered at the Sundance Film Festival ten years ago this month and started a journey that dominated public consciousness for most of the year. It was an unprecedented success, holding the world record as the most profitable movie of all time after making more than $10,000 for every $1 spent, and became one of the most important horror films of all time. It spawned a wave of imitators both amateur and professional and is the cultural yardstick against which hoaxes, horrors and movies shot with a camcorder are measured.

Now, ten years on, as RT reveals an exclusive Behind the Scenes featurette revealing how the project was put together, we reunite directors Eduardo Sánchez and Daniel Myrick to share their memories of making and releasing the film, as well as their plans for more from the Blair Witch franchise...

The Blair Witch Project

Eduardo Sánchez:
Dan and I went to film school in Orlando together and we started hanging out and we really dug each other's films. This was in the early nineties. The Friday the 13th series had really run its course and Nightmare on Elm Street was starring Roseanne and Tom Arnold. There was a really a lull in horror movies at the time and Dan and I just started talking about the films we really liked and we had a lot in common. We started kicking around the idea of doing a very realistic film about something happening to these explorers and them filming their own journey. The best idea we came up with was for Blair Witch and at the time it was called The Woods Movie.

Daniel Myrick:
When Ed and I first got together with the idea we spent quite a bit of time outlining the film from a structural standpoint. We wanted all the story beats to be in there and for it to follow a narrative path, so we had a pretty detailed -- almost hour-to-hour -- shooting outline for what the characters would be going through throughout their journey. We had a pretty good idea of what the characters needed to do, but a looser idea of exactly who they were. Their personalities where what the actors brought to the characters. During shooting it was a very collaborative experience of us guiding them through the woods and allowing them to explore their characters on their own. If they strayed too far off the narrative path, Ed and I used this directors' notes system we worked out to steer them back in the right direction.

The Blair Witch Project

Eduardo Sánchez:
Between the actors there were a lot of real arguments and emotions in there. Heather, in particular, I don't know if it was because of the kind of character she decided to be out there, or if the guys were playing it up a bit, but she did get on Josh's and Mike's nerves a lot. We spent some time trying to calm Josh and Mike down and steer Heather into being more accommodating of the guys. But once we got the footage, and there was about 20 hours of footage, a lot of it was them arguing with each other. I'd say about 50%, in fact! We had to whittle it down and create the whole idea that there was tension between Mike and Heather when there was actually a lot more tension between Heather and Josh. That's really where the film was born -- as Dan and I went through all that footage. It could have gone a million ways.

Daniel Myrick:
Taking the film to Sundance was, for us, the moment where we got some validation as filmmakers. After all the work, when you get into Sundance you can at least start to feel like you've been accepted. It was a big part of the experience for us and being there for the premiere was really kind-of surreal. We were really thrown into the blender right off the bat. We were the first film that sold there, and the next thing we know we're doing interviews for Premiere magazine and photoshoots and all the rest. It all happened so quickly and it snowballed from there. We were elated, excited, exhausted and complete virgins to this film sales phenomenon that happens at Sundance. That was really when the film took on a national awareness that lead us into Cannes later on, which is when things really went crazy. But Sundance was special because you'll only ever sell your first film once, and there we were, deep in the snow, taking this journey together. Blair just took on a life of its own from there.

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Comments (1-20 of 29 posts) | Reply
Speaker for the Films
Speaker for the Films writes:
on Jan 28 2009 06:52 AM

Are we going to do this every year from now on? Cause this could really be cool.

(Reply to this)
Joe Utichi
Joe Utichi writes:
on Jan 28 2009 07:01 AM

We're testing the water with '99, since that was such a huge year for modern movies, but if it goes down well I'd certainly love to do more retrospective features. Perhaps even for 25th, 30th anniversaries etc. I had an AWFUL lot of fun working on these couple of features for this film, getting to cover a movie that had a big effect on me as a young moviegoer, so I really hope everyone digs them too.

(Reply to this)
blattman
blattman writes:
on Jan 28 2009 07:55 AM

I went to Blair Witch first day, first show. I think I was more pissed off at the shakey cam after an hour as it got old pretty fast. I really wanted to see the witch,at least once for a pay off. The last scene is the only thing that was chilling. Overall, it is a noteworthy part of film history.

(Reply to this)
steve d.
steve d. writes:
on Jan 28 2009 08:32 AM

i wanted to give the camera guy some pot to chill him out so the camera would stop shaking! agree with blattman, last scene was really the only horror part. i snoozed thru the rest.

(Reply to this)
Andy B.
Andy B. writes:
on Jan 28 2009 09:21 AM

I would love to read more about the marketing of the film. Did Sanchez and Myrick have any input in the advertising? I especially remember a fake Blair Witch documentary on the Sci-fi channel prior to the film's release. A lot of people (myself included) were convinced for a while that the film really was based on actual events. How did that marketing angle come together?

(Reply to this)
nathanpoitras
nathanpoitras writes:
on Jan 28 2009 09:42 AM

The only thing I really hated about The Blair Witch Project was The Blair Witch Project 2! It kinda ruined the original for me.

(Reply to this)
ledawg1138
ledawg1138 writes:
on Jan 28 2009 09:48 AM

"Blair Witch Project", scariest film I've seen. Even though it's really only scary the first time, but whatever. How it was nominated for Worst Picture I'll know. Great, for lack of better word, fun.

(Reply to this)
Elixor
Elixor writes:
on Jan 28 2009 09:59 AM

I agree with Andy B, that the marketing effort IS what made this movie great. There were plenty of people who believed that this movie was real footage when they first saw it and was what got to people. It was a single shot shotgun of a movie, but it packed a punch for sure.

(Reply to this)
jrod1978
jrod1978 writes:
on Jan 28 2009 10:17 AM

My opinion, one of the most overated movies I've ever seen. Everyone was hyping this up as one of the scariest movies in years, but quite frankly, I was bored. The only thing I remember from it was one of my friends was getting motion sickness in the theater from the shaken cam.

(Reply to this)
tomwaitsjr
tomwaitsjr writes:
on Jan 28 2009 10:31 AM

I hated the shaky cam, I was bored, and the girl was too stupid and bitchy.

(Reply to this)
gambit37
gambit37 writes:
on Jan 28 2009 11:00 AM

"Cannibal Holocaust" did the same concept earlier and better, but would be much harder for mainstream audiences.

(Reply to this)
gambit37
gambit37 writes:
on Jan 28 2009 11:04 AM

"Cannibal Holocaust" did the same concept earlier and better, but would be much harder for mainstream audiences.

(Reply to this)
Funkmaster Flex
Funkmaster Flex writes:
on Jan 28 2009 12:01 PM

I've never even seen that movie.

(Reply to this)
Hamboner
Hamboner writes:
on Jan 28 2009 01:38 PM

Mike Williams grew up near me. I have no idea what he does with himself now. Nice guy though, he'dhave bands play at his house sometimes. Cool stuff.

(Reply to this)
collex
collex writes:
on Jan 28 2009 01:44 PM

Just curious: what make 1999 such a huge year for modern movies more than 1998, or 1997, or 1996, or 1995 etc.?

I mean, Blair Witch isn't such an innovative movie as far as I can tell. It didn't really change the horror genre like say, Halloween did. (But then, I haven't even see it. Looked soooo boring, even in 1999)



(Reply to this)
TrajanCavalous
TrajanCavalous writes:
on Jan 28 2009 01:59 PM

It's funny hearing some folks rag on Blair Witch as being not scary. In the theater when it came out people freaked over this movie. Like others have said it obviously packs the most punch the first time and it looks and works best in a theater.
I don't think I heard so many screams in a theater until years later watching the *SPOILER*

boyfriend get it near the end of The Ring.


(Reply to this)
woundedmakers
woundedmakers writes:
on Jan 28 2009 02:05 PM

In reply to this comment (#2288259)
Hell yes- Cannibal Holocaust is wayyyy better all around-with one HELL of a payoff!...and the camera work is much more tolerable for all of you shakey cam whiners out there.

As for the Blair Witch Project--it scared the crap out of me- when I thought it was real. Now, its just...well, boring.


(Reply to this)
Tyrant
Tyrant writes:
on Jan 28 2009 02:35 PM

In reply to this comment (#2288233)
That also describes my experience in it. I'm sure it's great for some people, but not for me at all.

(Reply to this)
Tyrant
Tyrant writes:
on Jan 28 2009 02:36 PM

In reply to this comment (#2288233)
erm *with it

(Reply to this)
nathanpoitras
nathanpoitras writes:
on Jan 28 2009 02:45 PM

I don't remember 1999 being all that great for movies, but 1994 was probably the best year of the past 30 years or so.

(Reply to this)
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