My Ideal Director

Oren Peli

Oren Peli started out as a computer software programmer and his first movie was Paranormal Activity. He took a stab at directing, aware of how to utilize filmmaking technology and confident that he could direct a movie that dealt a lot with technology.

Peli moved into his first house all alone and without family nearby. Peli would hear creaks and knocks without having anyone around and it gave him the idea to make a movie about the weird noises you may hear in your home. Paranormal Activity came about with the idea that someone would have cameras running all over a house while the family slept to catch what was going on at night in the house.

 

After the success of Paranormal Activity, Peli began to play with the idea of doing similar low-budget horror films in order to capture audiences in a new and unique way. Peli was stuck on the idea of doing films in an "old-style" way.Peli and his production team approached director  and writer  with their idea; it only took five months for Peli and his collective team to get the film rolling. While Insidious was not shot in the characteristic Blair Witch-style, it incorporated some classic suspense elements from the earlier eras of horror films. Peli was mostly present in the post-production of this film, having handed over full creative control to Wan and Whannell; his formula of low-budget meets classic horror once again hit box offices with a strong positive response from audiences.

Filmography

Year	Film	Director	Producer	Writer	Cinematographer	Editor
2007	Paranormal Activity	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
2010	Paranormal Activity 2	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
	Insidious	No	Yes	No	No	No
2011	Paranormal Activity 3	No	Yes	No	No	No
2012
	Lords of Salem	No	Yes	No	No	No
2013	Area 51	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No