“Ghost House Pictures has made a seven-figure deal with a Uruguayan commercials director to direct his pitch for an alien invasion film — an exceptional deal for a helmer making his feature directing debut,” reports Michael Fleming for Variety.

“Most first-time helmers make $250,000, but Fede Alvarez scored his million-dollar deal based on the heat generated by “Ataque de panico!” (Panic Attack), a four-minute, 48-second short (Below) about an apocalyptic robot attack Alvarez directed through his commercial production house for less than $500,” reports Fleming. “After the short found its way to the Internet and Kanye West featured a link to the film on his blog, a 30-year old who was not on anyone’s radar outside the Uruguayan blurb market suddenly found the biggest agencies in Hollywood in a panic to sign him – That created a chain reaction of activity over two weeks that led to a trip to Hollywood, where he met with every major agency, management firm and law firm that responded to the short.”

Read the full report here.