Paramount Downgrades Its Low-Budget Insurge Division

The reshuffling comes as Marc Evans replaces Adam Goodman as president of the studio's motion picture group.

Paramount Pictures is dismantling its microbudget film branch Insurge Pictures, reducing it from a separate division although it intends to keep the name for use as a label on future genre pictures.

Amy Powell, who was hired as president of Insurge Pictures when it launched in 2010, will focus on her TV and digital responsibilities as president of Paramount TV and Digital Entertainment, sources confirm. She was originally put in charge of Insurge after her success on digital marketing with the Paranormal Activity films. On the TV front, Paramount is currently working on such projects as Grease Live and Minority with Fox; School of Rock with Nickelodeon; and Shooter with USA.

The other executives at Insurge Pictures will be integrated into the film team under Mark Evans, the new president of the studio's motion picture group. Paramount, which has been trimming back on staff as part of parent company Viacom's restructuring, will continue to use the Insurge label on some genre films.

The news comes on the heels of Adam Goodman's exit as president of the studio's motion picture group after a six-year stint in the role. Evans was promoted to Goodman's old post last week.

Insurge was launched in 2010 to serve as the studio's microbudget film distributor following the strong success of the Paranormal Activities series. Some of its releases included Katy Perry: Part of Me, The Devil Inside, Project Almanac and the upcoming Valencia.