Oren Peli

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title: "Oren Peli" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1970-births", "israeli-film-directors", "israeli-film-producers", "israeli-male-screenwriters", "living-people", "video-game-programmers", "jewish-american-screenwriters", "israeli-emigrants-to-the-united-states", "israeli-horror-film-directors", "horror-film-producers", "israeli-jews", "21st-century-american-jews"] description: "Israeli filmmaker" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oren_Peli" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Israeli filmmaker ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
native_name	אורן פלי
native_name_lang	he
birth_date
birth_place	Ramat Gan, Israel
occupation	Film director, producer, screenwriter
years_active	2007–present
known for	Paranormal Activity
::

| native_name = אורן פלי | native_name_lang = he | image = | caption = | birth_date = | birth_place = Ramat Gan, Israel | birth_name = | death_date = | death_place = | spouse = | occupation = Film director, producer, screenwriter | years_active = 2007–present | known for = Paranormal Activity

Oren Peli (; born January 21, 1970) is an Israeli filmmaker, best known for writing and directing the 2007 horror film Paranormal Activity. He acted as producer on subsequent films in the franchise, as well as on the first five films in the Insidious franchise.

Early life

Peli was born in Ramat Gan, Israel, to a Jewish family. At the age of 19, he moved to the United States.

Career

Peli began as a computer software programmer, and was one of the developers behind Photon Paint, a bitmap graphics program for the Amiga. He is also credited for developing the networking code for the home console versions of Mortal Kombat 3, during his work at Sculptured Software.

His first film Paranormal Activity was inspired by Peli moving into his first house alone and without family nearby. Peli heard creaks and knocks in the night, which laid the groundwork for a film about a family running around with cameras trying to catch what was going on in the house.

After the success of Paranormal Activity, Peli worked with James Wan and Leigh Whannell to develop Insidious. Peli also produced and wrote the 2012 horror film Chernobyl Diaries, based on the Chernobyl disaster and on his story The Diary of Lawson Oxford. The film followed "a group of friends who, while vacationing in Europe, find themselves stranded in the abandoned city of Prypiat, Ukraine only to discover that they are not alone."

Television

In 2012, The River premiered on ABC, a paranormal/action/horror television series about a group of people on a mission to find a missing TV explorer in the Amazon. Peli co-created the show with Michael R. Perry, who co-wrote Paranormal Activity 2.

Films

Peli is writer and director of Area 51, a story about three friends who want to discover the secrets of the fabled Area 51. Peli is also the producer of all films in the Paranormal Activity & Insidious franchises and The Lords of Salem.

Filmography

::data[format=table]

Year	Film	Director	Producer	Writer	Notes
	2007	Paranormal Activity
2010	Insidious
Paranormal Activity 2
2011	Paranormal Activity 3
2012	The River				Creator and executive producer (8 episodes) Story for episode: "Magus"
Chernobyl Diaries
The Lords of Salem
The Bay
Paranormal Activity 4
2013	Insidious: Chapter 2
2014	Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones
2015	Area 51				Also cinematographer
Insidious: Chapter 3
Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension
2018	Insidious: The Last Key
2021	Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin
2023	Insidious: The Red Door
2026	Insidious: The Bleeding World
2027	Paranormal Activity 8
::

Actor

• Unknown Dimension: The Story of Paranormal Activity (2021) (Documentary film, himself)

Video games

• 1998: NFL Xtreme (programmer)
• 2019: Night Terrors: Bloody Mary (executive producer)

References

References

1. (2013). "Oren Peli". [[The New York Times]].
2. Mandell, Lisa Johnson. (October 8, 2018). "Horror Filmmaker Oren Peli Won't Have to Scare Up Buyers for His SoCal Mansion". [[Realtor.com]].
3. Spangler, Todd. (August 2, 2017). "'Paranormal Activity' Creator Oren Peli's Next Project: A Social-Networking App for Event Hookups". [[Variety (magazine).
4. (March 29, 2022). "Why do Mortal Kombat 3 players still insist on keyboard controls 27 years later?".
5. Hall, Peter. (October 9, 2009). "Interview: Oren Peli, Writer-Director of 'Paranormal Activity'". [[Moviefone]].
6. (February 14, 2012). "Alcon to Release 'Chernobyl Diaries'". [[The Hollywood Reporter]].
7. "The Lords of Salem Synopsis – Plot Summary". Fandango.com.
8. "Area 51 Synopsis – Plot Summary". Fandango.com.
9. "Oren Peli Filmography". Fandango.com.
10. "Unknown Dimension: The Story of Paranormal Activity (2021)".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::