Background and career
Oren Peli (Hebrew: אורן פלאי / אורן פלי; 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.
Peli was born in Ramat Gan, Israel, to a Jewish family. At the age of 19, he moved to the United States.
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."
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.
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.
Unknown Dimension: The Story of Paranormal Activity (2021) (Documentary film, himself)
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
