Depending on which report you believe, Uruguayan filmmaker Fede Alvarez made Ataque de Pánico! (Panic Attack!) for somewhere between the cost of an iPhone and a night at a five star hotel. Then, like any amateur filmmaker, he posted it on YouTube. As is the case for the majority of YouTube videos, for awhile, nothing happened.

Then a few blogs, including Kanye West’s, found it and shared it with their followers.

Yesterday, Fede signed a seven-figure deal with Sam Raimi’s Ghost House Pictures to expand the short into a feature-length film about an alien invasion, after a good ol’ fashioned Hollywood bidding war broke out over the 30-year old director.

The original Ataque de Pánico! clip on YouTube received over a million and a half views in the past 24 hours alone as news of the deal spread. Raimi undoubtedly hopes to follow the path that Peter Jackson did with Neill Blomkamp, whose short film Alive in Joburg served as the basis for 2009’s District 9. Raimi, Ghost House, and aspiring filmmakers everywhere are rooting for Alvarez to enjoy similar debut success.