Editing Night of the Living Dead (section)

=== Development and pre-production ===
{{external media
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| video1 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oMQRrcLIaI The Calgon Story] <br />The creation of a high-budget television commercial for [[Calgon|Calgon brand detergent]] spurred the film's producers to create a horror movie.{{sfn|Kane|2010|p=28}}
}}

George Romero embarked upon his career in the [[film industry]] while attending [[Carnegie Mellon University]] in [[Pittsburgh]].{{sfn|Kane|2010|p=25}} He directed and produced television commercials and [[sponsored film|industrial films]] for The Latent Image, a company he co-founded with his friend [[Russell Streiner]].{{sfn|Kane|2010|pp=26–27}} The Latent Image started small, but after producing a high-budget [[Calgon]] commercial spoofing ''[[Fantastic Voyage]]'' (1966), Romero felt that the company had the experience and equipment to produce a feature film.{{sfn|Kane|2010|p=28}} They wanted to capitalize on the film industry's "thirst for the bizarre", according to Romero.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2017/07/17/george-romero-godfather-zombie-horror-obituary/ |title=George A Romero, Godfather of Zombie Horror – Obituary |newspaper=The Telegraph |date=July 17, 2017 |access-date=August 27, 2023 |archive-date=August 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230827020019/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2017/07/17/george-romero-godfather-zombie-horror-obituary/ |url-status=live}}</ref> He, Streiner, and [[John A. Russo]] contacted Karl Hardman and Marilyn Eastman, president, and vice president respectively, of a Pittsburgh-based industrial film firm called Hardman Associates, Inc. The Latent Image pitched their idea for a then-untitled horror film.<ref name="Hardman/Eastmaninterview">{{cite interview |last1=Hardman |first1=Karl |last2=Eastman |first2=Marilyn |url=https://www.homepageofthedead.com/films/night/interviews_1.html |work=Homepage of the Dead |title=Interview with Karl Hardman and Marilyn Eastman |access-date=October 16, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151107014220/http://www.homepageofthedead.com/films/night/interviews_1.html |archive-date=November 7, 2015}}</ref>

These discussions led to the creation of Image Ten, a production company chartered to produce a single feature film. The initial budget was $6,000;{{sfn|Kane|2010|pp=20–23}} each member of the production company invested $600 for a share of the profits.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://variety.com/2017/film/obituaries-people-news/night-of-the-living-dead-george-kasana-dies-at-81-1201951718/ |title='Night of the Living Dead' Actor George Kosana Dies at 81 |last=Thorne |first=Will |date=January 3, 2017 |work=Variety |access-date=January 4, 2017 |archive-date=January 4, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170104114404/http://variety.com/2017/film/obituaries-people-news/night-of-the-living-dead-george-kasana-dies-at-81-1201951718/ |url-status=live}}</ref>{{efn|The initial ten members for which Image Ten gets its name are:

# George A. Romero
# John Russo
# Russell Streiner
# Marilyn Eastman
# Karl Hardman
# Vince Survinski (production manager)
# Richard Ricci (actor)
# Rudy Ricci (actor)
# Gary Streiner (sound)
# Dave Clipper (attorney) <br />{{harv|Kane|2010|p=22}} }} Ten more investors contributed another $6,000, but this was still insufficient.{{sfn|Russo|1985|pages=6–7}} Production stopped multiple times during filming while Romero used early footage to persuade additional investors.{{sfn|Peary|1981|p=227}} Image Ten eventually raised approximately $114,000 for the budget (${{Inflation|US|114000|1968|r=-3|fmt=c}} today).{{Inflation/fn|US}}{{sfn|Russo|1985|pages=6–7}}