"Off Beat Cinema" was created and is written by Paragon Advertising executive James Gillan. It originally started airing in 1993 in the Buffalo/Toronto area on WKBW-TV. On the show's official site, he states, ""Off Beat Cinema" was created to provide a forum for films that are not regularly shown on television – and in many cases – are not readily available, even on DVD. There is an enormous cache of films out there that an entire generation grew up watching that are otherwise unavailable. We wanted to create a program reminiscent of the hosted late night film shows of the 1960s and 1970s – the kind of show that made you beg your parents to let you stay up late to watch. Where else can you watch "Teenagers from Outer Space" and a week later watch Bergman’s "The Seventh Seal" in its original language version?"