Friday The 13th Blog

With Friday The 13th: The Obsession still seeking 80% of its funding, I shot a few questions to producer/director Tim Whitfield of Timberwolf West to fill us in on some of the particulars of the fan-based funding system which offers perks in return for donations, including on-screen credits.

I understand you had a similar funding system for short film Friday The 13th: The Storm. How did that work out?

It worked out pretty well. I think we had 3 producers and they are listed in the credits of “The Storm” I think we got like $250 or something. Two were Timberwolf followers and one was actually a F13 fan from the message board. Actually, the other two were from the MB as well, but had been following us long before The Storm.

When people hear ‘web series’ it can mean a couple of 60 second shorts or several hours worth. How long will it run all together when all is said and done?

While I don’t have a ‘set’ time for the series, I’m thinking 15 min per show more or less. Remember Obsession was written as a 90min movie script. 90min film divided by 6 is 15min (originally we were going to have only 6 episodes) However, we decided later to have 7 just because it worked out better plot wise. It still won’t be much longer than 90min total though because every episode will have titles and credits that make the full 15min, so really the shows’ content would be more like 13min, 13 times 7 is 91min. But like i said, I’m not gonna be sitting there counting… we don’t have commercials or a set time we have to be, so each show will be however long it needs to be give or take.

Once you reach the goal of $500, how will it be broken down for various costs?

We make features and web series already, we own and use DVCPRO HD cameras, full lighting set ups etc. all the time. So the major cost of the series is paid for and while we only need $500 of ‘daily’ costs. Food, costumes, Jason mask/hood, efx, actresses who get naked usually cost a few bucks too… lol… so stuff like that. The Jason costume itself I know will cost about $150. I also know some of the actresses/victims who gets naked in a tent and killed will be $50.

What happens to the donations if the goal isn’t reached or, heaven forbid, the project isn’t shot?

We hope we will shoot it regardless. Like I said we have the cameras and stuff, but we will have to cut back on stuff that’s not NEEDED to make the series play/make sense, like expensive and nasty kills, nudity… stuff like that. Hopefully fans will kick in and help really make this 100% Friday the 13th from beginning to end.

To get an idea of the timeline, when will shooting begin and when will the internet release happen?

I would like to start showing it in May or June… but most likely June. We have a current web series and feature film prepping for release right now so I’m focused on that. But June seems the most realistic. We could start shooting character moments as soon as April though… you know, simple talking/character stuff, which really doesn’t cost anything extra but some food for the cast.

Talk about the DVD of the series. The only way to get one is to donate beforehand, right?

Yea, we can’t sell it, so we will send the completed series to those who donate. I haven’t yet decided if the DVD will just be one show after the next, or if I will edit the “Obsession” feature film version once its all done and mail that out. The series itself will be free online for all to see one episode at a time however.