Behind the Maskdirector seeks funding via Facebook It’s getting increasingly tough to secure financing
for an indie movie project. When it comes to fundraising, filmmakers must be more creative today than they’ve ever been. Scott Glosserman, director and co-writer of the 2006 meta-horror hit Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon and the recently re- leased made-for-MTV thriller The Truth Below, isn’t just waiting for the next financing model to come along – he’s creating it. Glosserman is turning to social networking to fi-
nance Before the Mask, what he calls a “spremake – a sequel/prequel/remake” to Behind the Mask. On the project’s Facebook page (
facebook.com/before- themask), you aren’t simply prompted to “like” the film – you’re asked to help finance it by pre-ordering the DVD. Clicking the “Pre-Order Now” button doesn’t take you to another site, it collects your credit card information through a proprietary Facebook ap- plication. “It’s a completely new way to finance a picture,”
says Glosserman. “I think people are very accus- tomed to clicking the ‘Like’ button, but they might not realize this is an actual appeal to get them to support the film.” Glosserman and co-writer David J. Stieve have
long wanted to return to the title character’s killing fields, and they’ve always known the follow-up’s central conceit: that it would deconstruct the con- ventions and archetypes of horror prequels, sequels and remakes just as the original examined the foun- dations of the slasher mythology. Glosserman is tight-lipped about the plot of the new film, but he confirms that most of the original cast, including Robert Englund as Leslie’s nemesis, will return. He drops hints that the resurrection of characters thought dead – “Leslie is incredibly deft at making it look as though certain people may have died, but I think they’re coming back.” – and promises new cameos that will trump those in its predecessor. “Doc Halloran gets Leslie back onto the psych couch,” he offers of the plot. “They have a philo-
The makers of Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon are pioneering a new way to raise funds for a follow-up.
sophical sparring match, but not before Doc ends up grilling another iconic horror slasher.” Glosserman turned to crowd-funding after An-
chor Bay, which released Behind the Mask on DVD and Blu-ray, decided not to get involved with a second film, after initially showing interest. “I said, ‘Are you telling me that if I deliver you
a complete, finished film, you guys will not dis- tribute it for a fee?’” recalls Glosserman. “They said no. At that point I realized that if Anchor Bay, which has all the data and the first film to boot, isn’t interested in releasing this thing, it was kind of pointless to go out to Screen Gems and Lions- gate. So I decided, why don’t I just turn it over to the community, to see? Because maybe Anchor Bay’s right. Maybe it’s not worthy of a sequel. But if it is, I’ll certainly be able to tell once I go out to the horror community.” At this writing, the campaign has been live for approximately two weeks, and has raised just
over $4000 – not a bad start, but far from Glosserman’s lofty goal of one million dollars. He understands that he’s asking fans to take a leap of faith, and that it might require some convincing before they’re ready to enter their credit card numbers. “When you’re introducing any new technology,
or any trailblazing endeavour, it takes a beat for acceptance,” he says. “We’re the first-ever Face- book app, that we know of, that’s introducing a commitment to pre-buy – a way to collect credit card information but not charge it until you meet a reserve price.” If all goes as planned, Glosserman will have se-
cured a number of co-financers and partners by the time this article sees print, and will be well into pre-production. “I might kick myself for saying this, but I’d love
to be shooting in the fall and winter.” APRIL SNELLINGS
RM8 D R E A D L I N E S
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