In the “which agent will read the script first” battle…well…were it not-for-like-joke I would now be the property of Rob Carlson. With Nicole out of town, Rob read the script and immediately saw the potential. He didn’t see the twists and turns coming, felt there were several characters that would attract strong actors and saw the trailer. There are companies out there looking for supernatural thrillers and he felt he could sell it. The next step would be to talk with Nicole and come up with a plan. Would it go out wide or would we attach producers and pull together a package first? But that was a decision that would wait until Nicole was back in town and they could talk strategy.
I finished hour one plus ten pages of Last Vamp and shot copies to Michael and Whitley. That way I’d have feedback when Mel and I returned from our goofy little trip.
By 6:30 am Thursday morning, Mel and I were on a plane to St. Louis where we would make a surprise visit to Friday the 13th camp. I kid you not.
Blake and Brenna, the webmasters of Friday the 13th Films gathered 15 or so friends from their website and went to camp a couple of years ago. Blake asked if I’d like to come but the truth was, “Jason X” was still an open wound back then and I just couldn’t see it happening. But when he contacted me a couple of weeks ago to see if I’d be interested in coming to Camp2…suddenly it sounded like fun.
I was already aware of it from the boards and had been considering a surprise visit but I seriously doubted Ms. Mel would go for it. When I ran it by Mel two years ago her immediate response was, “Absolutely not. Those people collect machetes.” But this time she was all for it.
So we touched down in St. Louis at noon on Thursday, grabbed a rented Durango and tooled an hour West to the famous town of Troy Missouri. Later when one of the campers asked a local what they did for fun in the sweet sweet town of Troy, the local replied, “Have you been to the Wal-Mart?” For us the answer would have been, “yes”. Mel and I stopped in at Sammy Walton’s to buy some cheap sleeping bags and pillows and insect repellent and whatever else grabbed our fancy.
This whole trip was something of a secret. A surprise if you will. As far as I knew Blake and Brenna were the only two aware that we were on our way. Thus upon entering Troy’s Super Wal-Mart I had an “Oh crap” moment. There we stood face to face with four young adults who immediately began staring at us. I thought, surely they aren’t campers and surely they don’t recognize me. But they did. Drew, Brent, Doug and Emma — although I didn’t know their faces I knew all four from the message boards. Drew came over and introduced himself as did the others. But all was well as three of them were sleeping in Blake and Brenna’s cabin and knew we were coming anyway. The secret was safe.
Blake met us there and we bought our bags and pillows and beer, stopped in at a Quiznos so Blake could watch us eat then we made our way to camp.
Thus was our cabin. Compared to the holes the other campers were sleeping in this was the Royal Palace. Four rooms, two baths and a twenty year old couch that had clearly seen everything from sex to murder on its surface.
Mel and I made our appearance and I don’t think anyone was too unhappy to see us. There were 32 board members present and with the exception of maybe three, I’d become acquainted with them all since I started going to the boards back in ’99.
Camp was and wasn’t what might be expected. Drew’s Price Is Right showing of the wall of fluids…that part I’d expected. What I didn’t expect at Friday the 13th camp was the total absence of Jason Voorhees. Here we were a bunch of horror fans at a camp in the middle of the woods and everybody was trekking around in the dark without a care in the world. You’d think it would at least be a little creepy but it was far from it. Even when I was making nature on an Oak tree way out away from the light and Petch started playing the theme to Halloween, I didn’t get goosebump one. Was a shame really.
It was simply a group of friends hanging out and letting their hair down.
Some had come to camp 1 and some, like Mel and I, were brand new. It wasn’t what I expected. Part of me thought I’d be ready to go after the first hour, but strangely enough I think I could have stayed a few more days.
Doug, Drew and Luke AKA Kat (Who we will meet later).
Petch, David, John, Ryan, Zach, Emerson I think that’s TJ in the background.
And what’s a night among friends without some shotgunning? I however did not partake in the drinking games of the youth as I am an old fart and had no desire to wake up as one of the walking dead. I stuck with slow sipping beer and several shots of cheap vodka. My Chopin has made me such a snooty pants.
And where there is drinking there shall always be stupidity. Yes, Eric, you are a dummy. And I say that with love. Where exactly the desire to catch his penis on fire came from is anyone’s guess but he went through a gallon of lighter fluid before he quit and that only came after sparks started going airborne from his poor mistreated Levis.
And throughout the night there was live music. It seems half the camp could play one or more instruments as Petch, Andrew, Emerson and Chris demonstrate. The sounds ranged from the Munster’s Theme to The Eagles and Metallica and creepily enough, back to the Munser’s Theme and Andrew wouldn’t stop playing it.
That first night was cold. Was glad I brought the hat to warm my cold noggin. Oddly enough John seemed utterly oblivious to the night air.
As the night started winding down I hooked up with the Vancouver Faction for some stealth and pranks. Why would I, a dyed in the wool American Republican, join a bunch of Canucks? Well, because they invited me. Pictured above are Gavin, Emerson and Chris. We stumbled around in the dark for several hours chasing what we thought was another faction which turned out to be only our shadows. But I got no regrets. I loved camping back in my high school and college days. Back when I’d sneak around with my boys and duct tape drunks to trees. It brought back memories.
And as a side note, it should be mentioned that after “Jason X”, when there came a time that I could get neither an agent nor a job, I wrote a spec. “Riddle Me This”. Within this serial killer story there was a puzzle to be solved. I asked Gavin to do a digital drawing of that puzzle that I could insert into the script. It was a barter agreement. He does the drawing and I send him an autographed copy of “Jason X”. Being the no account low-life procrastinator that I am, that copy sat on my desk for years. Eventually I signed a poster for him to include in the package but that too sat unsent. Thus going to camp I gave him my Jason X production shirt. Only the cast and crew received them and now Gavin is an owner. And since I wore it for several years I’m sure my DNA is present. That could be very valuable to the crazies out there if I manage to one day make something of myself.
When the sun started to glow I called it quits. Vancouver, still having plenty of fight left, went on to unleash Pinchy the Water Scorpion, the live lobster purchased for the soul purpose of scaring unsuspecting sleepers. But by the time the fireworks flew I was cuddled up with Mel in a nasty camp cot.
I don’t know what time it happened but a Ranger and Camp Official showed up banging on the door that morning. There was a problem. The problem was the mess. Empty cans and bottles everywhere and particularly the puke bomb someone had left in the middle of the floor of the Rec Room. A nasty chunky sight from what I heard. I stayed in bed with the thumping head while I believe Blake and Brenna were escorted throughout the camp being scolded like children. I think I heard that the Ranger stood there watching while Brenna and TJ cleaned up some poor bastard’s puke. That’s just wrong.
By morning (or noon rather) Brent was hard at work making French Toast for the entire camp. A new rule…well an old rule was now enforced: All booze must go into plastic cups before leaving the mess hall. And clean up your own puke. Good rule.
Brenna, being a teacher when she’s not a horror fan, forced Arts and Crafts on the entire camp. Although Mel and I were not involved in the making of puppets we were ordered to make post cards. I sent mine to Thac who didn’t make it to camp. I don’t recall what I wrote but it was something along the lines of: “Where are you? Why aren’t you here. I hate you. Todd.”
There was always a sense of prank in the air and for good reason. It was not uncommon to set your cup down and come back to find a condom floating in your beverage.
It was simply smart to keep a weapon close at hand as Seth and Pete demonstrate.
That evening started with a fire. I love fire. I spent most of my time trekking through the growth collecting small trees to burn. I have the poison ivy dotting my legs to prove my hard work.
That night brought the introduction of Karaoke. Blake Doug and Mike are just one example of a night full of song. From hard rock to Madonna to Petch performing theatre and half the group performing a song from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s musical episode.
It made people want to dance. Although I’m not familiar with Zach and Doug’s style.
At some point Kat made an appearance so let it be said that there was no prejudice at Friday the 13th camp. All races, religions and nationalities were welcome. And that includes Aussies in drag.
And I feel we must pay special notice to the ladies bold enough to join a group of moronic men out in the woods. Here are two point five of three point four. Mel, Kat and Emma.
And here they are with Brenna. Three point five girls out of 34 campers. Bless their hearts.
Overall, Mel and I had a great time. And some may wonder how Mel responded to this odd gathering but she loved it. She, Chuck, Todd and Luke were nearly inseparable. And once she learned that Mike was a fan of Big Brother they chatted for hours. And from the emails and posts I’d say she was a big hit with the group. She’s a good girl. Think I’ll renew her lease.
Yeah. It’s safe to say, Mel had a good time. We’d do it again if schedules allowed. I don’t recall turning in that last night but I do recall more stealth and prank. I recall standing on a dark trail listening for the enemy as Gavin, Emerson and Chris tied the recently deceased Pinchy the Water Scorpion above Lammert’s door. It was at this point I heard Doug crank out ELO’s “Mr. Blue Sky” during Karaoki and hated not being there to join it. After all was said and done I did manage to hit the sack well before daylight.
By noon on Saturday it was time for Mel and I to hit the road…to journey back into the real world. There were a handful of survivors who’d managed to wake up early to see us off. The Vancouver Faction told me to wake them up to say goodbye but we decided to let them sleep. Blow me, eh?
That night would come camp awards so Blake and Brenna and those present presented us with ours before we left. We were very pleased. And I do vaguely recall kissing Lammert at some time during the our stay.
In closing the camp adventures special thanks should go out to all those who I stole pictures from on the net. Half of the above are mine and the rest were snatched from the message boards and assorted upload sites. I know I grabbed some from Brenna and Luke and Skott and who knows who else.
My only regret was the absence of a group picture. That would have been nice. There were several present at camp who didn’t make the above pictures and a group photo would have been sweet. Next time I guess.
Mel worked puzzles and I listened to the IPod on our flight and we rolled up to the house around 11:00 pm that night.
Sunday we did nothing at all.
Monday I got notes from Whitley and his son Andrew concerning my hour one plus ten on Last Vamp. I gotta say, I love working with Whitley. You’d think he’d be hard to work with considering he wrote the novels but he’s as supportive as anyone I’ve ever worked with. Moreso than most. And smart too. I explain my problems and nine out of ten times he’ll come up with a fix I never considered. It’s great. I’ll have night one completed this week.
Nicole and Lazar finished “Thunder” over the weekend and by Monday night Nicole and Carlson had talked. They’re pulling together a list of buyers to go out to. The early talks were to go out this weekend but that may have changed. There seems to be some black whole toward the end of August. August is a vacationing unwritten rule. So if it doesn’t go out this weekend then it may be September.
As a side note on Thunder, Dean Fed Ex’d a copy to Jean Pierre Targete last week, a Fantasy Art painter he’s purchased paintings from in the past. Through a previous agreement JP is going to do some sketches for us of Thunder. He emailed Dean early this week and seemed very excited with both the script and the character and the possible drawings already in his head. I think we’re gonna end up with some brilliant work from him. Of course, they won’t help us with a sell nor would we expect them too, but it’s gonna be great to have some original art framed and hanging in the office. Can’t wait.
Yesterday I stopped in at the “Cursed” editing room to drag Patrick to a pitch meeting at Universal for our little “Narcosis” story. We met Glenn Williamson and Margo in the lobby, chatted and went in to pitch Dylan Clark. As always Patrick and I told a great story. We should get paid for our performance alone. But I don’t think Dylan got it. He had concerns and threw out his assorted brilliance and I let Patrick do the talking as I faded out to think about Last Vamp.
I like Glenn and Margo. They got it the first time we told the story. Josh McLaughlin over at Mark Gordon’s company got it. Bonnie Curtis and Dreamworks got it. The tough part has been finding someone with the power to say yes who gets it. But ain’t that always the problem?
Last night and today I worked on Magnus. FJ had emailed me early in the week. He’s been chatting up what we talked about during our last meeting and has garnered some interest at a studio or two. I shot him a first act treatment today to get his thoughts. Once we make sure we’re on the same page then I can knock out a beat by beat outline in no time.
Since the return I’ve played Doom 3 a few times. It’s a great game but I’m growing weary of the dark shadowy environments. I’m ready for a little daylight.
Tonight it will be back to the X-Files. Season’s Four and Five arrived today. So Mel and I will cuddle up, click play on the DVD and I won’t think about work until tomorrow when I dive head first back into Last Vamp.
Yup. It’s been a dull week.
