Hello everyone, what a week we've been having here at The Blue. We have the Tiny Terrors series dropping and few other surprises as well. Plus Friday the 13th...it's coming.
But right now, let's talk serious. Elm Street. It's a franchise we all love. It's one that has been standing strong since '84. However, our favorite dream demon has fallen on a bit hard time lately. Ever since the 2010 remake was mishandled (stay tuned I got more on that soon), Freddy can't seem to catch a break. And now we are living in a world without any new installments to the franchise. It's a crime and wrong.
Enter my friend, Evan Santiago. He wishes to change that. He wants to bring back Freddy and make us remember. And that is something I am 100 percent behind.
Today, I am happy that had the chance to talk with Evan about it.
What was your introduction to Horror?
I was fortunate enough to have a dad that was, for lack of better words, a “movie guy”. My folks were divorced when me and my brother were really young, so we would spend every other weekend at my dad’s place. Against my mom’s wishes, my dad was often showing us horror movies, even at so young an age.
The first horror movie I ever remember watching—no joke—was the second NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET film, which my dad had recorded from TV on a VHS tape. It made me want to seek out horror DVDs at my local Blockbuster Video for years after that, so I would consider it, and my dad, to be my official introducers to horror.
What is it about Elm Street that makes you so passionate about it?
I think that, my answer to that question has changed over the years. ELM STREET was the series that got me into filmmaking—just because it scared me so deeply. I became so interested in HOW they produce the special effects that made me scared in the first place. So my passion for it came from this need to create something physical, visceral—something in front of a camera.
But nowadays, after film school and getting a little older, I’ve become entranced in the world of theme, and metaphor, and having something to say in my work.
And luckily enough, revisiting ELM STREET with this new lens ignited a NEW passion for it, because these films are *about* so much. And a large portion of my passion for the series now comes from what those films were trying to say, about parents, authority, justice, trust, adolescence, and more.
When did you start thinking about your pitch?
Honestly, my pitch was born in late 2019 at the same time it was announced that Wes Craven’s estate was accepting pitches. I’ve had a story in my head for years, and was coincidentally working on a script at that point. But didn’t think to introduce it in the form of a pitch until that news dropped. I threw together my first pitch video that same day!
Is this just a pitch? Or have you thought about developing it further into a full length script?
Oh, there’s a script! It’s 126 pages long, it’s been written, re-written, drafted again and again... and it’s my baby.
I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve gone over it with friends and family members.
I am reworking ideas for it and refining the story. It’s also the first screenplay I have ever written, so my attachment to it is astronomical. I think that attachment is making it easier for me not to give up on it.
If you or anyone else is interested in having even a taste of the script, I’ve made the first Act totally public to read! You can find it on my Twitter @ElmStreet_Pitch.
Have you thought about creating this into a fan film? There aren't many Elm Street ones.
I’ve directed before, and I’m proud of the short films I’ve made. But doing something on the level of a feature fan film is not something I think I’d be ready for. I’m more of an editor and a writer than a director.
So if this pitch thing doesn’t work out, and I still felt attached to the story, I’d probably collaborate with filmmakers that know what they’re doin. People that can hire actors, crowdfund the project, all that.
I’m determined to see this made in SOME form, of course. But right now the form I’m focused on is the Hollywood form, as unlikely as that is!
There has been some very good responses to your pitch. What do you think it is about it that they are responding to?
I think that the story is unique enough to inspire some excitement! A whole town being medicated to stop Freddy Krueger from entering their dreams. That is enticing enough to want to see played out.
And the added condition of the main character Kara—who has abusive head trauma from being shaken awake one night as a baby. It is really thematically relevant, and could excite people that are in tune with the original series’ themes of parents ruining their children.
Most of the positive stuff I’ve heard about the pitch has been from people that are interested to see how that theme will carry out in the complete story. And I couldn’t be happier that, that’s what they’re excited about, because it’s what I’m most excited about.
Hypothetically, if you were given the chance of doing it yourself. Would you do it?
Like I mentioned before, I’m definitely more of a writer and an editor than a director. That said, I wouldn’t dream of giving up on this project if I could help it.
So I would definitely **try** to make that work in whatever form. I would prefer to collaborate, and to bring people on with an understanding of on-set filmmaking that I just don’t have the same passion for, to help me adapt the script.
In a lot of ways, I don’t trust myself to be the sole creator of this thing beyond the written-out story. I’m just not that good yet!
And I’d rather work with people who are that good, and can properly see what I want out of this.
Let's say the Craven estate finds it and decides to do it. They are giving you the chance to pitch it around Hollywood to different studios. Where would you go with it?
Funny enough, I’d be interested in approaching all my current competitors!
SpectreVision, who I admire deeply, have put out some truly gnarly and dreamlike horror—some wildly thematically resonant stuff that also happens to be visually unbelievable. They have a pitch of their own, apparently, and that’s great. But if by some miracle I manage to win this thing out, I would kill for a chance to work with them on my story.
Mike Flanagan and Intrepid Pictures are also huge on that list, for similar reasons. Mike is a master filmmaker, who above all other things cares deeply about theme in his work, and it shows. I always imagined he’d understand what I was going for perfectly, and he would bring to life all of the most important things about the story.
Finally—and hold onto your hat for this one—I’d love to approach New Line Cinema. They still own the international rights to Freddy, I believe (don’t quote me on that!) and have had decades of ELM STREET films under their belt to show for. Good or bad, whatever the case, those films are a part of horror history.
And I think that my script would be right at home with New Line and the rest of the original series’ lineup.
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