Friday the 13th Part 3: The Memoriam Documentary Follow-Up Interview

As Friday the 13th steadily marches towards us this week like some machete wielding masked maniac, we thought it might be fun to share some of the best news, thoughts, and memories of Camp Crystal Lake and where better to begin than with an update on a project we’ve been following since January. Friday the 13th Part 3: The Memoriam Documentary is a one of a kind film chronicling not only the creation of one of the most iconic films in the franchise, but about the man who portrayed Jason Voorhees as he first dawns his now famous hockey mask. Richard Brooker was a towering figure of a man who encouraged and inspired the people he met before his untimely passing in 2013. The documentary also boasts some of the final footage ever recorded at the film site for Part 3 which was lost in a wildfire several years ago.

Writer and executive producer Sean Richards took some time out to update us on the continuing journey that has been The Memoriam Documentary.

Dan: Since we last spoke, the horror community has lost quite a few legendary voices, including that of Gloria Charles who played Fox in Part III. Has her passing prompted any changes or special mentions to the documentary?

Sean: Yes, Dan no doubt we have lost some fantastic people in 2017. A very sad year thus far. True icons now gone. Gloria’s passing came as a shock to me. I had spoken with her on the phone last November about the project and she sounded interested. She said she would get back to me when she might be available to do it. I never heard back from her and thought she had said what she said as a way of gracefully bowing out. When I learned she passed a month after we had talked, it stunned me. We give her a special thanks in the end credit sequence for considering our project.

Dan: What can you tell us about the editing and post production of the documentary? What sort of challenges did you experience finishing up your film?

Sean: The editing and post production of the documentary presented a lot of challenges. Every step of the way there seemed to be a problem. It felt like the project literally kept asking the editors and myself “how badly do you want this project?” At the beginning of the year, the transfer of the footage kept crashing programs…there were a lot of codec problems and some interviews got corrupted and had to be reshot. We were very fortunate that these interviewees were kind enough to re-share their stories with us. Once all the footage was transferred, we put in roughly 10 - 12 10 hour days. Joseph R. Davis and Brian Gerson went above and beyond in many regards in helping to piece this project together. It was a very daunting and exhausting task. I am very grateful to them for their dedication and tireless perseverance in seeing this project through to completion.

Dan: What's next for the documentary?

Sean: After the premiere, we are going to do some film festival runs and if we meet the right company, a potential deal for VOD distribution. Fans will be able to watch it at film festivals in the meantime, we will announce when and where on the project page.

Dan: What are your final thoughts on the project as it heads out to audiences?

Sean: My final thoughts on the project is that a lot of hard work went into this project in a finding a way to present new material that audiences may or may not already know a lot about. We wanted this documentary to be unique as there have already been a few great documentaries on the Friday the 13th films. We wanted to make this one special and unique in its presentation and I believe we succeeded in doing that. We tried to make a quality piece for the fans of the series and those who may be interested and I hope viewers enjoy it.

Friday the 13th Part 3: The Memoriam Documentary premieres Friday October 13th at 6:30 (Pacific) at Ahrya Fine Arts by Laemmle.

Be sure to follow The Memoriam Documentary on social media @rememberingbrooker and check out our original interview with Sean and co-producer Ruben Angelo here.

And in case you’ve missed it, here’s an extremely early trailer of the documentary.