Filmmakers Discuss Fundraising Experience in "Big Dreams/No Budget" April 4

SALISBURY, MD---Filmmakers Roman Chimeienti and Tyler Jensen had an idea: They wanted to make a documentary focusing on the queer afterlife of the 1995 movie Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge and its star, Mark Patton.

They also had a problem: No money.

Or maybe that wasn’t as big a problem as they thought. Through online fundraising, the duo raised nearly $57,000 to make the documentary, which will feature, in part, Dr. Andrew Scahill of Salisbury University’s English Department and his Horror Cinema class.

Chimienti and Jensen discuss their experience during the talk “Big Dreams/No Budget: DIY Filmmaking in the Age of Crowdfunding.” Their presentation is 8 p.m. Monday, April 4, in Room 373 of SU’s Perdue Hall.

Titled Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street, the documentary focuses on the queer subtext of the horror movie sequel that saw infamous undead serial killer Freddy Krueger possess a young man to continue his spree. The ’80s film has earned a camp following due to its homosexual overtones, leading entertainment website Decider.com to call it “the gayest horror movie ever made.”

The documentary also examines the film from the perspective of Patton, a queer actor wrestling with his sexuality at the time of production, and its place in the gay subculture and homophobia in 1980s Hollywood.

Sponsored by the English Department and Charles R. and Martha N. Fulton School of Liberal Arts, admission is free and the public is invited. For more information call 410-543-6030 or visit the SU website at www.salisbury.edu.