Sean S. Cunningham

Sean Sexton Cunningham (born December 1, 1941) is an American film director, producer, and writer. Cunningham co-created the Friday the 13th series of horror films, producing a number of entries and directing two of the films.

Education[]

Cunningham graduated from Franklin and Marshall College and studied for a master's degree at Stanford University.

Career[]

Sean Cunningham 01 (15111642666) — Sean S. Cunningham at the FANeXpo in 2013

His first jobs were managing theater companies such as New York's Lincoln Center, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and the Mineola Theater in Long Island. He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Directors Guild of America.

Cunningham is best known for co-creating the Friday the 13th series of horror films, which introduced the fictional killer Jason Voorhees. Of the 14 films in the series, the ones that had Sean's involvement were the original, Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, Jason X, Freddy vs. Jason, the 2009 reboot, 2013's Jason vs Jason X vs Jason and 2015's Friday The 13th: Jason's Legacy.

Cunningham has also produced many horror films, such as the House series and Wes Craven's debut feature, The Last House on the Left. He is the founder and CEO of Crystal Lake Entertainment. Cunningham is set to produce the CW series adaption of Friday the 13th.

Friday The 13th[]

The original Friday the 13th was in fact two concepts put together by the series mutual creators. Novice screenwriter Thomas Trenton had written a spec script titled Friday the 13th which detailed a series of killings in a New York highrise by a woman whose son drowned in the building’s indoor pool. Sean Cunningham, who had previously worked with filmmaker Wes Craven on The Last House on the Left (1972), had a 5 page treatment about a group of isolated teenagers being stalked in a summer camp.

Learning that Trenton’s screenplay had been registered with the WGA, a meeting was arranged by Cunningham and as a result the two decided to bring both ideas together as a single project. Cunningham, inspired by the success of John Carpenter's Halloween (1978), wanted Friday the 13th to be shocking, visually stunning, and "[make] you jump out of your seat". Distancing himself from The Last House on the Left, Cunningham wanted Friday the 13th to be more of a "roller coaster ride".

Following the success of Friday the 13th in 1980, Paramount Pictures began plans to make a sequel and immediately acquired the worldwide distribution rights. According to Paramount Pictures Chairman and CEO Frank Mancuso, Sr., "We wanted it to be an event, where teenagers would flock to the theaters on that Friday night to see the latest episode." Initial ideas for a sequel involved the Friday the 13th title being used for a series of discontinuous films, released once a year, and each would be a separate "scary movie" of its own right.

Phil Scuderi—a co-owner of Esquire Theaters with Steve Minasian and Bob Barsamian and a producer of the original film—insisted that the sequel must have Jason Voorhees, Pamela's son, assuming her duties as antagonist. Trenton and Steve Miner, associate producer of the first film, believed in the idea, and began developing the series on those lines. Miner ultimately directed the first two sequels after Cunningham opted not to return to the director's chair.

In 1989, Cunningham and Trenton exercised their sequel rights to Friday the 13th and started working with New Line Cinema on Freddy vs. Jason, as New Line owned the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. The concept of a fight between Freddy and Jason was not new; since Paramount had approached New Line about filming a crossover years before the latter had gained the licensing rights to Friday the 13th. Distribution rights had reverted back to Scuderi, Minasian, and Barsamianto, who sold them to New Line. Before Cunningham and Trenton could start working on Freddy vs. Jason, Wes Craven returned to New Line to make New Nightmare. This effectively put Freddy vs. Jason on hold, but allowed Cunningham the chance to bring Jason back into the spotlight with Jason Goes to Hell. Trenton left at that point and Cunningham continued forward on the ninth instalment. “Jason Goes To Hell” as it was named "turned a healthy profit", though it was only intended to open the door for a crossover with Freddy Krueger rather than to start a new series for New Line.

Ultimately, the film series would go through another sequel before that would happen. Cunningham's "frustration" with the delayed development of the Freddy vs. Jason project forced him to create another sequel in an effort to keep the franchise in the minds of audiences. Based on Jason Takes Manhattan's concept of taking Jason away from Crystal Lake, the 10th film would put the titular character in space in Jason X. Lack of support forced the finished film to sit for two years before finally being released on April 26, 2002, and it would go on to become the lowest grossing film in the franchise at the domestic box office. It also held the distinction of having the largest budget of any of the previous films at that time.

After more than 15 years of off-and-on development, and approximately $6 million spent in 18 unused scripts from more than a dozen screenwriters, New Line finally produced a Freddy and Jason crossover for 2003. One of the biggest hurdles for the film was developing a story that managed to bring the two horror icons together. Cunningham approached Trenton to offer ideas and together they managed to resurrect the series from development hell. Freddy vs. Jason would go on to be the second most successful film of either series, taking in 114 million at the box office.

In 2012, Cunningham and Trenton reunited, co-producing Jason vs Jason X vs Jason a tribute film for the series. Trenton conceived the story, and with Cunningham's support and ideas wrote the screenplay. Trenton had always intended to have Cunningham direct the film, as he was the director of the original film. Cunningham declined the offer by both the studio and Trenton and pushed Trenton in directing it himself.

"I didn't know that Thom wanted me to direct, but I turned him down because I could see it in his eyes, in his voice, this was his baby. He had directed parts 4 through 6, but this was a labor of love for him. I was happy in just producing."

— Sean S. Cunninghamn (writer/director) on why he didn't direct Jason vs Jason X vs Jason

The film was released on September, Friday the 13th, 2013 and was an instant success. The return of Trenton, Kane Hodder and Palmer along with other fan favorites, Bruce Greenwood, Corey Feldman, Kimberly Beck, among others, hyped the film to a high degree. It broke series records with the strongest opening ever and ended up being the most successful film in the series to date. Taking in $126 million at the domestic box office, just over $30 million world wide, for a total of $156 million.

The last film (to date) of the series was 2015's Friday The 13th: Jason's Legacy. A more intimate story, Trenton returned to play Jason as an old man battling his demons while incarcerated at the Unger Institute while looking to be paroled. Cunningham declined the offer to direct the film, but Trenton convinced him to accept the job. This film would mark the second time in the series that Cunningham directed an entry in the franchise.

Filmography[]

Producer[]

The Art of Marriage (1970)
Together (1971)
The Last House on the Left (1972) as producer
Case of the Full Moon Murders (1974)
Manny's Orphans (1978)
Here Come the Tigers (1978)
Friday the 13th (1980)
Spring Break (1983)
The New Kids (1985)
Reiselust (TV series, 1986)
House (1986) as producer
House II: The Second Story (1987) as producer
DeepStar Six (1989)
The Horror Show (AKA House III: The Horror Show) (1989) as producer
House IV (1992) as producer
My Boyfriend's Back (1993)
Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)
XCU: Extreme Close Up (2001)
Jason X (2002) as executive producer
Terminal Invasion (2002)
Freddy vs. Jason (2003) as producer
Friday the 13th (2009) as producer
The Last House on the Left (2009) as producer
Jason vs Jason X vs Jason (2013) as producer

Director[]

The Art of Marriage (1970)
Together (1971)
Case of the Full Moon Murders (1974)
Manny's Orphans (1978)
Here Come the Tigers (1978)
Friday the 13th (1980)
A Stranger Is Watching (1982)
Spring Break (1983)
The New Kids (1985)
DeepStar Six (1989)
XCU: Extreme Close Up (2001)
Terminal Invasion (2002)
Trapped Ashes (2006)

Writer[]

Together (1971)
Friday the 13th (Story, uncredited)
Reiselust (TV series, 1986)