Source: Warner Bros. Pictures Official Movie Website: FRIDAY THE 13TH SPOILER WARNING: This article contains plot details for a new movie. Welcome back to Crystal Lake in a chilling re-imagining of the classic horror film FRIDAY THE 13TH.

Searching for his missing sister, Clay Miller (Jared Padalecki) heads up to the eerie woods of legendary Crystal Lake, where he stumbles on the creaky remains of rotting old cabins behind moss-covered trees. And that’s not the only thing lying in wait under the brush. Against the advice of police and cautions from the locals, Clay pursues what few leads he has in the search for his missing sister, Whitney (Amanda Righetti), with the help of Jenna (Danielle Panabaker), a young woman he meets among a group of college kids up for an all-thrills weekend. But they are all about to find much more than they bargained for. Little do they know, they’ve entered the domain of one of the most terrifying specters in American film history—the infamous killer who haunts Crystal Lake, armed with a razor-sharp machete… Jason Voorhees. FRIDAY THE 13TH is directed by Marcus Nispel and stars Jared Padalecki, Danielle Panabaker, Aaron Yoo, Amanda Righetti, Travis Van Winkle, and Derek Mears as Jason. The movie is produced by Michael Bay, Andrew Form and Brad Fuller, who together produced “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and “The Amityville Horror,” and original FRIDAY THE 13TH producer/director Sean Cunningham. Nispel directed the film from a screenplay by Damian Shannon & Mark Swift, based on a story by Damian Shannon & Mark Swift and Mark Wheaton. Walter Hamada, Guy Stodel and Brian Witten served as executive producers, with Alma Kuttruff co-producing. The behind the scenes creative team was led by director of photography Daniel C. Pearl, production designer Jeremy Conway and editor Ken Blackwell, with music by Steve Jablonsky. New Line Cinema and Paramount Pictures present, in association with Michael Bay, a Platinum Dunes production,FRIDAY THE 13TH. The film will be released in theaters domestically by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, and internationally by Paramount Pictures. This film has been rated R for strong bloody violence, some graphic sexual content, language and drug material.

ABOUT THE PRODUCTION

“Somebody go missin’ round here, they gone for good.”

“What you do when you make a movie like this is ask yourself, ‘What is it about the mythology that makes people want to watch it over and over again?’” says director Marcus Nispel. “Then you make sure you give them what they want, but not exactly what they expect. That’s what makes it fun.” “Jason Voorhees, Darth Vader, Freddy Krueger… there are a few villains that just stick with you,” states star Jared Padalecki. “You’re interested in what they’ll do next, what other havoc can they wreak. Even if you haven’t seen the movies, you’ve heard of them, you’ve heard of FRIDAY THE 13TH. It’s all about Jason.” After the success of 2003’s “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” Platinum Dunes producers Michael Bay, Andrew Form and Brad Fuller reunited with Nispel to bring a new FRIDAY THE 13TH to the screen. “Because ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ was so successful,” notes Fuller, “Michael and Drew and I sat down and said, ‘Are there any other titles that we loved when we were growing up?’ That’s when FRIDAY THE 13TH came into our minds.” “We all felt it would be great to take the character of Jason Voorhees and bring him back to the screen,” adds Form. “We are horror fans first and producers second and we all grew up with and loved the FRIDAY THE 13TH films,” informs Fuller. “They were fantastic and a lot of fun in their own way. They really created a subgenre within the horror genre that struck a cord with audiences. So when you are presented with the opportunity to make a movie like this, it’s impossible to say no if you truly are a fan.”

Fuller expounds, “The greatest thing about the films was the experience of sitting in a theater with other people and being scared out of my mind. I went to a summer camp in Maine and one of the big reasons most people get so scared watching the films is because so many of us have had a summer camp experience or have gone camping.” The Legacy… On Friday, June 13, 1958, two Camp Crystal Lake counselors slip away from the campfire gathering of friends for an illicit rendezvous, where they are discovered and murdered by an unseen assailant. More than two decades later, the refurbished camp is preparing to reopen. The town loon warns that “Camp Blood,” as he calls it, has a death curse, but the caretaker and his young counselors ignore the mysterious lore, only to be gruesomely murdered by Pamela Voorhees, a woman whose young son, Jason, drowned in 1957. Only one counselor would survive to tell the tale of their 24-hour nightmare of terror that shocked and horrified audiences in the 1980 film FRIDAY THE 13TH. The stark, in-your-face violence of the movie broke the mold as one of the forerunners of a new and different age of horror film and quickly became an instant classic as well as a box office sensation. The subsequent franchise, one of the highest grossing horror franchises of all time, expanded beyond the big screen to include a television show, novels, comic books, video games and more. The film’s iconic villain and the visage of his trademark hockey mask became part of modern pop culture.Platinum Dunes producing partners Bay, Form and Fuller felt the franchise was ripe for revamping. A Re-imagining… A dynamic force on the set of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” director Marcus Nispel has a unique creative process that “really worked the first time,” recalls Fuller. “Marcus has a great sense of style and by re-teaming with cinematographer Daniel Pearl, we all felt that the movie was going to have a unique, beautiful, rich look.” Fuller continues, “Marcus completely understands the timing of the scare, probably better than anyone else today. It may not seem like a complex thing, but it’s like a comedy director who knows exactly where to put the joke. He also infuses the film with frenetic energy.”

“I said to them, ‘Whatever you do, bring the fun back and find a way to incorporate an underground system for Jason to operate from,’” explains Nispel. “I liked that idea because I don’t think summer camps in general are particularly scary in this day and age—you needed something more.” FRIDAY THE 13TH is the producing team’s seventh title to date and, with all the horror genre success under their banner, Fuller and Form felt it was critical to find writers who were really connected to the franchise. “We were very lucky that writers Damian Shannon and Mark Swift, who had written FREDDY VS JASON, were excited to take the ride,” says Fuller. “We knew they cared as much about Jason and his legacy as we did and were confident that they would deliver a script that took all of the best elements of the first few films and combined them with some fresh, inventive stuff. They really nailed it.” “When the script came in, I loved it,” comments Nispel. “It’s still the same terrifying Jason, only they reveal aspects that hadn’t been shown so far.” For screenwriters Shannon and Swift, revamping one of the most recognizable horror villains ever meant going back to the franchise’s roots. “We felt it was important to go back to the basics and put Jason back in the woods again,” reveals Swift.

“Our idea was to make the story much grittier than in recent years, with a fast and loose Jason like never seen before,” adds Shannon. “We wanted to make him someone who was actually in the woods surviving off the land like a real human being would. We wanted the character to be territorial, like a hunter. It’s not like he’s just going around killing people randomly. If you invade his territory, he’s going to protect his turf and you’re going to pay an awful price.” Nispel appreciated the writers’ respectful take. “They would never refer to Jason as the monster or the villain. He is the anti-hero. And that is what draws me to these kinds of characters. I’m not generally that interested in supernatural characters. What’s scary for me is that somebody like Leatherface or Jason could be my neighbor.” For Shannon and Swift, as well as the filmmakers, one of the biggest challenges in writing and developing the screenplay was deciding where to start the film and what to include from the 11 previous films. “It’s a lot of pressure to re-launch a franchise like this because you really have two different audiences to please.” says Fuller. “There are the fans who already know the stories and are going to come to see it because of the curiosity factor. Then you have to try to also capture those who weren’t necessarily fans of the title, but who love a good horror film. We felt that a way to serve both those audiences was to give them something they haven’t seen before, but also tie it in with iconic moments from the original films.” Happy Campers…

Once the script was in place, the filmmakers focused on casting a young ensemble of actors to play the college kids who unwittingly enter into the realm of a murderer. The first character the filmmakers had to cast was Clay Miller, the young man looking for his sister, who has gone missing after a weekend camping trip. Jared Padalecki, who currently stars on the television show “Supernatural,” was selected for the role. “Clay’s sister left on bad terms and has been missing for over a month, and he just wants to find out for himself what happened,” explains Padalecki. “He knocks on the door of a lake house and he ends up getting entangled with a group of young kids who are there for the weekend.” “Jared Padalecki was the first person cast in the film and it really set the tone,” says producer Brad Fuller. “We were already fans of Jared’s from ‘Supernatural,’” notes Andrew Form. “He’s really talented and hardworking, plus he’s a big guy, so we knew we had someone who could probably give the villain a run for his money.” “I was in middle school when I saw the original FRIDAY THE 13TH and I remember it scaring the life out of me,” laughs Jared Padalecki. “When I found out they were remaking the movie, I was very excited about getting involved.”

While looking for clues to the whereabouts of his missing sister, Clay meets Jenna, who is on a weekend getaway with her friends. Played by Danielle Panabaker, “Jenna is ambiguously dating Trent, whose parents own a big cabin that she and several other friends go to for the weekend,” says the actress. “She and Trent have not hooked up and she’s not sure if it’s something she wants to pursue. She’s just there to have fun and hang out at a beautiful house by the lake.” “The character of Jenna is a little bit complicated. We need the viewer to like her, even though she goes to the lake house with one guy and ditches him for a different guy,”explains Nispel. The casting could have been tricky. “There’s an incredible innocence to Danielle,” says Form. “She’s not naïve; she just has a wide-eyed view of the world, which was needed for Jenna. The character had to be likeable so audiences understand why she makes the choice that she does and love her for doing it.” Playing Jenna’s would-be suitor, Trent, is Travis Van Winkle, who first caught the attention of the producers in a small role in Michael Bay’s “Transformers.” “Travis had worked with Michael and was the first person that we thought of to play Trent,” reveals Form. Fuller offers, “There are nuances to his performance that were not on the page, things that he did that really enhanced his character. Travis brought so much to it.” “Trent is a jerk,” states director Nispel bluntly. “He is arrogant, but he has to be likeable at the same time, if such a thing exists.” “Trent is really trying to score, so he figures if he brings a bunch of friends up to his parents’ lake house for a big blowout, he will be able to finally hook up with this particular girl,” explains Van Winkle. “Unfortunately things don’t quite work out the way he planned.” For Van Winkle, the opportunity to be in the re-launch of FRIDAY THE 13TH was one he couldn’t pass up. “Are you kidding me? I was all over it,” the actor enthuses. “It’s Jason! The hockey mask! All I wanted was to have an awesome death scene.”

While Jason terrorizes the woods around Crystal Lake, the characters of Lawrence and Chewie, played by Arlen Escarpeta and Aaron Yoo, bring some comic relief to the film as a pair of best friends who never miss an opportunity to keep the party going and the one-liners flowing. “Chewie is the jester of the film,” laughs Aaron Yoo. “Someone told me back in the day that in a movie like this, there’s something necessary about watching a clown die. The first time Arlen and I met the producers they said, ‘You don’t really have to do anything scary in the movie, just be funny. If you’re not funny, we’ll throw you in a meat compactor and send you home.’” Yoo hoped they were kidding, but in a horror movie, he couldn’t be sure. “Chewie and I are the new-age Wonder Twins and when we get together, it’s just total debauchery,” offers Escarpeta. “Lawrence and Chewie together is the ultimate combo—it’s like getting the burgers, the fries and all the calories that come with it. We taste great but we’re so bad for you,” grins the actor. “Anybody we can get our hands on in the movie, we’re either poking fun at them or making fun of someone else with them. We’re frat guys without being in a fraternity. We’re our own fraternity.” “Both Arlen and Aaron were able to make their roles even funnier and more organic than was on the page,” comments Form.

Taking the role of Clay’s missing sister, Whitney, is Amanda Righetti from the hit TV show “The Mentalist.” “I was quite young when the first films came out, but I remember the character of Jason very well,” comments Righetti. “When I auditioned for the role, they didn’t let me read the script, so it really was a leap of faith. After I got the part and read it, I was really excited because I thought Whitney had an unusual character arc that I didn’t expect. The script was innovative and fresh and you don’t really know who is going to live and who is going to die, which will keep the audience guessing.” “Amanda’s a tough girl and has the guts and the gumption to get up and go when the time comes,” admires Form. “She takes it very seriously and brings a level of commitment to the character that I love.” While Nispel and the filmmakers were busy assembling the cast of characters who find themselves at the mercy of a psychotic killer, they also had to decide who would brandish the machete and slip on the iconic hockey mask, effectively becoming the new Jason Voorhees. During the almost 30-year history of the franchise, there have been several actors who have played the character. This time around, the filmmakers chose actor and stuntman Derek Mears to portray the genre’s instantly recognizable villain.

“When we talked about who would play Jason, we all agreed we wanted an imposing actor,” says director Nispel. “We had already hired Jared Padalecki, who is six-foot-four, so we knew we needed a very big actor as well as a stunt double to do the stunts for the actor playing Jason.” “When Derek stood in the room and you could see exactly how he’s built and how he moves, we knew he was Jason,” remembers Form. “He had the exact build we were looking for and it was a blessing that he was also a stuntman. We were much more interested in his acting because it was really important for us that he was not mechanical in any way. We wanted a real actor behind the mask and Derek took that very seriously.” “I grew up playing Dungeons & Dragons, collecting comic books, and I loved horror and sci-fi films,” says Derek Mears. “FRIDAY THE 13TH is one of my favorites. It’s such an honor to play Jason Voorhees, and I feel a tremendous responsibility to the fans.” “Derek really transcended the character and put so much care and meticulous thought into his performance,” says director Marcus Nispel. “He brought an intensity and fluidity to the character that audiences have never seen before. I really hope that moviegoers have the vision to look behind the mask; he adds so much that comes through and it really elevates the film.” “Casting our films is something that is very personal for me,” admits producer Brad Fuller. “Some of the actors in the film we had met before and were on a list of people we wanted to work with. Each one of the actors we have cast has a piece of themselves in the character that they’re playing.” The Many Faces of Jason… A big challenge for the filmmakers and the writing team in developing the film was deciding on what Jason would wear to cover his deformed face. In the long history of the franchise, Jason first appeared in the final frames of the original film, jolting audiences out of their seats with his shocking leap out of Crystal Lake. In the second film, fans turned out in droves to watch the popular villain don a burlap sack. It wasn’t until the third installment of the franchise that Jason put on the hockey mask that would propel him to a new level of pop culture status.

The filmmakers made the decision early in the scriptwriting process to have Jason begin the film wearing the burlap sack from FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 2, giving fans a chance to see how he finds what has become the character’s calling card: the well-worn hockey mask. “We decided early on that we didn’t want to turn it on its ear and create a mask that people were not used to,” notes Fuller. “And we wanted to add our own sack like the one Jason wore in the second film. It’s such a great visual.” “It was exciting for us to create a moment where you see Jason discover the mask,” states screenwriter Mark Swift. Fuller agrees. “We all felt that if you’re going to make this film, it must include that moment when he takes off the sack and puts on the hockey mask and becomes Jason.” “Hopefully fans will dig it,” says Swift. “It’s really a scene that we wrote to be that ‘wow’ moment in the film.” Creating the look of both the mask and the sack was entrusted to special effects makeup supervisor Scott Stoddard and his gifted team. “Scott was the first person we hired on this film,” says Andrew Form. “He didamazing work for us before and is just an incredibly talented artist.” “Scott created a new version of the sack that we all fell in love with the first time we saw it,” adds producer Fuller. “We knew the mask was the look everyone knows, but we thought it would be a perfect combination if he could wear both.” Stoddard notes, “I’m a big fan of ‘The Elephant Man’ and Jason is actually kind of a tragic figure like John Merrick, so I asked Tim Jarvis to make a hole that Jason sees out of that is a little bit square, and crudely stitched together. Tim did an amazing job making it and I think fans will really like the look.”

For Stoddard and his team, coming up with Jason’s overall look was born out of respect. “We definitely wanted to keep him more human,” offers Scott, “because, within every serial killer, there’s a history to the sociopath they become, and Jason has a great history.” For Derek Mears, seeing Stoddard’s handiwork for the first time was something the actor would not soon forget. “The first time I strapped on the mask in Scott’s makeup shop in Los Angeles, I got chills.” reveals Mears. “Everyone in the shop stopped what they were doing and looked over. I felt like I was lifting Excalibur, and all I could see were heads looking at each other and smiling from ear to ear. It was an amazing moment for me.” Stoddard himself transported the hockey mask from Los Angeles to Austin for the film shoot. It was an adventure. “I hand-carried Jason’s hockey mask in a special silver case because I was too afraid to send it any other way,” explains Stoddard. “I was going through airport security when two guards came around and asked me to follow them. They took me to a special room and opened the case and said, ‘Is that the Jason mask? We’re really big fans—can you take it out and let us see it?’” Another element that the filmmakers wanted to bring back was the carefree “sex, drugs and rock & roll” attitude that permeated the early films. “We really wanted to bring the fun back to the franchise,” says producer Form. “We wanted to have young college kids having a blast being kids. It’s a wonderfully vivacious group of kids who are a lot of fun to watch, even as they experience all these horrific scares.” Crystal Lake…

The last piece of the pre-production puzzle was picking a location to shoot the film. In the original, the rural New Jersey cities of Blairstown and Hope were used for the town of Crystal Lake, with Camp NoBeBoSco in Hardwick Township, New Jersey substituting for the camp site. This time around, the filmmakers selected the city of Austin, Texas, and its small outlying communities as the production base and shooting locations for the film. Fuller explains, “The fact is, the local crews in Austin are the best that we’ve worked with and this is the fourth film we have shot there. We’re very comfortable doing movies there.” Still, the setting calls for lush woods and serene lakes. Fuller admits it was an effort to find appropriate locations. “The area didn’t lend itself to it and when you see Crystal Lake in the film, it’s really three or four different lakes—one had the right trees and another had the right water. We really struggled at times, but we had such an amazing production designer, Jeremy Conway, who was able to turn some average locations into really cool places.”

Of course, not everything was shot outdoors, as Form reveals. “One of the things we had talked about early on was whether or not Jason is supernatural or a real person. We decided we wanted him to be a real guy. And if he’s real, how is he living? Where has he been hiding for the last 20, 30 years or however long it’s been since his mother was killed? Marcus had this great idea that there was this old mine around Crystal Lake, deep in the woods, that’s been closed down. Jason has made that mine his home, living underground, off the radar, and then he comes out, he hunts, gets his food and goes back underground. No one would even know where he is. He doesn’t bother anybody, nobody bothers him. Of course what happens in our film is that this is the first group of people that actually bother him. They disturb him; they do something they shouldn’t do, which makes him do something he shouldn’t do. So it’s the rebirth of Jason.” Form continues, “We talked to Jeremy and said, ‘Can you build us some tunnels? Can you make them big? We need them big, long—it needs to be a maze. We need a chamber of horrors.’ Then the sketches started flying in and then the models were put up in front of us. We looked at these 3D models and thought, that’s going to look good. Then we walked on stage and there were 150 feet of tunnels! And there’s dirt and it’s claustrophobic and it has a ceiling and it’s all covered up. You don’t even know where you are and you come through and you make a left and then suddenly you’re staring at the spot where Jason sharpens his machete…” Finally, at a Boy Scout camp in Bastrop, Texas, as the late afternoon sun sank into the murky waters of Lake Bastrop, production began on FRIDAY THE 13TH. A palpable buzz could be felt among the cast and crew as they waited with anticipation for nightfall and the first glimpse of Derek Mears stepping onto the set as one of Hollywood’s most infamous killer, Jason Voorhees. The Art of the Kill…

For the filmmakers, making all of the deaths in the film memorable was essential to revitalizing the franchise. “We knew when we took this on that the deaths were one of the most important aspects of the film,” says Andrew Form. “The one thing we didn’t realize was just how many deaths there are in a FRIDAY THE 13TH film. Each death has to feel different and unique. You can’t just kill everybody with a machete because that gets really old and boring. Luckily, Damian Shannon and Mark Swift came up with some really clever deaths that audiences will go home talking about.” “The ride we’re hoping to present is a total rollercoaster and, if we do it well, there will be a lot of phenomenal scares that will have audiences on the edge of their seat,” says Brad Fuller. “Sean Cunningham created a great villain. When it comes down to it, people love to watch Jason kill. That’s why people go to these movies.” “Just so all the fans know, they can be completely assured that they will see all of the iconic elements from the franchise that they have grown to love,” says Form. “In this film, we’re bringing back the fun along with the intense violence, unique kills and great scares. It’s all there.” Marcus Nispel teases, “The sleeping bag—it sums up everything you want to achieve with a FRIDAY THE 13TH kill. It’s scary. It gets under your skin. It allows you to laugh somehow… but I think it’s more of a panicky laugh.”

ABOUT THE CAST

JARED PADALECKI (Clay) is currently filming the fourth season of The CW’s successful thriller “Supernatural,” in which he stars as Sam Winchester, the sweet, reluctant hero who joins his brother to save their father from unseen forces. Previously, he had been best known for his starring role as Dean, the boyfriend of Alexis Bledel’s character, Rory, on “Gilmore Girls.” Padalecki recently starred as famed artist Thomas Kinkade, alongside Peter O’Toole and Marcia Gay Harden, in the biopic “Home for Christmas.” Based on the life of one of America’s most collected living artists, the film dramatizes the inspiration behind Kinkade`s painting The Christmas Cottage. His additional feature credits include the horror film “House of Wax,” with Chad Michael Murray and Paris Hilton; “Cry Wolf,” as a precocious boarding school student drawn into a “liar’s club” hoax involving a serial killer; “Flight of the Phoenix,” opposite Dennis Quaid and Giovanni Ribisi; “New York Minute,” with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen; and “Cheaper by the Dozen,” starring Steve Martin. Previously, Padalecki spent two months in Australia filming the lead in the television movie “A Ring of Endless Light” based on the novel by Madeline L’Engle, and landed the coveted title role in The WB’s telefilm “Young MacGyver.” Also for television, he hosted MTV’s “Room 401.” The series, from executive producers Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg, took viewers on a weekly, mind-blowing journey in which talented, up-and-coming illusionists scared and deceived innocent bystanders. Born and raised in San Antonio, Padalecki won the 2000 Presidential Scholar Award for the National Foundation for Advancement of the Arts, in a theater competition comprising over 7,000 entrants.

DANIELLE PANABAKER (Jenna) garnered critical acclaim for her breakout performance in the HBO miniseries “Empire Falls,” in which she starred opposite Paul Newman and Ed Harris. More recently, she starred as James Woods’ unwaveringly wise daughter on the CBS drama “Shark.” Panabaker`s television credits also include starring roles in “Searching for David`s Heart,” for which she won the 2005 Young Artist Award for Best Performance for a TV Movie Leading Young Actress; the Lifetime movies “Mom at Sixteen” and “Sex & the Single Mom”; and the Disney Channel Original Movie “Stuck in the Suburbs.” Her series guest star credits include “The Guardian,” for which she won the 2004 Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Series Guest Starring Young Actress; “Summerland”; “Law and Order: SVU”; “CSI”; and “Malcolm in the Middle.” Additionally, she appeared in the Disney Channel Original Movie “Read It and Weep,” in which she and her sister, Kay, played versions of the same character. Her feature credits include the thriller “Mr. Brooks,” opposite Kevin Costner and Dane Cook; “Yours, Mine and Ours,” with Renee Russo and Dennis Quaid; and “Sky High,” alongside Kurt Russell and Kelly Preston. Born in Georgia, Panabaker graduated from high school at the age of 14, and recently received her Bachelor`s degree in English from UCLA.

TRAVIS VAN WINKLE (Trent) was seen earlier this year in the hit comedy spoof “Meet the Spartans.” His other big screen credits include Michael Bay`s worldwide blockbuster “Transformers,” the comedy “Accepted,” the crime thriller “Confession” and the comic book spoof “Instinct vs. Reason,” a short about the tribulations of becoming your own Super Villain. For television, Van Winkle has made guest appearances on such hit series as “7th Heaven,” “The O.C.,” “Malcolm in the Middle,” “That`s So Raven” and “Quintuplets.” AARON YOO (Chewie) was most recently seen starring opposite Michael Cera in “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist,” which premiered at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival. Yoo’s breakout role came in 2007, when he starred opposite Shia LaBeouf in the worldwide hit “Disturbia.” Subsequently, he starred opposite Kate Bosworth and Kevin Spacey in the box office hit “21,” based on the bestselling book Bringing Down the House; and “The Wackness,” starring Ben Kingsley, which premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and won the Dramatic Audience Award. His previous feature credits include the World War II-Japanese internment camp drama “American Pastime” and the Sundance favorite “Rocket Science.” For television, Yoo has made guest appearances on “ER,” “Law & Order: SVU,” “Love Monkey” and “Ed.” He was also featured in a recurring role on series “The Bedford Diaries.” Yoo’s career began off-Broadway, where he starred in such U.S. and world premiere productions as “Where Do We Live,” at the Vineyard Theatre; “wAve” and “Savage Acts,” for the Ma-Yi Theatre Company; “Cellophane,” at the Flea Theatre; and the National Asian-American Theatre Company’s “Fuenteovejuna.” Other New York stage credits include “The Gifted Program” at the LAByrinth and “Karaoke Stories” for the Imua! Theatre Company. Born in Dallas and raised in East Brunswick, NJ, he earned a BA in Theatre from the University of Pennsylvania, and holds a second degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do.

AMANDA RIGHETTI (Whitney) can currently be seen in the new CBS drama series “The Mentalist,” alongside Simon Baker. On the big screen, she most recently costarred with Seann William Scott and Paul Rudd in the hit comedy “Role Models.” Earlier in her career, she secured the lead in the FOX pilot “No Place Like Home,” from producers Chris Keyser and Amy Lippman, which led to her landing the recurring role of Hailey Nichol on the hit show “The O.C.” In addition, she has starred on two other FOX series, playing Tessa Lewis on “North Shore” and Jenna Moretti on “Reunion.” Her additional television credits include a guest-starring role on the CBS drama “CSI” and a supporting role in the television movie “Romy & Michele: In the Beginning.” ARLEN ESCARPETA (Lawrence) follows FRIDAY THE 13TH with leading roles in several independent features. He next stars in the drama “Roslyn,” followed by Preston Whitmore’s “Dough Boys.” He also stars as a young LAPD officer on patrol during a racial gang war in the drama “818,” on which Escarpeta also serves as a coproducer. In 2005, Escarpeta earned critical acclaim for his breakout film role as an honor student caught with a handgun at school in the independent drama “American Gun.” The film, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, also starred Forest Whitaker, Marcia Gay Harden and Donald Sutherland. The following year, he co-starred with Matthew McConaughey and Matthew Fox in McG’s true-life drama “We Are Marshall,” about the aftermath of the 1970 plane crash that killed Marshall University’s football team. Escarpeta was more recently seen in David Wain’s comedy “The Ten,” which premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. He had earlier appeared in Carl Franklin’s courtroom thriller “High Crimes,” starring Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd.

Escarpeta first gained attention on the small screen when he starred in the NBC series “American Dreams.” He played Sam Walker, a young black man dealing with the changing times of the turbulent `60s. His television work also includes guest roles on such series as “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” “Without a Trace,” “Cold Case,” “Judging Amy,” “ER,” “The Shield,” “Boomtown” and “Boston Public.” DEREK MEARS (Jason Voorhees) has established himself as one of the busiest actor-stuntmen in film & television, in such films as “The Hills Have Eyes II,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” “Zathura,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,” “Men in Black II,” and “Wild Wild West.” His additional feature credits as a stuntman include “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” “Semi-Pro,” “Blades of Glory,” “World Trade Center” and “Signs.” For television, Mears has been featured in guest-starring roles on such series as “CSI: Miami,” “ER,” “The Shield,” “Masters of Horror,” with John Carpenter, and the Jack Black-produced sketch comedy show “Acceptable TV,” among many others. Mears was born and raised in Bakersfield, California.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

MARCUS NISPEL (Director) made his feature film directorial debut with the remake of the cult classic, “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” produced by Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes. The film grossed more than $110 million worldwide, won the Teen Choice Award for Best Horror/Thriller and was nominated for an MTV Movie Award in the same category. Nispel followed up that project by producing and directing the telefilm “Frankenstein,” from a concept by Dean R. Koontz and with Martin Scorcese serving as executive producer. Nispel then produced and directed the feature film “Pathfinder.”

German-born, Nispel started his career in advertising as an art director for Young & Rubicam in Frankfurt. He came to America on a Fulbright scholarship in 1984 at the age of 20, and made his directing debut in 1989 with the first music video for C&C Music Factory. While in New York, Nispel founded and operated his own production company, Portfolio Artists Network, before merging with Ridley and Tony Scott’s bicoastal company, RSA-USA, Inc., and then joining MJZ in 2000. Nispel has been awarded numerous international advertising accolades, including several Clio Awards, the Moebius Award and the Grand Prix at the BDA Awards. He has received honors from the New York, Houston, and Chicago Film Festivals and the Art Directors Club. His work has garnered 12 MTV Music Video Award nominations resulting in four MTV Music Video Awards, including a 1993 MTV Best European Video Award for “Killer, Papa Was A Rolling Stone” by George Michael. Nispel has won several Billboard Music Awards and Music Video Producer’s Association Awards, including the MVPA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001. The director has also been the subject of two documentaries and was featured in Time Magazine’s year-end issue “Best of 1996” for his Fidelity Investments commercial campaign, “A Time Has Come Today.” In 1997, Nispel was featured as a speaker at the AICP MoMA show. The AICP has honored him with several awards and his work is now part of the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art. His work has also been featured at the New York Film Festival, the Art Director`s Club and at the Film and Broadcast Museum in Frankfurt.

In 1996 Nispel was also honored by the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s “Cross Cultural Dreams” with a retrospective on his music videos. He was featured in a chapter of Armond White’s book on the pop revolution, was a recipient of the Nubian Award and was an NAACP Image Award nominee for the positive portrayal of African-Americans in mass media. In 1995, Adweek named Nispel as one of the year’s best directors. To date, he has directed more than 1,000 commercials and music videos. DAMIAN SHANNON and MARK SWIFT (Screenplay / Story) wrote the box office hit FREDDY VS JASON, starring Robert Englund. They are currently working on the drama “Inland Saints,” for director Joel Schumacher. They have also co-written a number of projects currently in development, including “Jerry the Giant Killer,” for producer Sam Raimi; the 1950s noir “Hawaiian Dick,” for director Frank Coraci; an adaptation of Howard Chaykin’s graphic novel “Power & Glory”; and “Spy Hunter,” based on the classic Midway video game. MARK WHEATON (Story) is a writer and surprisingly avid birdwatcher living in Los Angeles. MICHAEL BAY (Producer) launched his career as an award-winning commercial and music video director before quickly emerging as one of Hollywood’s boldest and most bankable feature film directors. Characterized by his aggressive visual style and high-octane action sequences that have become the L.A. native’s cinematic signature, the films that Bay has directed and produced have surpassed $3 billion in worldwide ticket sales. Established as one of the industry’s elite action filmmakers, Bay has been dazzling audiences since the premiere of his first feature film, “Bad Boys,” starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, in 1995. The $9 million film won Best Action Sequence at the MTV Movie Awards and grossed over $140 million worldwide, making it Columbia Pictures’ top-grossing film of that year. Bay’s impressive sophomore effort, “The Rock,” starring Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage, followed a year later. Shot on location on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay, “The Rock” eclipsed Bay’s blockbuster debut, taking in more than $335 million worldwide. His third directing effort was “Armageddon,” an idea he devised with writer Jonathan Hensleigh and produced with Jerry Bruckheimer. “Armageddon” starred Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck and Liv Tyler, and earned over $550 million around the globe.

Bay continued his hot streak in 2001, directing the epic “Pearl Harbor” and sharing producer credit on the film with Bruckheimer. Their collaboration once again bore fruit, as “Pearl Harbor” raked in $450 million in box office receipts worldwide, and at the time became the best-selling DVD of all time. In 2003, Bay reteamed with Smith, Lawrence and Bruckheimer for the summer hit “Bad Boys II.” The filmmakers followed that effort with the action thriller “The Island,” starring Ewan McGregor, Scarlett Johansson, Djimon Hounsou, Sean Bean and Steve Buscemi. Bay’s most recent film, “Transformers,” was the third highest grossing picture of 2007. He turned a popular children’s cartoon series into an exciting live-action blockbuster for audiences of all ages, which grossed over $700 million worldwide, making it Bay’s most successful film to date and establishing the franchise as DreamWorks’ biggest endeavor ever. Not surprisingly, “Transformers” was also the best-selling DVD of 2007. He is currently in post-production on the sequel “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” slated for release in June 2009. Bay’s production company, Bay Films, remains one of the most cutting-edge production entities in Hollywood today and continues to grow. Five years ago, Bay joined forces with producers Brad Fuller and Andrew Form to create Platinum Dunes, a company whose mission was to make films with budgets under $15 million that would give talented commercial and video directors the chance to break into the feature world. The first offering from the company was “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” a reimagining of the 1974 cult classic, which opened to top-notch reviews and grossed over $110 million worldwide. The company’s second film, “The Amityville Horror,” reached receipts of more than $108 million. Two more films quickly followed: the original script “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2: The Beginning,” which earned $51 million; and a reconceptualization of the 1986 thriller “The Hitcher,” which garnered $20 million. Platinum Dunes has a broad slate ahead, including original projects “The Horsemen” and “Fiasco Heights.”

In 2006 Bay and two partners bought one of the film industry’s premier digital effects houses, Digital Domain, from James Cameron. A world leader which provided effects in “Titanic,” “Transformers,” and “Pirates of the Caribbean,” the company is expanding into video games and will be the first production house to build an animation film in a gaming engine, which will greatly reduce animation costs. One week out of film school in 1989, Bay began directing commercials and music videos for Propaganda Films. His work for such acts as Meat Loaf, Aerosmith, Tina Turner, Donny Osmond, and the DiVinyls won the young filmmaker recognition, acclaim, and a number of MTV Video Award nominations. He won the coveted Best Music Video prize in 1992 and 1999. When Bay`s first television spot—for the American Red Cross—was honored with a Clio in 1992, it heralded the aspiring film director’s rapid ascent from unknown film school grad to creative force. Over the next three years, the Wesleyan University graduate would direct some of the best known and most acclaimed advertising campaigns in the world, including those for Nike, Budweiser, Coca-Cola, Reebok, Miller and Victoria’s Secret. In 1995, Bay, at the age of 27, was honored by the Directors Guild of America as Commercial Director of the Year. Bay is the youngest director to have won nearly every award bestowed by the advertising industry. He won the Grand Prix Clio for Commercial of the Year for the irreverent “Got Milk?/Aaron Burr” commercial; this famous spot was voted into the top ten classic spots of all time. Bay’s famous “Got Milk” campaign now resides in the permanent collection of New York’s Museum of Modern Art. ANDREW FORM and BRAD FULLER (Producers) are partners at Platinum Dunes Productions. The company, which they established with Michael Bay in 2001, creates opportunities for first-time directors to make commercial, high-concept movies on modest budgets for a global audience. Their most recent release was “The Unborn,” starring Gary Oldman and directed by David S. Goyer, and in 2009 they will release “The Horsemen,” from director Jonas Åkerlund, starring Dennis Quaid and Ziyi Zhang.

The partners’ first production was the 2003 remake of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” directed by Marcus Nispel. The movie grossed more than $110 million worldwide, won the Teen Choice Award for Best Thriller and was nominated for two MTV Movie Awards. Their second project was the 2005 adaptation of “The Amityville Horror,” which was directed by Andrew Douglas and also earned over $110 million worldwide. Two more films quickly followed: the prequel “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning,” directed by Jonathan Liebesman, and a re-conceptualization of the 1986 thriller “The Hitcher.” It was during this collaboration that Platinum Dunes signed a first-look production deal with Rogue Pictures. In 2004, Daily Variety included Form and Fuller among the “10 Producers to Watch,” and in 2005 they were listed in Fade In’s “The Top 100 in Hollywood.” Prior to partnering in Platinum Dunes, Form produced several independent features, including Richard Benjamin`s “The Shrink Is In,” starring Courteney Cox Arquette and David Arquette; and Doug Ellin`s “Kissing a Fool,” starring Jason Lee and David Schwimmer. He also produced documentaries on the making of Tony Scott`s “Crimson Tide” and Michael Bay`s “Bad Boys.” Fuller previously worked as a talent manager and produced the independent films “Emmett`s Mark” (a.k.a. “Killing Emmett Young”), directed by Kevin Snyder and starring Gabriel Byrne, Tim Roth, and Scott Wolf; and Scott Wiper`s “A Better Way to Die,” starring Natasha Henstridge and Andre Braugher. Form earned his bachelor degree at the University of Arizona, and Fuller is a graduate of Wesleyan University. SEAN CUNNINGHAM (Producer) is a director, producer and writer best known for creating the FRIDAY THE 13TH series of horror films, which introduced the fictional killer Jason Voorhees.

He produced the FRIDAY THE 13TH sequels FREDDY VS JASON; JASON X; and JASON GOES TO HELL: THE FINAL FRIDAY, and is currently at work on the upcoming TV movie HIS NAME WAS JASON: 30 YEARS OF FRIDAY THE 13TH, sheduled for release in conjunction with the current FRIDAY THE 13TH film. Cunningham also produced the horror cult classic “Last House on the Left,” directed by Wes Craven. Cunningham’s other extensive producer credits include “My Boyfriend’s Back”; “House IV”; “The Horror Show”; “DeepStar Six,” which he also directed; “House” and “House II: The Second Story”; and “Spring Break,” which he also directed. In addition, he directed the features “A Stranger Is Watching” and “XCU.” BRIAN WITTEN (Executive Producer) is principal of Witten Pictures. He started the production company in 2005 and has since been involved in the production of a wide range of film projects. He serves as producer with Adam Sandler on the upcoming thriller “The Shortcut.” Witten is also producing a remake of the Japanese hit film “Death Note,” as well as “The Mountain,” “See No Evil,” “The Cure,” and a remake of the cult horror film “Mother’s Day,” with Brett Ratner and Richard Saperstein. Prior to starting his production company, Witten spent five years at Paramount Pictures as Executive Vice President of Production, where he oversaw “The Longest Yard,” “Mission: Impossible III,” “Four Brothers,” “Vanilla Sky,” “Elizabethtown” and “Without a Paddle.” Prior to working at Paramount, he was at New Line Cinema for five years, where he ultimately served as Senior Vice President of Production. While there, he oversaw development and production of such films as “The Wedding Singer,” “American History X,” “Dark City” and “Final Destination.”

A graduate of New York University, Witten began his career as an assistant for producer Joel Silver. Witten also wrote comic books, which lead to a partnership with Image Comics founder Rob Liefleld at Extreme Studios. WALTER HAMADA (Executive Producer) currently serves as New Line Cinema’s Senior Vice President of Production. He is responsible for the development of a slate of projects, including “Gears of War,” based on the hit XBOX video game, and a reinvention of “A Nightmare On Elm Street.” Hamada is also supervising the production of the next installment of the “Final Destination” franchise, “Final Destination: Death Trip,” which is shot on digital 3D. Prior to joining New Line in 2007, Hamada spent four years partnered with Chris Fenton at H2F Entertainment, a management/production company. While there, Hamada and helped build the careers of such writers as Chris Morgan (“Fast & The Furious 3: Tokyo Drift,” “Cellular”), Rob McKittrick (“Waiting”), Greg Coolidge (“Employee of the Month”), Brad Gann (“Invincible”) and Matt Allen and Caleb Wilson (“Four Christmases”). While at H2F, Hamada also served as a producer on the upcoming projects “Coxblocker,” written and directed by Coolidge and starring Seann William Scott and Topher Grace; “Tough Love,” starring Ice Cube and under the direction of Thomas Carter; and the supernatural thriller “Whisper.” Prior to his work at H2F, Hamada ran development for MBST Entertainment. A graduate of UCLA, Hamada began his career as an assistant at TriStar Pictures, where he quickly rose through the ranks and ultimately served as Vice President of Production for Columbia Pictures. While there, he oversaw development and production of such films as “The Big Hit,” “Vertical Limit,” “Godzilla” and “S.W.A.T.” GUY STODEL (Executive Producer) is Executive Vice President of Production and Acquisitions at Paramount Vantage.

Prior to joining Paramount Vantage in July 2008, Stodel served as Senior Vice President of Acquisitions and Co-Productions at New Line Cinema. During his six-year tenure in this role, Stodel oversaw operations in New York, Los Angeles and London. He managed acquisition and development activity for a host of films, including theremake of and prequel to the box-office hit “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” in collaboration with Michael Bay’s production company, Platinum Dunes. Other projects Stodel managed include “Be Kind Rewind,” a film by Academy Award-winning director Michel Gondry, starring Jack Black and Mos Def. In addition, Stodel also brought in and oversaw “The Upside of Anger,” directed by Mike Binder and starring Kevin Costner and Joan Allen; “The Laws of Attraction,” directed by Peter Howitt, with Julianne Moore and Pierce Bronson; “Running Scared,” directed by Wayne Kramer; and the 2004 Academy Award and Golden Globe-winning foreign language film, “The Sea Inside,” directed by Alejandro Amenábar. Before joining New Line Cinema, Stodel was Vice President of Acquisitions and Co-Productions for Lions Gate Entertainment. There, he worked on such movies as “Lovely and Amazing,” directed by Nicole Holofcener; “Lantana,” directed by Ray Lawrence; “Bully,” directed by Larry Clark; “What’s Cooking?,” directed by Gurinder Chadha; and “Romance,” directed by Catherine Breillat. JEREMY CONWAY (Production Designer) served as production designer on the feature release “Sex and the City,” as well as “Failure to Launch”; Richard Linklater’s “The School of Rock”; “Chill Factor”; and “Up Close & Personal,” from director Jon Avnet. Prior to his work as production designer, Conway served as an art director on several films, including Sydney Pollack’s “Sabrina”; Avnet’s “The War”; “That Night”; “The Super”; “Jacob’s Ladder”; and “Crocodile Dundee 2.” He began his feature film career as assistant art director on Alan Parker’s “Angel Heart.” On television, Conway served as production designer for all 94 episodes of the HBO series “Sex and the City,” for which he received three Emmy Award nominations. DANIEL C. PEARL, A.S.C. (Director of Photography), within months of receiving his Master’s degree from the University of Texas in 1973, lensed the original “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” for writer/director Tobe Hooper. A legendary independent feature, it is part of the permanent film collection of the New York Museum of Modern Art. Thirty years later, Pearl served as director of photography for Marcus Nispel’s 2003 remake of the classic film, and is one of the few cinematographers ever to shoot a remake of his original work.

Pearl’s other feature films include “AVPR: Aliens vs Predator – Requiem,” for the directing team the Brothers Strause; “Captivity,” for director Roland Joffé; Nispel’s “Pathfinder”; and the cult classics “Invaders from Mars” and “Amazon Women on the Moon.” Pearl was also the director of photography on Nispel’s 2004 telefilm “Frankenstein.” Throughout his career, Pearl has worked on a multitude of projects ranging from independent feature films to music videos to television commercials, working with such artists as U2, Bruce Springsteen, The Cars, The Police, Will Smith, Van Halen, Madonna, Guns N’ Roses, Michael Jackson, Tina Turner and Mariah Carey, and directors including Nispel and Michael Bay. Pearl has won every major music video cinematography award, including two MTV Music Video Awards—one of which was the first ever awarded for cinematography, for 1984’s “Every Breath You Take” by The Police. In 1996 Pearl was the first cinematographer to receive the MVPA Lifetime Achievement Award; the following year, he was the first inductee into the Kodak Vision Hall of Fame for Music Video Cinematography. KEN BLACKWELL (Editor) most recently served as editor for director Jesse V. Johnson’s “The Fifth Commandment,” “The Butcher” and “The Last Sentinel,” and as associate editor on the blockbuster hits “Hancock,” directed by Peter Berg and starring Will Smith, and Michael Bay’s “Transformers.” Blackwell has provided a range of editorial services—from assistant editor to visual effects editor to editor—on numerous films, including Bay’s “The Island”; Michael Mann’s “Miami Vice” and “Collateral”; “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen”; “xXx,” from Rob Cohen; “The Cell”; Barry Sonnenfeld’s “Wild Wild West”; Mimi Leder’s “Deep Impact”; “The Lost World: Jurassic Park,” from director Steven Spielberg; “Eraser”; “Under Siege 2: Dark Territory”; Tony Scott’s “True Romance”; Martin Brest’s “Scent of a Woman”; and the documentary “U2: Rattle and Hum.”

On the small screen, Blackwell served as editor on the Steven Bochco series “Over There,” and as first assistant editor on several episodes of the David Lynch series “Twin Peaks.” STEVE JABLONSKY (Composer) recently scored Michael Bay’s blockbuster hit “Transformers,” and he is also composing the score for the sequel, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.” He and Bay had earlier collaborated on “The Island,” and Jablonsky also wrote additional music for Bay’s “Bad Boys II,” “Pearl Harbor” and “Armageddon.” Jablonsky previously worked with director Marcus Nispel on the re-imagining of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.” His film composing credits also include “The Amityville Horror,” “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning” and “The Hitcher.” In addition, Jablonsky has scored several independent films, including “Border to Border” and “Sorrow’s Child,” as well as the Japanese anime film “Steamboy.” On television, Jablonsky’s music can be heard on the smash hit ABC series “Desperate Housewives.” He also composed the score for the award-winning telefilm “Live from Baghdad,” as well as several other series. Jablonsky holds a degree in Music Study from the University of California at Berkeley. He developed his talents as a film composer in collaboration with such noted composers as Hans Zimmer and Harry Gregson-Williams. Early in his career, Jablonsky composed additional music for such films as “Smilla’s Sense of Snow,” “Antz,” “Chicken Run,” “The Tigger Movie,” “Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron,” “Tears of the Sun” and “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.” ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ For more information on FRIDAY THE 13TH please see the earlier coverage here on SciFi Japan:

• JASON SLASHER COLLECTION DVD Set Includes FRIDAY THE 13TH Movie Pass