New Friday the 13th Fan Site

[Nyghtfall]

Hello,

I'm considering starting a new Friday the 13th fan site, and am conducting market research to find out whether there is any interest in such a venture. There are many similar fan sites currently on the web, but I’ve found that many of them are difficult to navigate, contain ‘dead’ links, and non-click'able, postage-stamp-size screen shots. Many of them are also hosted by free services that are notorious for supporting pop-up ads.

My intent, as a fan of the films, is to create a fresh, new fan site dedicated exclusively to providing a complete resource of information on this ever-expanding franchise. Content would include:

· Complete reviews and commentary of each film, including detailed descriptions of each murder, written by myself.
· Multiple screen shots of key scenes (including the murders), taken directly from the DVD releases of each film. All screen shots will be click'able thumbnails so you can download 800x600 resolution versions of each shot.
· Easily navigable links designed to take you anywhere in the site from anywhere in the site.
· Streamable (and download'able) video clips of every murder from every film.
· Links to Amazon.com for each film, allowing you to order copies of the films through my site.

The site will be a commercial venture, with all moneys collected from membership subscriptions going directly to help maintain the site. The price for subscriptions has yet to be determined, however, subscriptions will be non-recurring and will cost no more than $7.50/month.

The site itself will take several weeks to build, as I need to purchase copies of the DVDs for each film, capture screen shots, edit video clips, write reviews, and then assemble everything into one, cohesive, new web site that will be ready to explore to its fullest if/when it finally goes live. In other words, nothing will be ‘under construction’. The DVDs will be the R-rated versions produced by Paramount Studios, and ordered from DVDEmpire.com.

My goal with this message is try and determine whether it will be cost effective to begin working on the site. Whether you’re a fan of the films, or have never even heard of the franchise, and think you'd be interested in subscribing to a horror web site dedicated to all things "Friday the 13th”, please reply to this message via email at nyghtfall@kc.rr.com.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Nyghtfall
nyghtfall@kc.rr.com

[Nyghtfall]

Please ignore that post. After giving the idea some thought, I've decided it'r really stupid to run a commercial web site that, for all intents and purposes, won't see any updates until new Friday movies get released.

:p

[mcchrist]

Dude, honestly, I would spend your money elsewhere. You could put every amount of info regarding the series onto one site, yet all this info can be found elsewhere, and for free. You will find it very hard maintaining it as a subscription service. The series has been done to death mainly because it has a huge fan base already, so that means tons of fan sites are already tackling this subject. And if you're going to maintain it as a commercial site (subscription no less) and a fan site, unofficial, you might be on the verge of severe legal issues regarding copyrighted material. You can get by with it, for the most part, with a free fan site, but as a subscription service (and a commercial site) you may get yourself in trouble.

[Nyghtfall]

I agree. Thanks for the advice.

[KillerCannabis]

I'd love to see a great F13th website more than anyone, but its not bankable or worth your time right now. If you ever get the notion again once a new Friday hits though, go for it.

[Nyghtfall]

I may go ahead and put one up anyway, sans the video clips. I've found so many poorly designed fan sites during the last couple of days, that I almost feel obligated to put my own online. It'll simply be free-access instead of commercial.

[wago70]

Yeah! Do a less-expensive one, but one that offers what the others don't. I never hear of any info regarding box-office specifics (ie. first person accounts, news clippings, ads). I dunno, there's a lot you can do that the other sites are lacking. Good luck - I'll be looking forward to it, myself!!!!!!

[rhett]

I think a great Friday the 13th site is in need. I've always wanted to check out a site with in-depth reviews (ones that actually try to dissect the themes and influences of the films) and large screenshots. http://www.fridaythe13thfilms.com is a great site, but as far as reviews for the films go, our site is still the best out there (and I am not just saying that because I reviewed a bunch of the films). I think asking for a subscription price is a little much, but if you were to post a donation I would gladly donate to such a site.

[rhett]

Regarding B.O. info, I came across some interesting news for the first film. It opened two weeks before THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, and it tore up the charts. Its per-screen average was through the roof, and it was the top movie in America for two weeks, and then stayed in second place for a number of weeks behind EMPIRE. THE SHINING came out around the same time as EMPIRE, but in limited release. When THE SHINING eventually made its way to more theaters, it beat out FRIDAY THE 13TH for the second place spot, and the three generally duked it out for many weeks during the summer.

All this information I got was from VARIETY magazine, so if you have time to kick back, head over to the library and check out how people responded to the movie. It it pretty neat to experience it on a week-by-week basis rather than just reading a final summary of the film's B.O. performance.

[Nyghtfall]

Oooh, nice, juicy stuff, rhett! Thanks! :)

I actually had a really crazy idea this afternoon:

Launch a free web site dedicated to exploring the history and societal impact of three of the most popular horror franchises in the world:

A Nightmare on Elm Street
Halloween
Friday the 13th

I seriously do not know whether I am up for that kind of challenge, but I am becoming more and more determined to launch a new F13 site.

[TheShape]

About the box-office of the franchise. There is a very interesting chart up at www.boxofficemojo.com comparing the B.O take of the Friday the 13th films vs the Halloween and Nightmare on Elm Street films. As a matter of fact, I think I originally found the link on this forum.

Freddy / Jason / Michael Myers Box-Office (http://www.boxofficemojo.com/franchises/vs-horroricons.htm)