Film

SO, WHAT’S NEXT? Filmmakers Launch Kickstarter for Horror Comedy Short

Local film production company aims to answer the age-old question: What happens to a horror movie’s survivor after they defeat the villain?

McKenna Scherer |

HELP A GAL OUT. New Neighbor recently launched a Kickstarter campaign to help fund their project, a horror-comedy short film titled
HELP A GAL OUT. New Neighbor recently launched a Kickstarter campaign to help fund their project, a horror-comedy short film titled "Blossom Needs A Ride Home," a follow-up to "Blossom and the Decrepit Man."

We’ve all got our favorites: Scream, Halloween, Ring, The Blair Watch Project – the list goes on. A lot of people love (and hate) the thrill of a horror movie and the blood-pumping adrenaline of the back-and-forth, “will they, won’t they” game of survival. But when the end credits roll, there’s almost always an unanswered question that rises above the rest: What happens next for the survivor(s)?

That’s the question New Neighbor, a film production company made up of a talented group of locals based in Eau Claire, aim to answer with the film, Blossom Needs A Ride Home, a follow-up to Blossom and the Decrepit Man released about two years ago. In the first short film, we see Blossom (Reanna Madson) beat the ever-loving sh*t out of the Decrepit Man (Ben Schmidt) after she was presumably kidnapped, then tied to a tree with a daunting clock ticking in the background.

So, we see the villain’s “defeat,” but where does Blossom go next? She’s in the middle of a forest after knocking out the guy who tied her up there, and who may or may not even be dead. She has no cell phone, no map, no water or food, and seemingly no money – the latter of which is also a barrier for the filming of Blossom’s next adventure.

New Neighbor launched a Kickstarter fundraiser for Blossom Needs A Ride Home, the budget of which has mostly been funded by the production business itself. A bigger budget means a better end product.

“To put it simply, making a movie isn’t cheap,” the Kickstarter explains. “You can rest assured that I’ve already invested more into this project than the amount we need here. With the $1,500 that I’m asking for it puts our budget right into the ‘we can do this comfortably territory.’ ”

As is common for Kickstarter campaigns, this campaign is offering incentives for different amounts donated. For example, by donating $10 your name will appear in the credits at the end of the film and a shoutout online; $20 earns you the former plus a signed postcard mailed to you with thanks; and so on. Additional tiers include a Kickstarter-exclusive film poster, an invite to the cast-and-crew screening of the film, an IMDb associate producer credit, and more. Heck, if you’ve got $10,000 to donate, you could even earn the rare Cast & Crew “Firefighter” Calendar.

The Kickstarter runs until Tuesday, July 16, 11:59pm, when it officially ends whether or not the goal of $1,500 has been reached. It's an all-or-nothing style fundraiser, so if the goal is unfulfilled, all the donated money gets sent back to the givers. If more than the goal is achieved, huzzah – it will still all go toward the film.

“At the end of the day, we just love making movies,” director and writer Tim Schwagel says in the Kickstarter campaign video. But if you want to see what Blossom does next quicker, support the New Neighbor production of Blossom Needs A Ride Home now.


Learn more about New Neighbor on their website • Find the Kickstarter campaign here • Watch Blossom and the Decrepit Man online to see what Blossom dealt with in the first short