TWGSB Media Group 5: JD. Institutional Context

Sam Raimi directed the short film in the woods, with a budget of only $1600
The crew was made up almost completely of Raimi and Campbell's friends and family
Fake blood was produced using karo syrup
Filming took 12 weeks. The remoteness of the cabin led to many issues, such as arguments between crew members, cold which forced the crew to burn the smalls cabin's furniture late into filming to keep warm.
Raimi and Bruce Campbell (who starred as Ash Williams, the protagonist, and a childhood friend of Raimi) managed to scrape together funding themselves, the actual amount being unclear, although it is thought to have been between $90,000–400,000
The film's first cut ran at around 117 minutes, but was shortened because it was believed 85 minutes was more marketable.

Raimi first screened the film at Detroit's Redford Theatre, and ordered ambulances outside to build atmosphere and tension.
Irvin Shapiro suggested Raimi change the name Book of the Dead because it wasn't marketable and advised him to sell the film internationally
Shapiro, the founder of the Cannes Film Festival, allowed Raimi to screen it in 1982 where it was seen by Stephen King who listed it as one of his favourite films and reviewed it positively, gaining the interest of distributors, making the film much more popular
Stephen Woolley decided took the risk of marketing the film in the UK, with an emphasis on print campaigns
New Line Cinema also helped distribute the film and made the unique decision to release the film in cinemas and via VHS at the same time, making it one of the first simultaneous releases a risk, which paid off.
In it's first week of sale in the UK, the film made $100, 000 and became that week's best selling video release, much bigger than was imagined from the low budget film.
The film made $600, 000 domestically.

TWGSB Media Group 5