Dead Saturday
Huntsville, Alabama | Film Short
Drama, Thriller
Jimmy is convinced he's found a way to release his inner demons without going against the will of God: Dead Saturday, the time between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, when Jesus is “dead” and our sins are overlooked. But when he confronts Pastor Malcolm (Eric Roberts), the conversation gets heated.
Dead Saturday
Huntsville, Alabama | Film Short
Drama, Thriller

2 Campaigns | Alabama, United States
Green Light
This campaign raised $8,465 for production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
135 supporters | followers
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Jimmy is convinced he's found a way to release his inner demons without going against the will of God: Dead Saturday, the time between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, when Jesus is “dead” and our sins are overlooked. But when he confronts Pastor Malcolm (Eric Roberts), the conversation gets heated.
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
The Story
Traditionally, whenever filmmakers delved into religious stories, whether historical or present day, it was widely assumed that their films were specifically made for a religious audience—to confirm or uphold their beliefs rather than start a dialogue. This is not our goal with “Dead Saturday.” We want to tell a story, not deliver a sermon. We believe we’ve crafted a script where a range of different interpretations can be gleaned from the story—in fact, the two of us never pinned down a specific “theme” before writing the script, and after we finished it, we had two different ideas of what the potential meaning of the story was to each of us. But while provoking thoughts is a wonderful side effect, our primary goal, like most filmmakers of the world, is to entertain you. It is a religious thriller, after all. At the end of the day, we hope that we’ve created a story that will both grab you while the action takes place and stay with you after the credits have rolled.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Craft Services Food
Costs $500
3.5 days on set for a sizable cast and crew means lots of snacks and drinks. Lots.
Hotel Room
Costs $2,000
Lots of folks coming from out of town. Can't make a good flick if you can't get your sleep right.
Prop Package
Costs $1,500
Guns (with blanks) will be fired on set. Armorer must be present. Additional props needed as well.
Make Up Artist
Costs $1,000
Cheap SFX ain't good, and good SFX ain't cheap. Makin' blood and mayhem look as real as we can.
Location Rental Fee
Costs $400
Donation to the church in Huntsville for the location rental.
Catering
Costs $500
Catered lunch every day on set, plus some dinners whenever we can provide.
Festival Fees
Costs $600
We want to showcase our finished product at film festivals throughout the South (and the country).
Gas
Costs $500
Lots of folks coming in from out of town. Lots of gas needed to fill those tanks.
Production Insurance
Costs $1,000
Lots of wild stuff goin' on during this production. Gotta keep the people safe and insured.
About This Team
Jeremy Burgess – Writer/Producer
Having been schooled in creative writing, academic writing, and journalism, storytelling is in Jeremy’s blood. Jeremy began writing for The Birmingham News/AL.com (Alabama’s biggest newspaper/media outlet) as a college sophomore and has been a freelance contributor for eight years. He received a master’s degree in English from the University of Louisville, and he’s spent the past two years as a copywriter for Big Communications in Birmingham, AdAge’s Small Agency of the Year (Southeast) in 2013. Jeremy penned a pair of short scripts in 2011: “Get Right,” which won Best Alabama Screenplay in the 2011 Sidewalk Film Festival’s Sidewrite competition, and “The Dan Dedman Song Factory,” which won Best Screenplay – Short Drama at the 2012 United Film Festival (Los Angeles) and was the runner-up for both Best Short Screenplay at the 2012 George Lindsey UNA Film Festival and the Best Alabama Screenplay in the 2011 Sidewalk Film Festival’s Sidewrite competition. Jeremy is currently working on his first full-length script, a western/horror hybrid about an isolated werewolf.
Ben Stark – Writer/Director
As both a first-generation immigrant and graduate of the University of Alabama, Benjamin Stark combines classical Old World ideas of sequential art with traditional populist American cinema. Stark began making short digital films in 2005, and began working as a video production professional the same year. Since then, his dueling careers have taken parallel paths. As a film director, he has helmed numerous shorts and one feature film (“The Nocturnal Third”), and has contributed to the indie film landscape as both a screenwriter (“The Nocturnal Third”) and feature film producer (“A Genesis Found”). As a videographer and editor, Stark has almost a decade of experience in corporate, military, and aerospace productions. In addition to directing and editing pieces for NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, Stark helped to develop and edit the Aerospace Industries Association’s “We Must Go” spot that premiered nationwide in front of “Star Trek Into Darkness” at select theaters in 2013. Stark’s passion as a director is apparent in his films; the mood and assuredness of “The Nocturnal Third” have been compared to the early works of David Lynch and Christopher Nolan, and the sparse long takes of his newest short, “Frankenstein’s Master”, have been hailed for their atmosphere. Before the age of 30, Benjamin Stark has been able to amass a directorial filmography that is probing, humanist, tense, and above all, entertaining. Stark’s main goal is to direct films that speak to people through sincere characterization and accomplished craftsmanship.
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
The Story
Traditionally, whenever filmmakers delved into religious stories, whether historical or present day, it was widely assumed that their films were specifically made for a religious audience—to confirm or uphold their beliefs rather than start a dialogue. This is not our goal with “Dead Saturday.” We want to tell a story, not deliver a sermon. We believe we’ve crafted a script where a range of different interpretations can be gleaned from the story—in fact, the two of us never pinned down a specific “theme” before writing the script, and after we finished it, we had two different ideas of what the potential meaning of the story was to each of us. But while provoking thoughts is a wonderful side effect, our primary goal, like most filmmakers of the world, is to entertain you. It is a religious thriller, after all. At the end of the day, we hope that we’ve created a story that will both grab you while the action takes place and stay with you after the credits have rolled.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Craft Services Food
Costs $500
3.5 days on set for a sizable cast and crew means lots of snacks and drinks. Lots.
Hotel Room
Costs $2,000
Lots of folks coming from out of town. Can't make a good flick if you can't get your sleep right.
Prop Package
Costs $1,500
Guns (with blanks) will be fired on set. Armorer must be present. Additional props needed as well.
Make Up Artist
Costs $1,000
Cheap SFX ain't good, and good SFX ain't cheap. Makin' blood and mayhem look as real as we can.
Location Rental Fee
Costs $400
Donation to the church in Huntsville for the location rental.
Catering
Costs $500
Catered lunch every day on set, plus some dinners whenever we can provide.
Festival Fees
Costs $600
We want to showcase our finished product at film festivals throughout the South (and the country).
Gas
Costs $500
Lots of folks coming in from out of town. Lots of gas needed to fill those tanks.
Production Insurance
Costs $1,000
Lots of wild stuff goin' on during this production. Gotta keep the people safe and insured.
About This Team
Jeremy Burgess – Writer/Producer
Having been schooled in creative writing, academic writing, and journalism, storytelling is in Jeremy’s blood. Jeremy began writing for The Birmingham News/AL.com (Alabama’s biggest newspaper/media outlet) as a college sophomore and has been a freelance contributor for eight years. He received a master’s degree in English from the University of Louisville, and he’s spent the past two years as a copywriter for Big Communications in Birmingham, AdAge’s Small Agency of the Year (Southeast) in 2013. Jeremy penned a pair of short scripts in 2011: “Get Right,” which won Best Alabama Screenplay in the 2011 Sidewalk Film Festival’s Sidewrite competition, and “The Dan Dedman Song Factory,” which won Best Screenplay – Short Drama at the 2012 United Film Festival (Los Angeles) and was the runner-up for both Best Short Screenplay at the 2012 George Lindsey UNA Film Festival and the Best Alabama Screenplay in the 2011 Sidewalk Film Festival’s Sidewrite competition. Jeremy is currently working on his first full-length script, a western/horror hybrid about an isolated werewolf.
Ben Stark – Writer/Director
As both a first-generation immigrant and graduate of the University of Alabama, Benjamin Stark combines classical Old World ideas of sequential art with traditional populist American cinema. Stark began making short digital films in 2005, and began working as a video production professional the same year. Since then, his dueling careers have taken parallel paths. As a film director, he has helmed numerous shorts and one feature film (“The Nocturnal Third”), and has contributed to the indie film landscape as both a screenwriter (“The Nocturnal Third”) and feature film producer (“A Genesis Found”). As a videographer and editor, Stark has almost a decade of experience in corporate, military, and aerospace productions. In addition to directing and editing pieces for NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, Stark helped to develop and edit the Aerospace Industries Association’s “We Must Go” spot that premiered nationwide in front of “Star Trek Into Darkness” at select theaters in 2013. Stark’s passion as a director is apparent in his films; the mood and assuredness of “The Nocturnal Third” have been compared to the early works of David Lynch and Christopher Nolan, and the sparse long takes of his newest short, “Frankenstein’s Master”, have been hailed for their atmosphere. Before the age of 30, Benjamin Stark has been able to amass a directorial filmography that is probing, humanist, tense, and above all, entertaining. Stark’s main goal is to direct films that speak to people through sincere characterization and accomplished craftsmanship.