Rhys Frake-Waterfield (born ) is a British filmmaker who became known for his 2023

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...

'' Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey'' and its 2024

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music, or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

. It was the first theatrical film of his career, as well as the first for his company Jagged Edge Productions.

Early life

Frake-Waterfield is from Essex, where he also studied at the

University of Essex The University of Essex is a public university, public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, it is one of the original plate glass university, plate glass universities. The university comprises three camp ...

Career

In 2021, Frake-Waterfield left his

corporate strategy In the field of management, strategic management involves the formulation and implementation of the major goals and initiatives taken by an organization's managers on behalf of stakeholders, based on consideration of Resource management, resources ...

job at

EDF Energy EDF Energy is a British integrated energy company, wholly owned by the French state-owned EDF (Électricité de France), with operations spanning electricity generation and the sale of natural gas and electricity to homes and businesses throug ...

to create low-budget horror films. After entering the

film industry The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking, i.e., film production company, production companies, film studios, cinematography, animation, film production, screenwriting, pre- ...

, he produced 36 feature films in two years. On 1 January 2022, the 1926 ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' book entered the

public domain in the United States Works are in the public domain if they are not covered by the intellectual property right known as copyright, or if the intellectual property rights to the works have expired. Works automatically enter the public domain when their copyright has ...

. Shortly after this, Jagged Edge Productions announced a ''Winnie-the-Pooh''-based

slasher film A slasher film is a subgenre of horror films involving a killer or a group of killers stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as a generic ...

called '' Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey'', with Frake-Waterfield serving as the director, writer, and co-producer with Scott Jeffrey. There was much controversy among both the general public and ''

Winnie-the-Pooh Winnie-the-Pooh (also known as Edward Bear, Pooh Bear or simply Pooh) is a fictional Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard. Winnie-the-Pooh first appeared by ...

'' fans, with Frake-Waterfield claiming that he and the other members on the film's production received death threats and petitions calling for the film to be cancelled, but the film was released in cinemas in the United States on 15 February 2023, receiving very poor reviews. The film made over $US5 million on a budget reported to be less than $US100,000. Afterwards, Frake-Waterfield created a sequel with a budget five times greater, along with a cinematic universe called

The Twisted Childhood Universe The Twisted Childhood Universe (TCU) (also referred to as the Poohniverse), is a British film series and shared universe of independent slasher horror films. It was conceived and created by Rhys Frake-Waterfield, and produced by the filmmaker' ...

with horror films based on ''

Bambi, a Life in the Woods ''Bambi, a Life in the Woods'' () is a 1923 Austrian coming-of-age novel written by Felix Salten, and originally published in Berlin by Ullstein Verlag. The novel traces the life of Bambi, a male roe deer, from his birth through childhood, t ...

'' and ''

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythical ...

''. He has also expressed interest in making films about

Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...

, the ''

Teletubbies ''Teletubbies'' is a British children's television series created by Anne Wood and Andrew Davenport for the BBC. The programme focuses on four differently coloured characters known as the Teletubbies, named after the television screens on t ...

'', and the ''

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' (''TMNT'') is an American media franchise created by comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Leonardo, Donatello (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), D ...

'' in the future. Frake-Waterfield is also the owner of Dark Abyss Productions, where he writes, directs and produces films under the name Tyler James (with Scott Jeffrey). Films he has directed under this banner include ''The Loch Ness Horror'', ''Sky Monster'', ''Dinosaur Prison'', ''Deadly Waters'' and ''Monsternado''. Films he has produced under this banner include ''Three Blind Mice'', ''Mary Had a Little Lamb'', ''Snake Hotel'', ''Alien Invasion'', ''Return of Punch and Judy'', and ''Medusa's Venom''.

Selected filmography

Producer only

Awards

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Frake-Waterfield, Rhys Alumni of the University of Essex British film directors British film editors British film producers British male screenwriters Living people 1990s births Year of birth uncertain British horror film directors People from Southend-on-Sea