10 Secrets From The Set Of John Carpenter's Halloween 1978

8. John Carpenter Knew A Thing Or Two About Branding

Halloween John Carpenter Title Screen 1978
Universal

John Carpenter's salary was quite low for the film. In fact, he was only paid $10,000 for directing, writing and scoring. He was promised an additional 10% of the profits and full creative control by producer Irwin Yabblans if he could deliver the film on time, which he did.

However, there was another condition he asked for.

Producer Tommy Lee Wallace described Carpenter as being ahead of his time. He wanted to set himself apart from other, potentially anonymous directors of the genre. He organised for his name to be up front and centre in the credits, so that every time someone looked at the name of the film, they would be seeing his name as well.

And here we are still talking about it more than 40 years later. Clearly, the man knew what he was doing.

Contributor
Contributor

Seán is the host and head writer/presenter for TrekCulture, as well as a writer/presenter on WhoCulture and WhatCulture Horror. He has authored two novels, dozens of short stories, and hundreds of articles for WhatCulture. He holds a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from University College Dublin. As part of his work with TrekCulture, Seán has been invited to participate in collaborations with Roddenberry Entertainment, as well as contributing to several Star Trek community projects. An avid fan of Star Trek, Doctor Who, and the horror genre at large, Seán's expertise has helped develop these channels to the successes they are today. As host of the Ups & Downs series on TrekCulture, Seán has become internationally recognised for his positive yet critically informed approach to reviewing every episode of modern Star Trek, ensuring he is one of the go-to voices in the Trek community. Favourite Quote to describe himself: "I'm serious about what I do, just not always about the way that I do it"