In the summer of 1982, a young Brad Caleb Kane went to the movies with his big sister, who snuck him in to see Friday the 13th Part III in 3D. For the future actor, TV producer, and singing voice of Disney’s Aladdin, it opened up a whole new world. But everybody screamed, including me.
I knew this was something I wanted to do with the rest of my life. It was the gateway drug to my career.” Decades later, Kane’s magic carpet ride through Hollywood comes full circle as the creator and showrunner of Crystal Lake, a prequel series to the Friday the 13th franchise. Set years before Jason Voorhees picks up his hockey mask and machete, the series follows Pamela Voorhees (played by Linda Cardellini), who grieves for her only son, Jason (Callum Vinson), after he drowns due to negligent counselors who went off to have sex.
Over eight episodes, streaming now on Peacock, a grief-stricken Pamela searches for any trace of her son left. While talk of a Friday the 13th series began as far back as 2003, and a network pilot was produced in 2015, Crystal Lake came to fruition circa October 2022 under a different creative team. After the 2023 strikes, A24 sought new direction.
In 2024, Brad Caleb Kane came aboard with his own pitch zeroed in on Pamela. I was going, ‘What’s my next job?’ I was scrolling [online], and I noticed that Peacock and A24 were doing Friday the 13th.” The possibility of creating a Friday the 13th series had Kane begging to try his luck. This was my jam,” he says.
I made my pitch, and here we are, a year and a half later.” Like Jason, Kane has long felt out of step with normies. He wasn’t one of the cool kids. He spent weekends watching horror and kung fu flicks, which all seemed “like junk food” to his parents.
He was a real-life version of Chainsaw, from the 1987 film Summer School. That’s what I learned as a creator on my first show. All the things you’re doing for fun and trying things out, deep diving into subcultures, that becomes your identity.
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