Support Wadsworth's First Feature Film!

Brace yourselves for the first feature film from the Wadsworth Filmmakers!

Hello, I am Matthew Minor, leader of the Wadsworth Filmmakers and owner of Wadsworth Films LLC. After a few months of careful preparation and planning, the team and I are planning to move forward with the clubs inaugural project: Ms. Fenton.

HISTORY

In 1973, Wadsworth resident and university professor Robert D. West assembled his own cast and crew to develop The Wednesday Children, which premiered at John Carroll University and Kent State. A horror film about a man named Fenton who convinces the children of a small town to turn on its adults, it went on to minor cult film status and is well known as one of the few films to use Wadsworth and Medina as locations.

Doug West, the son of the director, joined the Wadsworth Filmmakers when we first started in January 2025. During our meetings, West brought up potentially doing a project based around the film, having the personal connection with it. Many members, including Jenny Dulac Young and WCTV'S Johanna Perrino (who was involved in the restoration of the original) shared the same enthusiasm. While West intends to develop a direct sequel in the future, I was more interested in developing a remake. Luckily, I was able to get the support and blessing of West and the rest of the group to move forward with this version, and when a delay with our initial inaugural short film came, we decided to make this instead.

The Wednesday Children:

STORY

Inspired by Robert D. West's The Wednesday Children, Ms. Fenton follows widowed mother Sylvia, struggling to connect with her son while struggling with her own grief after a family tragedy. In their distance, a stranger known only as Ms. Fenton comes between them. She begins to influence him and all the other children in their town, hinting at a much darker plan for them. Fearing she'll lose her son forever, she must fight to overcome her grief and save him - and every other soul in her small town - from an unnatural presence before it's too late.

I, Matthew Minor, am directing from a screenplay based on West's film, and producing alongside Doug West and Angie Haprian, children of the original director and the original Fenton actor. WCTV's Johanna Perrino, Jenny Dulac Young, and Jake Sell are our executive producers, with Elan Chokreff serving as our director of photography.

CAST

Ms. Fenton - Elizabeth Gallagher

Sylvia - TBA

Michael - Nick Costello

Father West - Angelo Oddo

Scotty - Griffin Lane

Kade - TBA

OUR GOAL

With our team of talented newcomers and seasoned industry professionals, and I myself directing, we intend to make a theater-worthy full-length film on a small budget of $2,000, using only Wadsworth as our main location and base of operations since it's never been done before. MS. FENTON is simply to be a well-made first film from the club, meant to show everyone what this team can do. That is all.

It's also intended to be a chance to give Wadsworth the spotlight. The town itself is very much the star, with multiple landmarks and events like Woodlawn Cemetery, Miller Field, Memorial Park, The Square, and even the Blue Tip Parade on full display in the opening scene. It's a love letter to the town I grew up in and a chance to show it to the rest of the world. With all your help, we can make that a reality.

While locations and certain things can be acquired easily, the $2,000 is needed to provide catering, specific equipment, Ms. Fenton's costume, including her hat and sunglasses (to match the original), certain props, etc. Not everything is free, after all! We already have all the official stuff; our LLC is ready to go, the cast is nearly filled out, and our crew is ready to work. We just need the nuts and bolts complete to put everything together.

When the film is edited and complete, my hope is to not only premiere it here at the Lake 8 Cinema in Barberton, but to showcase it at film festivals across the state and maybe get a theatrical distribution deal. My eye is on Sundance and SXSW, the biggest festivals in the country, where your chances of getting a deal are greatest. That is, if the club members are okay with it. Everything goes through everyone else before I make a decision.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

This is where you all come in. A donation - even a dollar - will contribute to us putting the production together. This $2,000 is carefully budgeted to the fifteen or more cast and crew working on this, not to mention the many child extras we'll have running around that we'll need to feed on a tight ten day filming schedule. All of us, including myself, don't have the money to do this ourselves.

Help us to make Wadsworth Filmmaker's first feature film a reality! Donate today!

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