61%User score 61 percent
Clownhouse
1990 · Horror
Born in June 22, 1975, thirty or so miles east of San Francisco in Martinez, California to an artistic flower child mother and a vagabond alcoholic father that stuck around just long enough to learn what his first son had been named, Nathaniel Forrest Winters was a quiet, analytical, and well mannered child with an eye for details and a passion for performing. Around the age of six, Winters and his family were introduced to Victor Salva, an ambitious 23yr old amateur filmmaker that at the time was working at a daycare. Salva quickly became a close and trusted friend to Winters and his family.
At age nine, after much deliberation and protests from Salva, Nathan convinced Victor to allow him the chance to audition for a part in his newest project 'Something in the Basement'. Out of nineteen young and hopeful males, Winters won the starring role. Also, cast in this 28-minute short film was Winters' 'ClownHouse' costar Brian Mchugh.
'Something In The Basement' would go on to win first place in its category at the Sony Film Festival in San Francisco as well as to win the attention of one of the judges, Hollywood elitist Francis Ford Coppola.
With Coppola on as producer and a legitimate budget, Salva set out to write the 1989 cult classic 'ClownHouse' with Winters in mind as his lead role Casey Collins. The film would be shot on a grueling schedule in 30 days. One of the perks of working underneath Coppola's umbrella the entire film was shot with the same cameras that George Lucas used to shoot 'American Graffiti'. The downside to this was the noise made by the cameras was obnoxiously overbearing. They were so loud in fact every bit of dialogue and sound had to be dubbed over.
Just as post-production began, Winters found the courage to tell his mother the truth and confirm her suspicions. Salva was arrested and charged with 11 counts of child molestation. With the financial and moral support of Coppola, he would only be convicted of the four least severe charges, including but not limited to soliciting and procuring a child under 14 for pornography. Salva was sentenced to three years for a crime that took him six years to commit. He only served fifteen months.
Winters has since been a powerful voice and advocate working to promote a raised awareness towards the prevention of sexual abuse. He has said that being told at the age of 12 by Coppola that he would never work in the industry again really left a sour and bitter taste for the film industry. Winters began writing and performing music at age 15 and found his true calling.