Interview With Fritz Gordon (2002)

In May 2002 I was able to ask screenwriter Fritz Gordon some burning questions about Sleepaway Camp 2 & 3 during the audio commentary sessions for the DVD. You can hear the full scope of those on the releases, but here is some transcribed Q&A from the day.
 

Sleepaway Camp Films: Most of these characters were named after Brat Pack members, right Fritz? Can you tell us a bit about that?

Fritz Gordon: Yes, if you'll listen to the names of the people you'll hear everything from Molly to Sean, Ally, TC, Rob, Mare, Demi and they're all named after brat pack members from the 80's. Like Molly Ringwald, Sean Penn, Ally Sheedy, TC stands for Tom Cruise... Mare Whittingham, Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, so that was part of the fun of doing this.

SCF: And Uncle John who's Big Papa...

Gordon: Uncle John, yes. A tribute to John Hughes.

SCF: How long did you spend on set? How much of [SC2] did you see?

Gordon: Not that much. About a couple of days.

SCF: Whose idea was it to get rid of [Angela's] "member"?

Gordon: I thought - at the beginning we thought we might even have a boy play the part.

SCF: Who was your favorite character to write in this, Fritz? Was it Angela?

Gordon: Angela's always fun to write. Just because she's so positive, trying to always be positive. She's an optimist for the most part, and then people constantly disappoint her. And then Valerie Hartman's character Ally was a lot of fun to write because she's just so rude.

SCF: How old were you when you wrote these because alot of the teen dialogue is dead on.

Gordon: I think twenty four... about right.

SCF: Oh yeah? So was it from your general experiences with people or did you hang out at a mall and listen to the young'uns?

Gordon: I like to hang out at parks and talk to children but most of the dialogue was spent from just my imagination. I was under heavy sedation at the time and spent most of the time in my room.

SCF: How did you come up with alot of these creative deaths?

Gordon: Well actually I went to alot of my friends and got how they would do it and just brainstormed one day and that's how it worked.

SCF: Did you enjoy more dialogue more or writing the action and the deaths?

Gordon: I think for me personally it's more fun to write the dialogue.

SCF: Were you pleased at how [SC2] lived up to your scripting?

Gordon: Yes, I think they really carried it off quite well. It was fun to watch them interpret these characters. And especially with Pamela Springsteen and Rennee Estevez. I think they were both just terrific.

SCF: I bet you had some fun writing [SC3's] stereotypical rich characters? I really think you put a good spin on them at the end of the day.

Gordon: Well to me they're always fun to write. Cindy, the spoiled rich girl in this was the most fun to write and her death which happens a little later on by flagpole was probably the silliest of them.

SCF: Did you in any way feel burned out when you were writing this, after doing part two?

Gordon: No, I enjoyed writing it because it was a whole different type of feel - they're out in the woods, and they're camping and again with Herman and Lilly I was just trying to point out just how they've exploited these poor kids in the name of Sharing And Caring.

Can you spot Fritz? He's the unknown counsellor!