Today's Blind Items - Shoot It First

 Several decades ago, a director got her first and only shot to direct a feature length movie. She also happened to have written the script, but used her male pen name for the script. She often used a male name so her work would get bought or so she would be hired. She wanted to make an impact as the director of this movie. She wanted it to be a stepping stone to lots of other work. The budget was not high. It was a slasher movie. This was peak slasher making movie time. Shoot them quick and hope to make a buck. The director's goal was to show that she could do everything and wanted the world to be talking about the movie. In an age before the internet, how could you create a buzz? You tell the world that the deaths of the victims in the movie are real. That idea was discarded because it was too many different women to kill. What they did end up doing though was killing the actor who was the star of the movie. They filmed the scene, and then called the police and said the guy died of an overdose. The problem the director faced was in order to get the buzz out there, people would have to know he died during the shot scene. They were never able to figure out how to get that buzz. So, one dead actor and one slasher film that did so so and a director who never got to direct again.