The dark side of Hollywood: How was convicted paedophile Victor Salva able to make the ‘Jeepers Creepers’ series?
It appears that in Hollywood, sex offenders have a much easier time having their art taken seriously than women. While female filmmakers struggle to secure directorial opportunities, leading to a huge disparity between men and women in the film industry, men who have been accused of – or even convicted of – sexual assault are willingly given the money and chance to direct movies.
How can this be? The industry is riddled with corrupt men who are willing to excuse such behaviour – or they engage in it themselves. A lot of men in Hollywood who have been accused of sexual assault manage to brush their accusations under the rug, continuing with their careers and even winning awards. When Roman Polanski was honoured at the César Awards in 2020, despite the fact he was convicted of raping a 13-year-old in the 1970s, actor Adèle Haenel walked out in disgust. She eventually retired from the film industry due to the fact that it so actively excuses and champions sexual predators and paedophiles.
Polanski is just one of many filmmakers who have been able to make films following instances of sexual assault involving children. Victor Salva, best known as the director of the popular horror franchise Jeepers Creepers, pleaded guilty to sexually abusing the 12-year-old Nathan Forrest Winters in 1988, even filming one of the acts he forced the child to do. He served 15 months in prison, but he subsequently continued making films in the years that followed, even receiving support from a very famous director.
Salva abused Winters when his victim was 12, but the child actor has claimed that the director began abusing him when he was just 7. He was cast in Salva’s first film, Clownhouse, which was funded by Francis Ford Coppola, who was impressed by Salva’s early short films. Known for making movies like The Godfather and Apocalypse Now, Coppola is one of the most well-respected figures in the industry, but what a lot of people don’t realise is that after Salva’s conviction came to light, Coppola continued to support Salva.
Salva made Jeepers Creepers in 2001, starring Jason Long and Gina Phillips as a pair of siblings driving home from college who become witness to some strange events that culminate in bizarre supernatural horror. After being tailgated by a big truck, they see the driver carrying bodies wrapped in sheets and throwing them down a hole. The siblings decide that, instead of driving far away, they’ll investigate – of course. The movie is nothing groundbreaking, but it became very popular.
Many people who enjoyed the film were unfortunately unaware that the film was directed by a paedophile, leading it to gross $59million against a budget of $10m. How was Salva able to finance a film when he had such a disgusting crime attached to his name? It turns out Coppola was more than delighted to help out, believing that Salva’s time in prison would help him become more creative. He even allegedly gave Salva $5,000 following his release.
“Someone had launched a campaign against Victor, saying, ‘How can you give this guy a movie to make?’” Coppola explained via the L.A Times. “Some of the financing for the film fell through. One of the actors resigned when he learned about the case. So I helped Victor get the job. I was criticised for it, but my attitude is, he has a talent, and that talent in itself is good. We don’t have to embrace the person in believing that their art is a contribution to society.”
Shockingly, this kind of thinking is common in Hollywood. “He has a real gift as a filmmaker. The punishment has been completed, and he should be a citizen again,” Coppola added. Despite Winters campaigning against Salva and attempting to boycott his films, his efforts were overshadowed by powerful film industry figures with enough money and influence to drown his protests out.
Jeepers Creepers was followed by three sequels, two of which Salva directed. He has also made movies like Powder, Dark House, Rites of Passage and Rosewood Lane. Jeepers Creepers remains the most popular movie he has ever made, but the fact that MGM and Coppola actively backed Salva is disgusting. Evidently, many people in the film industry can overlook crimes as serious as child abuse and the possession of child pornography, which is the bleak reality of Hollywood’s dark side.
