Rhys Frake-Waterfield

Rhys Frake-Waterfield (born 1991 or 1992)^[1] is a British filmmaker who became known for his 2023 independent horror film Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey and its 2024 sequel. It was the first theatrical film of his career, as well as the first for his company Jagged Edge Productions.

Rhys Frake-Waterfield
Frake-Waterfield in 2023
Born	1991 or 1992 (age 33–34)
Alma mater	University of Essex
Occupations	Director producer writer editor
Notable work	The Killing Tree Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2

Early life

Frake-Waterfield is from Essex, where he also studied at the University of Essex.^[2]

Career

In 2021, Frake-Waterfield left his corporate strategy job at EDF Energy to create low-budget horror films.^[3] After entering the film industry, he produced 36 feature films in two years.^[4]

On 1 January 2022, the 1926 Winnie-the-Pooh book entered the public domain in the United States.^[5] Shortly after this, Jagged Edge Productions announced a Winnie-the-Pooh-based slasher film called Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey, with Frake-Waterfield serving as the director, writer, and co-producer with Scott Jeffrey. There was much controversy among both the general public and Winnie-the-Pooh fans, with Frake-Waterfield claiming that he and the other members on the film's production received death threats^[6] and petitions calling for the film to be cancelled,^[7] but the film was released in cinemas in the United States on 15 February 2023, receiving very poor reviews. The film made over $US5 million^[8][9] on a budget reported to be less than $US100,000.^[10] Afterwards, Frake-Waterfield created a sequel with a budget five times greater,^[10] along with a cinematic universe called The Twisted Childhood Universe with horror films based on Bambi, a Life in the Woods and Peter Pan.^[11][12] He has also expressed interest in making films about Thor, the Teletubbies, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the future.^[13][14]

Frake-Waterfield is also the owner of Dark Abyss Productions, where he writes, directs and produces films under the name Tyler James (with Scott Jeffrey).^[15] Films he has directed under this banner include The Loch Ness Horror, Sky Monster, Dinosaur Prison, Deadly Waters and Monsternado. Films he has produced under this banner include Three Blind Mice, Mary Had a Little Lamb, Snake Hotel, Alien Invasion, Return of Punch and Judy, and Medusa's Venom.^[16]

Selected filmography

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Producer	Editor	Notes	Ref.
2021	Bloody Mary	No	No	Yes	Yes		[17]
	Easter Killing	No	No	Yes	Yes
2022	The Area 51 Incident	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Also composer	[18]
	The Killing Tree	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Also decorations
2023	Firenado	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Co-directed with Scott Jeffrey
	Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
2024	Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2	Yes	Story	Yes	Yes		[19]
2025	Pinocchio: Unstrung	Yes	No	Yes	No		[20]

Producer only

Year	Title	Ref.
2021	Dinosaur Hotel	[17]
	Dragon Fury
	The Legend of Jack and Jill	[18]
	Monsters of War
	Spider in the Attic
2022	H.P. Lovecraft's Monster Portal
	Looks Can Kill
	Wrath of Van Helsing
	Croc!	[17]
	Shockwaves	[18]
	Kingdom of the Dinosaurs	[17]
	Jack Frost	[18]
	Pterodactyl
	Dinosaur Hotel 2
	Dragon Fury: Wrath of Fire
	Krampus: The Return
	Bloody Mary Returns
	Mega Lightning
	Easter Bunny Massacre: The Bloody Trail
2025	Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare	[21][22]
	Bambi: The Reckoning	[23]

Awards

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
2024	Golden Raspberry Awards	Worst Picture	Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey	Won	[24]
		Worst Director
		Worst Screenplay