As far as the horror genre goes, Warner Bros. Studios gave us a classic one – 1973’s The Exorcist. Wednesday, hundreds of WGA horror writers picketed the studio to address the green bile rocketing out of the AMPTP’s mouths.
“We’ve had multiple Mike Myers, here. We’ve had Freddy. I saw The Ring girl. Pearl just walked by,” said Rebekah McKendry, listing off several iconic characters from the horror genre. “One of my old students was wearing meat. We’ve just had so much creativity.”
A ten-year veteran of the horror genre as a writer, producer and director, McKendry was approached by fellow WGAW member (and horror lover) Andrew Lobel who was looking for a way to connect with the horror writing community on the picket lines.
The response was enthusiastic, said McKendry who added that many of the writers who work in horror already know each other and see each other at genre events.
“There’s already this community that exists within the horror space, so being able to bring everybody together in one place has just been absolutely phenomenal for us to come out, fly our horror colors and really just preach our method,” McKendry said.
The picketers got plenty of food donated as well as coffee from Fangoria magazine.
But amidst their costumes, props and creativity, the horror picketers embrace the principles of what the Guild is fighting for, according to Lobel.
REELated:
“Genre films tend to get treated as less than sometimes,” said Lobel. “In my experience, genre writers are often subjected to late pay and poor deals. We have a lot of fun with the work we do, and the work we do brings a lot of people joy, but it’s work, and everybody out here understands that we’re fighting for a better deal. Nobody here is forgetting that.”
Axelle Carolyn, a writer, director, and actress who works mostly in horror, has worked almost exclusively for streaming shows since joining the WGAW in 2018.
“I can only dream of a time when people used to make a living off their writing and their residuals,” said Carolyn. “The idea of buying a house in Los Angeles, based on having regular work and all those things, seems very difficult right now. Hearing people talking about how it was very different working ten or 15 years ago is what motivates us.”
The labor dispute, which has gained support not only from other unions but the general public as well, has now entered its second month. Writers walked out on May 2 after talks between the WGA Negotiating Committee and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers broke down.
