2 Comments | Add
Rate & Share:
Related Links:
Info:
Horror Scripters Exorcise Their Rites at Warner Bros. Rally
Latest WGA rally designed to drive evil spirits from movie studios and TV networks. By Den Shewman
November 29, 2007
Jace Anderson and Scott Kosar on bullhorn at the WGA horror writers rally at Warner Bros. studios.
© Den Shewman
It was a moment that could have come from the deleted scenes of The Exorcist: several priests (and one nun) chanting “Out, demons, out!” as they make the sign of the Crossand sprinkle holy water on a victim they claim is possessed by demons. But this “victim” was no pre-Chained Heat Linda Blair—it was Warner Bros., the Burbank, California-based studio that has brought you such horror classics as, well, The Exorcist. And these (un)holy men and women didn’t hail from Vatican City but from Los Angeles—they write horror films, and were rallying in front of Warners at noon on Tuesday in support of the current Writers Guild of America strike that has been pitting the screenwriters union against film studios and television networks over such things as residuals for Internet sales of movies and TV shows.
The 45-minute rally, which the WGA estimated drew nearly 100 horror writers and supporters, was led by screenwriter Scott Kosar (The Machinist). Dressed in a black cassock and clerical collar, “Brother Kosar” was flanked by three other screenwriting “priests” and a “nun” (Lost Boys 2’s Hans Rodionoff, The Grudge’s Stephen Susco, and Mother of Tears’ Adam Gierasch and Jace Anderson, respectively) as he clarified
Picket sign outside Warner Bros during 2007 WGA strike.
© Den Shewman
Hence the exorcism. The event, adding some fun to a strike that has been getting more serious with every passing week, was Kosar’s brainchild. Rodionoff alluded that Kosar was inspired by David Dellinger and Jerry Rubin’s 1967 protest where they and 50,000 antiwar protesters marched on Washington, DC in an attempt to exorcise the Pentagon of evil spirits to help halt the Vietnam War (Abbie Hoffman promised to levitate the building).
Reading from a script titled The Roman Ritual of Exorcism, Kosar started the ritual with the exhortation to “let the demons that torment these studios hear the Guild’s force and feel its resolve, which is far, far stronger than the enemy had anticipated.” The faux Father brought forth cheers from the assembled when he noted that “after all, the pen truly is mightier than the sword.”
Stephen Susco and Scott Kosar outside Warner Bros. during 2007 WGA strike.
© Den Shewman
In keeping with the writer-oriented nature of the event, Rodionoff claims, possibly tongue in cheek, that the holy water was blessed by Steve Niles. It seems Niles is not only an acclaimed comic-book and film writer (30 Days of Night) but also, apparently, is recognized by the Online Ministers of America as “Reverend Steve Niles.”
Many of the screenwriters Mania interviewed at the rally agreed with Kosar’s invocation against corporate avarice. “It’s just greed, plain and simple,” says Niles, “and they [the studios and networks] need to share.”
Steve Niles (with sign) and Hans Rodionoff outside Warner Bros during 2007 WGA strike.
© Den Shewman
Leigh Whannell, the Australian writer/actor of Saw who has since relocated to LA, agrees. “Filmmaking is such a collaborative process—it’s one of the last great collaborative arts—but the writing stage of it is so solitary,” he laughs. “You’re on your own.”
Clad in black (the de rigueur color of the day) and a Psycho ball cap, the soft-spoken Glen Morgan (Final Destination) says that one of the positive influences of the WGA strike was that it was showing that “you can effect change if you’re being fair.” Asked about his next project, the writer—who lists his influences as ranging from Dracula and Todd Browning’s films to The Exorcist—points across the street, laughing that “I’m going to the Smoke House [restaurant] and having a Manhattan.”
Stuart Gordon outside Warner Bros. during 2007 WGA strike.
© Den Shewman
Kosar ended his introduction on a positive note, saying that the writers really do “believe that good triumphs over evil”—suggesting that, even in Hollywood, there might yet be room for a Hollywood ending.
LOGIN
REGISTER
RSS
HOME
