Exorcising their demons, one studio at a time

As the Writers Guild strike enters week four, "The Machinist" scribe Scott Kosar figured the studios were in need of a good demon scrubbing.

On Tuesday afternoon, Kosar donned priest garb and led a crowd of horror writers in conducting an exorcism outside the Warner Bros. lot. (The studio released the original "The Exorcist," after all.)

"We the horror writers do not necessarily believe the members of the AMPTP are evil," intoned the scribe-turned-Exorcist. "But we believe that they've been invaded by evil spirits, whose goal is the distruction of this union... We do believe that good does eventually triumph over evil."

Kosar -- tongue firmly planted in cheek, and bullhorn firmly planted in hand -- then read from a (somewhat modified) Catholic exorcism, asking God to "repel the greed that bewitches these studios," and to prevent demons from "further deceiving this guild and these members."

Holy water was splashed toward the studio (hitting some reporters and news photogs in the process -- hey, demons are everywhere). Kosar then led the gathered striking scribes in chanting, "OUT, DEMONS, OUT!" before turning to the even more catchy (and appropriate) "WE EAT SCABS!" One striker clutched a Chuckie doll, while another had a "Halloween"/Michael Myers mask and yet another sported a large, fake spider on her back.

Later, "The Lost Boys 2" writer Hans Rodionoff, also in priest attire, said he hoped Tuesday's exorcism would "drive some evil spirits out of the studios, so hopefully our neogtiations will go smoother at this point on."

Rodionoff said he also thought the exorcism might boost morale among striking scribes -- and perhaps inspire other genre writers to stage similar events.

"Two components of horror are evil and hope," he said. "Hope springs eternal."

Kosar noted to reporters that the resurgent horror genre has minted billions of dollars for the studios via box office and DVD sales.

"The studios make a lot of money off our work," he said. "We're here to remind them that we're not at our desks creating content, and we'll remain here until we have a good deal."

Where did the idea for Tuesday's exorcism come from? Kosar said he was inspired by late activist Abbie Hoffman's famous 1967 "Exorcism of the Pentagon," in which thousands of people gathered outside the building in the hopes of levitating the building and bringing about peace. Sadly, the Warner Bros. lot did not rise and hover above Burbank... but who knows, peace between the studios and writers could still be around the corner.

-- Michael Schneider

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[J.L. Benet]

The Horror Writers Association, on behalf of its writer members, stands in support of the Writers Guild of America strike in seeking appropriate compensation for writers when their work is distributed digitally, either via DVD or Internet downloads. Although HWA is not a union, it is an organization of writers that advocates for authors' rights. Writers Guild of America and its demands fall solidly into this category. All writers will be affected by the outcome of this strike, and we stand in solidarity, resisting those who seek to distribute our work on the Internet, DVD, or any format without fair compensation.