Phil Lord, a producer on Sony’s hit animated feature Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, acknowledges that making the movie demanded a lot of hard work from the crew, but he’s hopeful that the issues in the industry can be solved and bring the current Writers Guild of America strike to an end.
In an interview with Variety, Lord was asked about criticisms that have risen regarding the working conditions on Across the Spider-Verse. Although he didn’t address any root problems that may have caused the complaints, Lord stated, “that was a really hard movie to make. We’re really proud of how hard everybody worked, and it was very demanding. But we’re just really proud of the crew, and everything they put into it.”
What did Across the Spider-Verse’s crew say about working on the project?
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, a sequel to 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, hit theaters in June 2023 to critical and commercial success. Fans were captivated by the new spin on the Spider-Man character and the dimension-hopping plot, and the groundbreaking mixed animation style in particular drew lavish praise.
However, an anonymous artist who worked on the film later brought attention to its unsustainable working conditions, saying that work days were 11 hours long, seven days a week, and over 100 artists had left the project “because they couldn’t take it anymore.”
In regards to the WGA strike and the surrounding conversations about unsustainable working conditions in the film and TV industry, Lord said, “I’ve always been optimistic about this labor movement, because these deals seem incredibly makeable, and the main problem is that only one party wants to negotiate. But as long as both parties will come to negotiate in good faith and address the very real problems, like writers’ pay — which is down 25% and is a concrete issue that can be addressed — and make the business healthy so people can do this job and pay their rent, we’re going to be in great shape.” He concluded, “I’m frustrated, but I think this is an imminently solvable problem.”
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is now available to rent or buy for home viewing.
