A creepy one-quarter mile walk through a pop-up Valencia haunt can fill the rush of a good scare as well as support those struggling in the film industry.
Grisly Garden was produced and built by film industry pros including art directors, makeup artists, writers, actors, and tradespeople in special effects and lighting – all affected by recent industry strikes.
Scott Niner, president, founder and owner of Dangling Carrot Creative, provided his studio as maze host. His company works in television and film graphics and he said he’s had to lay off 34 employees when the strike happened.
With free time, talent, and a need for funds, Niner and about 60 others who have been without for so long joined forces and created Grisly Garden.
“If they were working and we were working, this could never happen and everybody raised their hands and said, let’s do it,” said Niner.
Studios even got involved and donated many of the supplies and tools needed for the maze.
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Prop maker Mike Purell was one of the volunteers who worked on the haunt.
“I’ve been out of work for almost eight months. I’m a single father, trying to get a kid through college, and it’s hard.”
Purell has been a prop builder for nearly 30 years, and this is the first time he’s been out of work for so long. When he got the phone call a little over a month ago to help build a haunted maze, he jumped on it.
“They didn’t think we could do it, but people don’t realize, in the studio, we always make the deadline.”
Purell’s story is not unique. Those who volunteered to build and participate in the haunt have been without steady work for months and months. Organizers say all profit from the event’s ticket sales will go to the industry volunteers to help them pay bills, and general support.
The garden maze is advertised as a place where nothing is quite right for a gardener and his daughter who find themselves in mysterious and frightening situations. Organizers say there’s some “weirdness” also.
“It’s the life work of people that have been doing this for the last 30 to 40 years. It’s the work that we do. It’s what we do for a living,” said Purcell.
For information on Grisly Garden, click here.
