Incident On ‘BMF’ Picket Line Involving Writers & Line Producer Under Investigation

deadline.com:

A day of picketing the set of the Starz/Lionsgate series BMF in Atlanta turned dangerous for WGA writers Brian Egeston and Gabriel Alejandro Garza.

Egeston claimed in a series of tweets Thursday afternoon, accompanied by photos, that BMF line producer Ian Woolf, driving an SUV, pointed the vehicle at Egeston “as though it were a weapon and slammed the breaks within six feet of writers.” Egeston’s account was corroborated by Garza, a strike captain, who said that he was standing next to Egeston when the alleged incident happened and described it in a lengthy statement on Twitter Thursday evening.

Garza claimed that he and Egeston were on a public sidewalk, not impending traffic, when Woolf allegedly hit the accelerator, followed by the break as “he was looking directly at us the entire time and kept the vehicle pointed at us.” Both Egeston, who has written on House of Payne, Perfect Harmony and The Game, and Garza (The Flash, The Winchesters), said that they were peacefully protesting and that Woolf’s explanation for his behavior was that he “tried to scare us.” Garza claimed that they have a recording of Woolf’s admission, in which he also identifies himself.

TV writer Tom Smuts, who is married to WGA West president Meredith Stiehm, in a Twitter post early Friday, provided an eyewitness account of the events that transpired after Woolf “used his SUV to threaten and intimidate Brian Egeston and fellow WGA member Gabe Garza.” Smuts confirmed Egeston and Garza’s claims that they were told repeatedly by Woolf he was trying to scare them so [picketers] would go away.