The woman behind the success of the 'The Walking Dead' saga

Their names may not appear in the title of their films, but the protagonists of the first installments of

Terminator

and the

Alien

saga

they are women. Producer Gale Anne Hurd (Los Angeles, United States, 65 years old) was decisive for Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) and Lieutenant Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) to become heroines on the screens of the eighties and nineties, although the Actresses also do not appear in the first place in the credits. "We had to fool investors into telling them that the protagonist was the Terminator and not a woman," he says of the 1984 film he also co-wrote, which catapulted a 40-year trajectory. These days, he receives the Raimondo Rezzonico Award at the Locarno Film Festival (Switzerland) for his work in the field of production. “At that time, I didn't even have time to reflect on how to be a woman in that world. I could only think of the way to carry out the project that I had in hand,because there is a very fragile thread that decides if something ends up rolling or not and that you have to preserve ”, he says in the Swiss town.

“To be a producer, sometimes you have to be a high school cheerleader, sometimes a strict mother, and sometimes a warm grandmother.

And you have to know what is the right time to do each of them "

Starting in the early 2000s, she transferred the culture of the blockbuster to television and since then has become one of the most responsible for

The Walking Dead

, the adaptation of Robert Kirkman's comic about a zombie apocalypse that is about to premiere its eleventh and final season (in Spain it can be seen from August 23 on Fox).

It is also true of its derivative projects, which have given rise to a whole saga, with the series

Fear The Walking Dead

and

The Walking Dead: World Beyond

and a program about them entitled

Talking Dead

.

“That change from film to television is like being an athlete and going from running the 100-meter sprint to completing a marathon.

What really teaches you to make television are low-budget movies, because you work at a dizzying pace.

Before the pandemic, we were shooting a 45-minute episode of

The Walking Dead

in eight days, with action scenes, makeup, and movie-like special effects.

For a 90-minute film you have at least two months of shooting, ”he explains.

A moment from the first season of 'The Walking Dead: World Beyond.' Jojo Whilden / AMC

Hurd, who admits to having taken a vacation only once in recent decades (and had to interrupt those days off due to an emergency with one of his films), has closely supervised the entire saga: “For years I had no life to draw the project forward.

I was on the set all day, with the editors, directing the actors.

Then, as more series were released, I had to fly from one place to another.

Before we were confined, I lived wherever one of them was being shot, whether it was Richmond, Austin or even Mexico. "

More information

• 'Fear the Walking Dead', cooler zombies

• The creators of 'The Walking Dead' denounce AMC for the distribution of benefits

“To be a good producer, the first thing that has to happen is that you have a passion for stories and people.

And then you have to know how to work as a team (especially when it comes to motivating people), be persistent and always remain calm to see things in perspective.

That means that sometimes you play a high school cheerleader, sometimes a strict mother, and sometimes a warm grandmother.

And you have to know what is the right time to do each one of them ”, he has false resignation.

"I am lucky, I work in what is my main hobby."

Eternal impostor syndrome

“What if I've ever felt imposter syndrome? I don't know about men, but all the women I know in the industry have felt it at one time, ”she replies. “What they do often, of feeling comfortable joining a position for which they are not yet qualified, is not common to see in women. In general, we do not want to fail, or give rise to criticism, or disappoint anyone ”.

Hurd often recalls that in her job interview to be legendary producer Roger Corman's personal assistant in the late 1970s, he asked her something she didn't expect.

"What kind of career do you want to have in the industry?"

It was he who gave him the opportunity to broaden his vision in his professional life.

“If it weren't for Roger, I'm sure I wouldn't be sitting here right now.

Although it is also true that he surrounded himself with women because he saw in us very responsible and hardworking employees who earned less than men, ”she says with amusement.

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When she entered the world of cinema, she discovered that she was not the only woman making her way. “I didn't have references or the internet to look for them, but I soon found allies. Before I started in the profession, Debra Hill had already co-written and produced

Halloween Night

[1978] and had released

1997: Rescue in New York

[1981]. He was one of the most generous and inspiring people I have ever met. In a world in which there can only be one left, and that is achieved with daggers from the back, she was one of those people who encouraged you to grow ”.

Although she has few outstanding accounts, Gale Anne Hurd keeps her head full of ideas.

“I really enjoy making documentaries.

Right now I'm kicking off an intersessional one at Zoom on the creation and rise of YouTube, with director Alex Winter.

It is an interesting story that no one has told before and that helps me not to repeat myself in my projects ”, he advances.

His next work for television involves recovering another great science fiction heroine,

Aeon Flux

, who did not have much luck in her time in the cinema in 2005: “It will be a story about people who fight to achieve freedom, that we It will give the opportunity to enjoy another powerful female character.

And, once again in my career, to tell how a person is capable of changing the world ”, he advances.

On the tightrope

Gale Anne Hurd compares her profession as a producer to the feeling of being on a permanent tightrope. He gives as an example his first hit,

Terminator

(1984): “90% of the people said no to our idea. And the remaining 10% did so with conditions. As we could not tell that the protagonist was a woman, the powerful actor in the cast had to be a man. If Arnold [Schwarzenegger] had dropped out of the project, he wouldn't have gotten through. Jim [James Cameron, director and co-writer of the film] and I met him at a very expensive restaurant to impress him. At first, we were thinking about him playing the good guy in the story, Private Reese, but he kept talking about the killer robot and we realized that that had to be his role. At the end of the meeting, Jim and I couldn't pay the bill even between the two of us, and Arnold took care of it. He told us that he had been in the same situation not so long ago. Nonetheless,He decided to get involved in a project for two years with people who couldn't afford even a simple meal in a restaurant, ”he recalls. In the picture, Linda Hamilton in a moment of

Terminator

.

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