Rick and Morty writer slams ‘disappointing’ response to Obsession art director pay debate

TV and comics writer Cody Ziglar has criticised the backlash aimed at Obsession art director Sally Choi, who called out the low pay rate and working conditions on the set of 2026’s breakout horror hit. 

It’s no secret that Curry Barker’s Obsession has been on a generational run. The film has grossed nearly $239million at the global box office and was made on a shoestring budget of just $750,000. 

Sally sparked a major conversation online after claiming she earned $300 a day as art director on the film and had to wear “many, many hats” due to the low-budget production, leading to health problems. “This came out to $6741.36 after taxes,” she wrote. “No mileage.” 

Sally noted that the issue was bigger than Obsession and its director, urging for other workers in the industry to start a discussion. 

While many praised her for speaking out about conditions in the film industry, others accused her of damaging her own career by publicly criticising the experience.

Now, Cody Ziglar – who’s written for TV shows such as Futurama, Rick and Morty, and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, and comics such as the Miles Morales: Spider-Man series – has jumped in to defend Sally. 

Cody Ziglar calls out backlash against Obsession art director

Over on Bluesky, Cody shared our previous story on Sally’s statement and wrote, “Watching some folks in my industry trip over themselves to dogpile this lady to essentially say ‘shut up & dribble’ has been so disappointing.

Watching some folks in my industry trip over themselves to dogpile this lady to essentially say "shut up & dribble" has been so disappointing & it's the exact reason why so many below-the-line folks fear publicly talking about exploitive work conditions.

— Cody Ziglar (@yayforzig.bsky.social) 2026-06-11T17:52:52.733Z

“It’s the exact reason why so many below-the-line folks fear publicly talking about exploitive work conditions.”

He went on to say that he doesn’t know what any of the cast and crew’s individual deals look like for Obsession, but that “equity in film is not a new concept nor is it really that difficult to cut a bonus to cast/crew when a project does well.”

“I just wrapped a short that came under budget & crew got bonuses. Not a lot, sure. But it was appreciated,” Cody added. 

His thoughts have been met with plenty of support, with account The Film Canary responding, “Indeed; even if the studio gave everyone on set, say, double their initial pay as a bonus, that would be not even 1% of the profit it made, it’s absurd to think that would be unaffordable.”

“Sick stuff when people support the artist and laborer as an idea but not as an actual human being,” wrote another, to which Cody replied, “The secret to filmmaking is putting the production before the people.”

 

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A post shared by °•°sally•°•♡ (@kiwisupreez) 

A third agreed, “I’m deeply disgusted at the sheer smugness of some of the responses that have been posted about this situation. Siding with capital, how ‘in’ with the cool kids you are.”

A fourth commented, “I think it’s also very funny that the bootlickers talk about blacklisting, but the reality is that loyalty isn’t rewarded in any way and there’s not an abundance of work or wages available even if you keep your head down and ‘take it’.”

These comments arrive after Sally’s posts led to currently unconfirmed rumours that Nikki star Inde Navarrette earned $20,000 for her role in Obsession. 

Three sources close to the situation then spoke to The Wrap, claiming that Jason Blum’s Blumhouse Atomic is making $17 million in box office bonuses on the film as an executive producer who helped market the film.

“He gets to brag about a movie he got put on after they acquired it, and he gets paid more than anybody else, that’s Hollywood,” one source said. 

An insider also told the outlet that production company Capstone Pictures will make between $45-50million, which it will share with the creative team including Curry Barker, while Focus Features will reportedly make $125million. 

Both Capstone and Focus didn’t respond to The Wrap’s requests for comment, and Curry hasn’t spoken about the allegations. 

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Featured image credit: Focus Features/Instagram/@kiwisupreez