- It’s been a Halloween staple since 1996 – but fans are only just noticing a strange message at the end of the first Scream film
- The movie has a ‘no thanks to’ credit
- Producers explained at the time why the message was included
It’s a spooky season staple.
And with Halloween just around the corner, film fanatics will surely be giving Scream its yearly rewatch.
But although the movie first hit theaters almost 30 years ago, some fans have only just noticed one of the film’s secrets.
The movie – which debuted in 1996 and stars Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox – contains a bizarre message in the end credits.
After listing the actors and production team, onscreen text then appears which reads, “No thanks whatsoever to the Santa Rosa city school district governing board.”
While the message may seem strange, there is, of course, a story behind it.
After believing they had secured Scream’s primary shooting location of Santa Rosa High School, filmmakers were in pre-production in the Northern California town when they discovered that getting the site wouldn’t be as easy as they first thought.
Executive producer Marianne Maddalena revealed the high school went back on its verbal agreement to let the crew film there.
“We made a decision to go to Santa Rosa because the high school was perfect for our movie,” Maddalena said. “We created a shooting schedule for when they told us it would be the best time to shoot in the school.
“When we got up there they changed their minds. I think basically someone didn’t like the script.”
‘Everything worked out for the best’
When the school board blamed a paperwork error for the mix-up, the team did eventually file the necessary forms – but it was too late. Nearly 800 people showed up to debate the filming at a school board meeting.
“The public became very upset that this type of film was going to be shot at a high school campus,” Frank Pugh, board’s president at the time, revealed. “But the board can’t really make decisions based on content issues of the film. Instead, the board was interested as to how this shooting would disrupt the campus climate.”
They eventually decided that the shoot would be too disruptive.
“It wasn’t a dollar issue,” Pugh continued. “At one time there were as many as 10 days that they were going to film at the school.”
Scream was eventually filmed at the Sonoma Community Center, a former grade school.
“We felt upset about it, which is why we had the credit,” Maddalena explained. “In the end everything worked out for the best.”
“It’s always interesting to see who they thank and who they don’t,” Pugh recalled. “I guess that was their attempt to try and make a statement or upset the board or something… I don’t know. I guess they’ve got to do what they think they’ve got to do.”
