Matt Zane Addresses Family Backlash Over His Unofficial Wayne Static & Tera Wray Documentary: “My Obligation Isn’t To The Families — It’s To Wayne And Tera”

Society 1 frontman Matt Zane has issued a new response after the families of the late Wayne Static and Tera Wray publicly condemned his upcoming documentary project centered on the couple’s final years. Zane announced the film several weeks ago, insisting that both Wayne and Tera personally asked him to tell their story before their respective deaths.

Zane has claimed he retains footage from the final years of the Static-X frontman, as well as music the two were developing for a film project Tera was planning to star in. Zane previously suggested he might use AI to help finish those songs.

Earlier this week, the families of Wayne and Tera released a joint statement firmly opposing Zane’s plans—both for the documentary and the unreleased material—while stating they were prepared to pursue legal action if necessary.

Despite that, Zane pressed forward, launching a crowdfunding campaign for the film on December 11th. In a new statement, he explained why he’s continuing with the project and addressed the family’s objections directly.

“I understand the family’s concerns, especially Wayne’s sister Aimee who is a wonderful person, but my obligation isn’t to the families — it’s to Wayne and Tera. They asked me to do this, and I know they would want the focus to be on the two of them.”

The families had also asked that any rare or unseen Wayne Static footage be turned over for potential use in the long-in-development official documentary Evil Disco. Zane pushed back on that request, claiming he was responsible for most of that film’s editing work.

“I think the family is a bit confused about the creation of the official documentary ‘Evil Disco’. I was hired and edited about 85% of that and in good faith allowed my footage to be used within the edit. I never signed over the footage legally for use but was willing to do so if the agreed-upon terms were met. I also allowed my personal footage of Wayne to be used in multiple music videos such as ‘Stay Alive’ and ‘All These Years’ even though the band hasn’t officially licensed it from me.”

Zane went on to suggest that his film could coexist with Evil Disco:

“I personally think both movies can exist. I watched a working cut of Evil Disco with Wayne’s sister Aimee and it’s really cool, but it’s more about the band — past and present. My movie is about Wayne and Tera.”

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Zane included a short clip of the song “I Watch” in the crowdfunding trailer, but acknowledged he can’t legally release any of the material without approval from the Static family.

“As far as the unreleased music, unfortunately I’m unable to use any of that without the family’s consent. What I may do is create tracks based off of the music Wayne and I worked on and bring in other singers, similar to what Jonathan Davis did for ‘Queen Of The Damned’.”

He also claimed there are six completed solo tracks Wayne recorded in 2013:

“There are six tracks Wayne wrote and recorded that I did not have any part in that are truly his final solo works. Yes, his vocals are on them and they were done in 2013.”

As of this writing, Zane’s campaign has raised roughly $200 from two backers, suggesting a challenging road ahead for the project amid continued controversy.

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