There was a lot of correspondence between myself, Scott Ferguson, Tom Deedy and the fraudulent ‘David Elliot’, who turned out to be another figment of Anthony Whelan’s imagination. There was a Pyramid Corporation, but they stopped film funding years before; and there was a David Elliot who was a Hollywood producer. But neither of them had anything to do with ShadowHawk.
There was also one exchange of letters between myself and Brian Eustace, before we closed this sad and frustrating chapter of our lives.
Dear Debora,
Thanks for your messages. It’s sad that the fine work of both yourself and Tom Deedy cannot seem to get the recognition it deserves. I know that I tried an extensive list of contacts, alas, to no avail. It’s just so fucking hard to persuade people to part with movie moolah. Stay in the ring, you might land a k.o. in the last round.
I’m genuinely sorry to hear that Anthony’s mental condition is deteriorating. I messaged Tom/Scott last year explaining how he had sought my help as a teenager, which I freely gave until his grandiosity and megalomania became impossible to deal with.
I’m soldiering on through my illness – if you can remember me in your prayers I would be grateful. I pray that all will be well in your life and work.
God Bless you, Brian Eustace
Hello, Brian,
As it happens, we speak of you often. We do hope you are getting through this difficult time well, and that you will beat this – you still have many good years left, hopefully!
I cannot tell you what a heartache this has been; I’ve now had to make two reports to the Irish Film Board, and would like you to write to them as well, regarding his hacking of your email account.
When I found out he’d done it in 2004, he promised me he wouldn’t do it again...but then he did it to me. I suppose I should have known better, but we are so far away from you, and cannot keep track of what goes on.
It has cost us a lot of money, but thank the Goddess it’s over – we’re free of ShadowHawk. We’re moving on, but slowly...it has been so crippling.
Scott will be happy I heard from you; he likes you a lot, and often wonders how you are doing.
Blessed Be, Debora
Hell, Somewhere on Long Island, New York
On July 23, Larry Withowski entered our lives. He first wrote to Scott Ferguson, who had begun looking around for another way for us to after ShadowHawk. Larry was our first introduction to film fund brokers’, something that was becoming popular in the entertainment industry. Scott found him through an ad on a website called ‘Mandys.com’; a British film industry network. This was the first letter he sent.
Hello,
I have an investor that for 50% as a JV llc will fund your entire project. They to be your partner in the JV. If interested I will be moe than happy to explain how it works.
Lawrence Withowski, Jetta Consultants
None of us knew what a JV llc was, but we understood the 50% part. It sounded too good to be true, and of course it was, but Scott wrote back to him the same day, which embroiled us in a chaotic faerie tale that made the ShadowHawk debacle look tame. The only good thing about it was that we had learned enough to not devote 3 ½ years of our lives to it.
Lawrence,
Can you give us more information.
Lost Myths Ink has several projects that will need development and packaging. I would think in general, each film will require $250K - $350K of development/packaging monies.
Are you indicating that your investor could fund perhaps one project, or possibly fund the entire roster of films.Scott Ferguson
We never thought there was a chance Larry Withowski’s people would fund all our scripts; at that point we had written six together and I had twelve solo scripts. But we were hoping for two. That same day came a return letter.
Scott,
They will do 10m u.s. and up, so you can do a slate of your films with them as long as there is no XXX or porn (later we learned this was a wide-spectrum requirement throughout the funding industry, with most funders not allowing horror or ‘slasher’ films, either, which made us wonder how these films ever got funded). If you want more info call me @631-813-2862 and I can fill you in on it. Then we can make a conference call on Monday 7/24 after 2 pm EST.
Lawrence Withowski, Jetta Consultants
I spoke to Larry Withowski for the first time that same day. He talked for over an hour, mostly boasting about what he could do for us and moving on to what he had already done in his life, of which little appeared to be involved with film funding. But the following day we had our first telephone conference. Before the conference started I received a request from Larry as to the dollar amount of the three projects we were selecting for our slate. We had, of course, not considered any of this yet, as the little that had ever been done on any of our scripts in the way of development was done by ShadowHawk. So on July 24, 2006 we entered the realm of the film producer. It was to be a painful learning experience.
Dear Larry,
The three projects we want to concentrate on this year are: FRUIT OF THE POISON TREE, THE DANGER CLUB and DEATH OF A SHINING STAR. We estimate $30 million u.s. for the slate; understand if one of the films is sold to a studio before production begins or during production it would reduce the amount needed for that film, and would mean more for the others. Also, if a top tier actor is hired for one of the films – i.e. we would like Nicole Kidman for POISON and I would like Scarlett Johannsen for STAR, it would bump up the amount for that particular film. $10 million each would be a minimum of we financed the entire production from the fund.
Scott Ferguson is only acting as the agent here, and won’t be involved further in the production process. The first step will be to hire a Production Manager; I will be consulting contacts in L.A. regarding this.
Talk in 20 minutes!
Debora and the Lost Myths Ink team
The first conference call with Larry Withowski was something of an eye-opener as far as what would be required for funding. Now we would have to contact our network list and see who we could recruit to take on the scripts. We were about to learn that the ShadowHawk debacle cost us a lot in contacts; we lost some that we would never recover.
***
On the 26th we returned Larry’s NDNC contract and a client info sheet for his investors. I sent them to my friend Suzanna Ravin, a financial guru who reviewed them for me and she said most of the information required was standard, but the investors were located in Atlanta and she couldn’t find any of the investors listed on the documents. I answered a few questions for her, and she advised we have the documents reviewed by our attorney, Peter Landes. This was something we had hoped to avoid, since anything a lawyer does is expensive, but we sent him the documents. At this point we were living on the equity in our houses, and that wouldn’t last forever. I had re-financed my mortgage until it was now about 2/3 of the value of the house; there wasn’t a lot more I could suck out of that turnip. But we persevered.
Larry Withowski was nothing if not ambitious; he went through our entire roster of scripts and came up with a total of $225m u.s. Here is what he suggested:
It would be easier to put them all in one slate than to split them up. So yes an order of projects would be good. I also have other possible connections that you can use, e.g. a studio in California that has six stages and eighty acres and two editing facilities, also possible New York and Vancouver contacts. Before we get carried away let’s get the initial money funded and then we can go from there. I would then be a consultant with my connections.
Larry
After a few changes, Peter Landes approved the contract and it was signed on August 1st. I wrote to Larry that day.
Dear Larry,
We also have contacts we can bring in; Scott has been in contact with the woman who produced NORMA RAE – she was interested in FRUIT OF THE POISON TREE but refused to work with us while we were still with ShadowHawk. If you want me to, I can include her in our report on the first three scripts, who is currently interested in working with us.
Since Sandra and I both need to sign the confidentiality agreement and then send it to you to sign as well, I have added Sandra to the agreement and printed it. We’ll both sign it and send it to you by snail mail (so you have an original signature). You sign it and return it.
I will be sending you several emails concerning the initial projects. These will include:
- Synopsis
- Outline
- Script
- novel (THE DANGER CLUB)
- evidentiary articles (FRUIT OF THE POISON TREE)
- costume illustrations, location photographs, music list (DEATH OF A SHINING STAR)
Once we receive the signed confidentiality agreement and you have a copy as well, and Peter Landes agrees, we can send you the list of people interested in working with us.
Sincerely, Debora Hill
Of course, nothing ever goes as quickly as you think it will. Peter Landes was skeptical about the whole setup and reluctant to let us send documents all over the place. So on the 3rd;
Hello, Larry;
So from our telephone call with Peter Landes this morning, I am to hold all further paperwork until you notify me who it should go to. You should receive the signed confidentiality agreement before the end of the week; when we get it back I can release some of the interested parties to you.
Thinking about his requirements, I don’t know if we can satisfy the Las Vegas investor – sounds like he wants more attachments than we can give at this time. The Los Angeles investor sounds like a better go, but you can let us know about that and about your investigation into the Atlanta people. From what you told us this morning, you’ve decided to cut them out of the loop.
Let me know if there is anything else I can do at this point...
Blessed Be, Debora
On the 10th we had progressed far enough that the presentations were being worked on for the first three possible productions. I wrote to Scott that day.
Scott;
Peter Landes suggested asking what kind of presentation will need to be done for Larry Withowski, particularly for his investor in Los Angeles. I’m waiting to hear from Larry as to whether he got the signed confedentiality agreement from us, but I would like you to ask him about the presentation.
Also, Peter wanted some information about other deals he’s done with this much of a bankroll, and how they worked out. I have absolutely no idea how to ask the man for this without sounding as if we’re suspicious of his motives. Do you think you could do it?
I had a letter from someone at Script Broker yesterday (I can’t remember his name, because my first contact was Tammy, and I’ve been bumped up a notch to somebody else now that they’re doing full-on marketing of four scripts). Still don’t know if Shining Star will be included in the Silver Screen deal, but they have had four others interested beyond the initial reading thusfar. I will keep everyone posted.
Blessed Be, Debora
The remainder of August contained pretty much more of the same. By August 30th we had all the contracts signed and were working on the presentations. I wrote to Larry to discuss the needs of possible investors.
Hello Larry;
If any of your investors want a list of people interested in working with us on any of the projects in our catalogue (there is some interest in several of the scripts listed which are not in the first three), I will need a few days to write to each person/company and let them know – that way, if the investor wants to contact them, they will have prior notice as to the plan and the contact.
Just for you to keep in mind...Debora Hill
During the month of August I also connected with two young men in Los Angeles, actors and aspiring producers named Chad Davis and Ahmed Lucan. They started a company called ScriptBroker and had some interest in several of my scripts, including DEATH OF A SHINING STAR. At the end of August I sent Larry an explanation of them and their company, since he had by that time heard the name a few times.
Larry;
Yes, Script Broker is a marketing service in Los Angeles. I first heard about them when they asked if I would like to come to a pitch meeting for Silver Screen Productions at a nightclub in Hollywood (only in Los Angeles – a meeting at night – in a nightclub!). They wrote to me the day before the meeting, so I couldn’t so, but they offered to pitch two scripts for me. They did, and then the following week asked to pitch two more. Silver Screen is doing a three-picture deal.
Well, after weeks of screenings, SHINING STAR is still one of the contenders for the Silver Screen deal, and ScriptBroker asked if they could also market our scripts to other companies. Right now they have them being read at four other companies.
They already have the funding; they’re choosing three scripts now to shoot. No guarantee at this point that STAR will be one of the three. But they were extremely impressed with our work, and asked to market scripts for us...right now they’re only dealing with people who alrady have financing and are looking for scripts to produce, because I haven’t told anyone about our possible deal – one of the problems with ShadowHawk was that they started to blab to everyone in the industry that they were going to get financing or produce something before the deal was done, and then we all looked bad when it tanked. I’m not going that route again.
Here’s my thinking – if we can get this funding thing going, I can pull them in, and a lot of other people who have evinced interest. Some of the people we lost when ShadowHawk flaked could probably be brought back as well – there were lots of them who were interested in working with us over the course of the three years we were with ShadowHawk, but the continual let-down that those idiots provided to everyone has soured them. The producers we’re talking to now are all new ones, who came about after the split on July 7th – I think we’ve done remakarbly well in less than two months, but we could do so much if we could get the financing package...
Cheers, Deb
It went on pretty much like that for the rest of the month of August, with an exchange of information and contacts; it was a very busy month. I wrote to Larry on the 11th of September with an update from ScriptBroker.
Hi, Larry;
I wanted to send you a note before you speak with investor #1 tomorrow. I talked to Chad Davis from ScriptBroker tonight. He will contacting you – he will be presenting our information to some clients, including Silver Screen – they are still considering DEATH OF A SHINING STAR for their deal, but he told me confidentially that they probably don’t have enough in their fund to make the three films they planned on (so don’t mention it!) – which means they may want to go with us on SHINING STAR.
Hope everything goes well tomorrow!
Sincerely, Debora
I summarized what was happening for Scott Ferguson on September 13th.
Hi, Scott;
Here’s what’s happening. David Carroll of Sidereal Productions has evinced interest in producing two of the first three productions funded. He is now reading DEATH OF A SHINING STAR and FRUIT OF THE POISON TREE (name changed to DON’T BREATHE THE AIR IN 2009) as well as THE DANGER CLUB novel. Since he loves DC, neither of the others may be to his taste; I’ve also sent him the executive summary we did for Larry, and he knows if one of the others appeals to him more, we’d switch one for him.
Chad Davis of ScriptBroker telephoned me Monday night; they are very eager to see if they can get a production company for least one of the first three scripts – Chad’s eventual goal is to produce a film himself, but unlike Anthony he’s found a better way to make contacts in the industry until he feels he’s ready for the big leap. He has four companies who are currently reading our scripts, and DEATH OF A SHINING STAR is still one of the finalists for the Silver Screen/Blue Box package, but Chad is now thinking he might be able to get Silver Screen in on our deal separately for at least one of the productions. He telephoned me again this morning and asked for Larry’s telephone number; I had already told Larry Chad would be calling him, so hopefully I’ll get a message about that either tonight or tomorrow.
The Las Vegas investor decided against us; I never had a really positive feeling about this one. Today Larry spoke to the investors in New York and Los Angeles, and gave them our latest information, so hopefully one of them...
I realize now that we allowed both ShadowHawk and Frank Cmero to yank our chains for far too long. Larry first responded to Scott’s ad on July 23rd; after two months we know more about what he’s doing and have more positive response from others than we had with them after three years!
Deb
September progressed and talks continued. Larry Withowski was our first involvement with a ‘funding broker’. On the 18th of the month I wrote to some of the people we met while working with ShadowHawk, in the hope of pulling them back into our network.
Dear Colleages;
You have probably removed us from your mailing list after the debacle of ShadowHawk Films. I couldn’t blame you in the least...however, since we split from them on July 7th we have been working hard to save Lost Myths Ink and make new alliances and contacts. Granted, we didn’t realize soon enough that they weren’t ready to work either with us or you, but working globally it is difficult to check up on people who are on another continent.
On July 27th our agent, Scott Ferguson, was contacted by Larry Withowski of Jetta Consultants in New York. Larry is now putting together a film funding package for us to involve three films: THE DANGER CLUB, DEATH OF A SHINING STAR and FRUIT OF THE POISON TREE, which will be contracted out based on matching funds. The first film, THE DANGER CLUB, has been spoken for by David Carroll of Sidereal Films, who has indicated that he may be interested in co-producing one of the others in the first package.
We are also working with Chad Davis at ScriptBroker. We purposely chose three films set in Northern California, with limited locations and no special effects, for the first package. The fourth film has not yet been chosen. If you think you would like to become involved in our new business, either now or in 2007, or would like to talk to Mr. Withowski, please let me know.
Sincerely, Debora Hill
On the 20th I was still confused by everything that was happening around us and Larry Withowski. I was beginning to get a feeling about him; he talked so much and about such irrelevancies that I couldn’t believe he knew what he was doing where film financing was concerned.
Hello, Larry;
I hope you and Chad were able to talk today. I had a message from him last night that the two of you had been trying to connect since last week, and he was hoping today would be the day.
I had a message from David Carroll at Sidereal Films today. He wants to be involved in all three of the first film trio, DC as the primary and possibly second producer on one or both of the others. This will have to be worked out in the future, of course...
I think it’s time you contact him, Larry – if you want Chad to handle it, we will need to work out a fee for ScriptBroker to be put into the budget. They do have a regular fee for selling a script to one of their producers, but this is a slightly different situation, and if Chad (a) brings one or more companies into the equation or (b) takes over coordination of the producers, fees will need to be arranged.
Please contact David Carroll at: david@siderealfilms to discuss all this – it is now beyond my purview as far as financial information and arrangements go.
Cheers, Debora
We heard back from Larry the same day.
Tell him to call me @3pm on Thursday; we never talked today. The Vegas lender sent the deal to the California counterpart.
This was a little confusing, since we had been told earlier that the Las Vegas investor was not going to work for us. I wrote to Larry the next day, the 21st.
I spoke to Tom and Sandra earlier, and we think if you didn’t hear from Chad today, let it go for now. He indicated great excitement in working with us, but if our last disastrous alliance taught us anything it’s to give people all the information they need to do the job and if they don’t, keep walking.
If ScriptBroker wants to work with us, Chad will do something. If he doesn’t, someone else will. I think I’ve done everything I can on this end until we have more of a commitment in writing from the investors, then I can contact some of the other producers again.
Regarding the second sentence of this message – confusion here! We thought the Las Vegas investor dropped out?
Chad finally wrote back to us on the 24th.
Debora,
Forgive the delay in responding, but we did not receive this email until Saturday evening because we had just set up Outlook to work with a new hub computer. We will try to contact Larry first thing tomorrow morning.
Thanks again for keeping us in the loop.
Chad Davis, ScriptBroker
I wrote back to him the same day.
OK; I’m hoping to have more news on the investors this end this coming week – do you think Silver Screen would be interested in becoming part of the deal on the production end?
But his response was sad.
Debora,
To be honest, Silver Screen Productions seems to be a lost cause. They have not reached out to me for a week now and though they wish for immediacy, I have yet to see any sign of progress.
We will reach out to Larry today too, as we are scheduled for a meeting later with a few investors. Hopefully, interest will be seeded.
Thanks again Debora for always keeping us informed. Feel free to drop us a line anytime.
Chad Davis
So we moved in October, still playing what appeared to be a ring-round-the-rosy game. But we did seem to be making progress; what we didn’t know at the time was that Larry Withowski would never be able to advance us or him in any way, and a ring game was all it would ever be.
Lost in No-Funding Land
So we meandered into October of 2006, still basically talking. On the 5th I wrote to Larry Withowski, trying to get a handle on where we were in this most confusing process.
Dear Larry;
Where do you see us, time-wise, in the film funding process? If it is going to be several more months before we can get anything in writing (which we need to secure a business loan for Lost Myths Ink) we are thinking of removing THE DANGER CLUB from the package and offering it as a stand-alone to David Carroll of Sidereal Productions. When I first wrote to him about the film fund he already had DC with his investors, so he might very well take it in total and then come in later on others, once the film fund comes through.
Please let me know your thoughts on this.
Sincerely, Debora Hill
And so, in an attempt to keep us from going under entire, on the 7th I wrote to David Carroll of Sidereal Films.
Hello, David;
I had a telephone conference with Larry Withowski yesterday, and although he has four possible investors for the film deal, it looks as if it will take awhile for it to be arranged. I know it’s a lot of money, and there are many arrangements to be made before the money can become available.
In the meantime, we are going to need operating money for our company and ourselves, and you mentioned that you already have THE DANGER CLUB with your investors when I contacted you about the film fund. If you would be interested in taking the script before the fund is completed as a direct sale to Sidereal Productions, it would not affect the fund and you would still be first in line as Executive Producer when the fund is finished.
Let me know your thoughts on this ...
Sincerely, Debora Hill
Hello, Chad;
I spoke to Larry Withowski yesterday and he said he had discussed the film fund with you once, but you haven’t connected again. It looks as if it will take awhile longer to get the fund settled; I know it is a lot of money and takes a lot of work to get it all coordinated and all the people involved to agree...
In the interim, we would like to get something else accomplished short-term. Are you still interested in working with us in this capacity? If we sell a script outside of the film fund, it won’t be affected – if you are still working on solo sales for us we would like you to continue – then when the film fund is settled you could work on that as well.
What do you think?
Sincerely, Debora Hill
But we were discovering that most people who work in the film industry don’t have any money, and the ones that do are mostly in hiding. The month of October stretched on as a dead cell phone, and finally on the 23rd I wrote to Chad again.
Hello, Chad,
How are things going at ScriptBroker? Did you decide the Silver Screen deal was a no-starter? Larry Withowski is planning to be in Los Angeles in November for funding meetings and hopefully wrap up the preliminaries on our film fund.
I am still working on attracting two more production companies for the second and third films. How is it going at your end?
Sincerely, Debora Hill
Again, dismal news on the 27th. At least Larry Withowski had his own plans about what to do, and they involved going to Los Angeles to meet with people who would hopefully fund our films.
Debora,
Everything is going very slowly now unfortunately. Silver Screen dropped out of the running and the other investors that seemed promising now seem to have gone into hibernation for the slow season. We are in the process of updating the website and will begin a heavy p.r. push in December with a Christmas promotion. This will get the word out more and hopefully find new interest in more investors.
Though times are slow we are still pushing your work however we can. Our excitement of possibly getting your work produced has not dissipated. Regardless if we can or can’t get your work produced, we feel as though it is great and WILL go somewhere. We just hope we can be the ones to assist.
Thanks again for your email and we will definitely continue to work and keep in touch.
Chad Davis
On All Hallows Eve Larry sent us another NDNC and Client sheet that had to filled out and returned. He said something called a GEE agreement would follow. Unfortunately, I had not idea what that was and had to ask him. He had a meeting earlier in the week with some video producers who worked for Universal and Pixar. At the time he was hoping they could connect him with some solid investors, but I never heard anything more about them. Larry appeared to flit from one idea to another, never following through on anything in a concrete way. This would only become more and more obvious over the passage of time.
But in November everyone seemed to gear up and run quickly...as it turned out, in place. But they were certainly trying to get somewhere!
On the 10th Larry sent me a message. I didn’t really understand most of it, but that was true of a lot of his communication, so I didn’t allow it to bother me overly much.
Hi Debora,
It went well (his meeting with some investors). Here is a brief of what we can now do with this source.
- 85% LTV (Loan to value) max
- Debt to equity position
- Debt = Libor + approximately 4%
- Equity = 35% (negotiable if you have a larger up front equity in project)
- Letter of Credit (LOC) or Bank Guarantee (BG) OK
- Also Standby LOC OK (Assets on deposit held in lieu of using funds)
- 60-90 available
- Projects must be full package, they will review and read scripts.
If at that point they like the deal then they will give you a commitment to proceed with the setting up of funds.
I am meeting with another source probably on Tuesday 11/14/2006, and I am waiting for another phone call for additional sourcing.
Larry
ScriptBroker was still working on their presentation, and I had a few telephone conferences with Chad Davis and his partner Ahmed Lucan. On the 14th I wrote to Larry to tell him about their plans.
Hello, Larry;
Ahmed Lucan, Chad Davis’ partner at ScriptBroker, telephoned me today. He wants to put together a marketing presentation for the second two scripts for the film fund; we’re going to try to help him. Also, he would like to work with you – he’s going to need some information from you, so is it acceptable for him to write to you?
His address is: AhmedLucan@gmail.com. How are the meetings going this week?
Blessed Be, Debora
And also to David Carroll...
Hello David,
Ahmed Lucan from ScriptBroker telephoned me today; I believe I told you before, we are working with them on the production end of the film fund. He wants to put together a marketing plan for the second two scripts, and would like to communicate with you regarding your plans for THE DANGER CLUB.
Would this be acceptable? You mentioned that you would be interested in working in a smaller way on the second two films; perhaps you can discuss this with him as well. Is it ok for him to contact you? If you would like to write to him, his address is: AhmedLucan@gmail.com.
Blessed Be, Debora
On the 17th Ahmed wrote to Larry, adding to our general confusion.
Good Afternoon, Larry;
Hope this email finds you well. After speaking to Debora, it is my understanding that you are working with her on developing a fund and also acquire independent investments to get the ball rolling on the three scripts. My business partner, Chad Davis and I are also very interested in finding investors for Debora and help produce these films. I am glad we can work together and establish a collaborative effort. What we need from you is the following:
- A better understanding of the fund;
- An elaborate business plan
- what are the movies about
- who is the target audience
- Historically, how has this genre done in the pastWhat is the industry outlook on these films (genre)
- An executive summary of the films, the writers, any producers, etc.
- Letter of interest, intent or promise from any investors, if any
- Anything else that may help us promote this plan to acquire funding.
I would love to help you develop the plan, if there is nothing already written up; however, if you already have the above information it will help out. Please let me know if you need anything from Chad or me. Also, let’s establish a reasonable deadline to have this plan developed. I’m thinking Dec 15th; please let me know if that works.
Best Regards, Ahmed Lucan
Well, I was wondering if he actually expected Larry to do all this. We could do it ourselves, but I needed some clarification.
Hello, Ahmed;
Larry cannot do a, b, c, or d. We can do some of this, but not all – you have the scripts, so isn’t (a) simply a synopsis?
We should concentrate first on THE DANGER CLUB, because it is the film that has a producer committed. Of the others, I’m not sure how to proceed, and this is why – we have tentatively chosen DEATH OF A SHINING STAR and FRUIT OF THE POISON TREE as the others in the first funding, because they have received a good reception from producers and others who have read them, BUT...if a producer offered matching funds for any of the other scripts in the Executive Summary, we would obviously substitute. I say this because I had a letter from a producer the other day who was looking for ‘dark comedies’ and is willing to put up matching funds if he chooses either DREAM LOVERS or THE IMPOSTERS. As you can see, we’re not sure just how to proceed any other way than we’re already doing now...advice would be good!
Blessed Be, Debora et al
Ahmed spoke to David Carroll on the 30th. David was proving to be less than anticipated, as with so many people in the film industry.
Hello Debora,
Just spoke to David, he mentioned that he doesn’t have the entire investment ready; hence, he will wait for us to furnish him with the biz/market analysis, cast list, budget, etc...before he will be ready to move forward with the project. Chad and I will keep you informed about the biz plan.
Best, Ahmed
On December 4th I received another letter from Ahmed that came as something of a surprise to us.
Hello Debora,
Hope you are doing well. Chad and I wanted to update you on the progress. First and foremost, Chad and I have decided to produce THE DANGER CLUB as our first production. Our production company is named One and Half films; hence, we will need a letter of consent allowing permission to produce the film. In addition, is THE DANGER CLUB copyrighted, registered with DGA and have you registered it with the Library of Congress? If so that is great; if not, then you have to get all of the above done.
We are very excited to get the ball rolling and are working on the budget. Soon, we will be speaking to a distributor for foreign distribution.
Please let us know if you have any questions.
Sincerely, Ahmed Lucan
Well, that was out of the blue. Took us aback, somewhat. And it meant another outlay of money on our part, with ultimately no return. Again, in December of 2006 we had no idea how many more times this would happen to us.
Hello, Gentlemen!
Well, this is a surprise...last week, you were talking to David Carroll about his producing THE DANGER CLUB. What happened since then that we don’t know about? He was the first producer to offer to produce, so...some clarification is needed, here. Are you thinking of co-producing this particular script with David? We would be delighted to have you produce one of our films.
As far as logistics go, all our scripts are registered with the WGA – that was what you meant, right? You put DGA, and we’re not directors. No, they’re not registered with the Library of Congress, only our published novels are.
Please advise. Debora Hill and Sandra Brandenburg
I wrote to David Carroll the same day, to inform him that ScriptBroker wanted to produce THE DANGER CLUB. His response was typical of what we were coming to expect from people in the film industry.
Hi Debora,
Thanks for the update. I am not sure what kind of deal your other associates have in mind, but if you need to move forward with them as sole producers feel free. As I said last week, I would need a more complete business plan and budget to move forward with my investors on a $20 million project, even as a co-producer.
Please feel free to keep me updated as things progress. I will participate at whatever level of involvement you wish that also meets the requirements and goals of my investors. Or I could just be involved in the non-finance side of the production.
Best Regards, David Carroll
Ahmed telephoned me the same day, so I wrote back to David Carroll.
Ahmed,
I misunderstood Ahmed’s note, and was concerned. He telephoned me a little while ago and said their plan is to co-produce with you as Executive Producer. They are working on the business plan and budget and will contact you next week. Ahmed mentioned the product-placement possibilities you had been working on. They do want to remove the script from the film fund and it be just a co-production between your two companies. I said this would be acceptable.
I am going to write to our attorney, Peter Landes, tonight and ask about a Letter of Intent for THE DANGER CLUB. Also, Ahmed has requested we register the script with the Library of Congress (it is already registered with the WGA, number 615944). Sandra is working on that tonight.
Ahmed is hoping to have the information you need quickly; I will keep you posted!
Sincerely, Debora Hill
I wrote to Peter Landes the same day.
Hello, Peter;
ScriptBroker and their new production company, One-and-a-Half Films and David Carroll of Sidereal Productions have asked us to remove THE DANGER CLUB from the proposed film fund so they may produce it in collaboration. Mr. Lucas and Mr. Davis of ScriptBroker are preparing the budget and production plan, and when they are finished they will be sending them to David Carroll. They will then be contacting distributors, and we will hopefully have all the contracts signed by January.
At this time they have asked for a ‘letter of intent’ for them to produce the film. Do you have a letter I could use for this? Not sure what it should include.
Thank you.
Sincerely, Debora Hill
Hello, Larry;
Ahmed Lucan contacted me today. He and Chad Davis have asked to produce THE DANGER CLUB in collaboration with David Carroll, apart from the film fund. You mentioned that this would not be a problem in the fund – we certainly want to continue working with you, and have many other scripts which would be ideal for the fund.
We would like to move FRUIT OF THE POISON TREE to the first position in the executive summary, with DEATH OF A SHINING STAR in the possible second position.
Also, over the past couple of weeks I have had interest in two other scripts, A GHOST AMONG US and THE IMPOSTERS – particularly the latter. So perhaps I can get a replacement for THE DANGER CLUB, with an interested producer attached, soon...
I don’t want this to jeopardize our work with you, but we need to go with every opportunity at this point, or we will never be able to retrench and get back to the black.
Please advise...Sincerely, Debora Hill
Ahmed sent me a short note on the 6th regarding their new film company.
Good Morning,
Due to the simplicity of things and the way our corporation is set up, we are going with ScriptBroker Films. No worries about the Letter of Intent; if we can get it in by Monday that will be great.
Best, Ahmed
Dear Chad and Ahmed,
OK! Hopefully there won’t be any problem getting this letter to you by Monday, although I still haven’t heard from our attorney, which could indicate he’s out of town. Do you have a sample letter, or do you think there’s one at The Writer’s Guild? I’ve never seen one, only option agreements.
On another note, did Chad mention to you that there is also a completed short novel of THE DANGER CLUB? We’re hoping to find a publisher who will publish the novel in conjunction with the film release; once production begins on the film, I think the best way would be for our agent, Scott Ferguson, to place an ad in Publisher’s Weekly – the traditional routes would take too long.
We have a young woman who worked for us in the past; a vrey talented designer-to-be and illustrator. She is still in college; she has two AA degrees – in Fashion Design/Illustration and history, and in the fall of 2007 will be attending the Fashion Design program at San Francisco State U on a full scholarship. She did some preliminary sketches for DEATH OF A SHINING STAR, but when ShadowHawk lost the funding for the film they were never finished.
I would like to have her submit a portfolio of about ten designs to you, to see if you think she would be a good illustrator for THE DANGER CLUB. It will definitely require a lot of costumes constructed rather than ‘found’, what with all the special character costumes. Let me know what you think.
Cheery bye, Debora
Gentlemen,
The only sample Letter of Intent Tom could find was tremendously complicated and laid out the purchase price. Here was a summary given for a Letter of Intent:
“Letters of Intent are used to signify a commitment to a proposed transaction without reaching an agreement on all of the terms of the transaction. Because they typically contain both binding and nonbinding provisions, parties must be express about which provisions are binding. If not, a court will likely hold that the letter is merely an agreement, at least as to the definitive agreements contemplated by the letter, and therefore unenforceable.”
I think you’d better give us an idea of what you want included in the letter of intent. Since you and Mr. Carroll want to remove THE DANGER CLUB from the film fund, we’re not sure how to include the purchase price in the letter of intent, which is what was done in the sample letter.
Sincerely, Debora Hill
December 8, 2006
Gentlemen,
We, the owners of THE DANGER CLUB script and novel, give our consent to the production of the film by ScriptBroker Films and Sidereal Films in accordance with a contract yet to be signed, and conditional on the terms of said contract.
Sincerely,
Debora Elizabeth Hill, Sandra Brandenburg, Scott Ferguson, Lost Myths Ink LLC
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