Ah, I talked about this on the show today. GMTA.
Spoiler alert - I see this as a bad bargain for the investor consortium almost any way you slice it.
CBS/Paramount sues to stop Axanar
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Ah, I talked about this on the show today. GMTA.
Spoiler alert - I see this as a bad bargain for the investor consortium almost any way you slice it.
will check it out now.
Blog and YouTube will be up later. I'll let you know. Thanks for checking it out.
Blog and YouTube will be up later. I'll let you know. Thanks for checking it out.
my sense is no investor group with due diligence would get involved -- the risk of entanglement in asset disputes with the studios or the donors is too great. I think this has to be a power play to reduce the future financial gain profile they present in the lawsuit. But who knows, maybe there are investors who see it as an opportunity to profit over no matter what. look forward to your analysis.
Fans were told the risk of IP infringment, it's just that Alec said he was a lawyer and talked with CBS and made it sound like he had it under control. He gave the donors a false sense of security while soliciting their money. He also certainly never told donors to the crowdfunding sites that he was going to be paid a salary and other perks like auto, phone, and travel.
yes. to take a scalpel to it,
"Risks and Challenges
There are always risks and challenges when making a film - actors dropping out, locations and/or sets not available, unforeseen costs, equipment trouble, etc. In addition, "Star Trek" is a licensed property of CBS and so they have the final say in any Star Trek venture. However, the Axanar team has dealt with CBS and knows the landscape that must be navigated. Every member of the Axanar team is a professional who has proven their skills on other projects and films."
There are always risks and challenges when making a film - actors dropping out, locations and/or sets not available, unforeseen costs, equipment trouble, etc. In addition, "Star Trek" is a licensed property of CBS and so they have the final say in any Star Trek venture. However, the Axanar team has dealt with CBS and knows the landscape that must be navigated. Every member of the Axanar team is a professional who has proven their skills on other projects and films."
By failing to reveal and write into their risks and challenges statement that they were taking actions that CBS clearly considered "not positive", they made their Risks and Challenges statement into a misrepresentation of the truth on the ground into which the investor would be joining.
It is possible the Axanar folk felt that by "being transparent" about building a studio they were shifting the due diligence responsibility onto the donor. But given the risks statement above, it is reasonable to say the donor would have relied on the Axanar project proposers to present only actions which were ok for CBS.
[/endClassActionLawsuitPreview]
I'm trying to think what I would make of this deal if I were pitched it to be an investor.
1. The founders have little experience, and have never finished a feature film.
2. They are being sued by C/P for IP infringement
3. They do not spend money wisely.
4. They have blown through a million bucks with little to show for it.
5. The rent is astronomical.
6. Alec will never give up more than 49% equity, he will maintain control of the new entity.
7. Alec has little to show for millions of investor dollars thrown at him for past ventures.
I'm out.
my guess is the "investors", if they really are looking at a firesale asset, would have said to that "yea, yea, whatever, how much cash on the barrelhead for 100% ownership and unlimited facility use". They probably *should* care that future legal actions could make a mess of it, but if they had a show to do and wanted the facility and their budget could cover it, and Axanar Productions was looking for a quick sell to whomever would get the asset off their ownership books, the buyers would probably just be thinking short term, quick score, one season of a show, or something like that. Just a guess...
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Thank you. Yes, many are not aggressive to "newbies", but many are. Thank you again for hoping I stay. Its just: @HMS Ark Royal is (to me, at least).
8. The studio is located within five miles of two established studios, each of which offer a greater range of facilities and services to filmmakers.
9. The studio presumably still has an insufficient electrical capacity to run the lighting grid and other equipment. This system will require significant (and expensive) upgrades provided necessary landlord permission and/or city permits can be secured.
Yeah, this looks like a good investment.
Just like on Shark Tank?
PATTERN OF OBFUSCATION? A deeper look at Axanar's Annual Report. It took some time to transcribe, code, sort and analyze the data, but a pattern of possible problems emerged — from unreported salaries to ballooning costs and repeated deficit spending. Read more »
PATTERN OF OBFUSCATION? A deeper look at Axanar's Annual Report. It took some time to transcribe, code, sort and analyze the data, but a pattern of possible problems emerged — from unreported salaries to ballooning costs and repeated deficit spending. Read more »
Thanks for the detailed break downs Carlos. Well........as detailed as you can get. Seems to be a lot of places where cash could be hidden, like a shell game. Never really know who got it or what it was used for.
That's certainly possible. I'm proceeding from the assumption, however, that the money was likely used legitimately but its reporting was insufficient. In an audit, auditors would identify "questioned costs," then give the opportunity to provide documentation.
I've tried to be really careful to not accuse anyone of malfeasance without actual evidence of such, but there are plenty of questioned costs worth examining.
Even if it's just a straightforward sublet/takeover of a lease, it's problematic.....
Thanks. Do you find him mean and aggressive? Do you ignore him?Well, there's always the "ignore" feature.
I don't have anyone on ignore YET..........but I don't understand half of what he posts. But he seems to think he is extremely witty. He could be and I might just have a very low IQ.....who knows.
I sure don't, because I'm a socialist (or probably, communist in HMS Ark Royal's mind). HMS Ark Royal seems to think that makes somebody a bad person.
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