Wow. Those that can't, steal.
Tim Sent from my iPhone On Sep 7, 2012, at 1:07 AM, "Pip Chodorov" <framewo...@re-voir.com> wrote: > http://fablog.ehrensteinland.com/2012/09/06/ray-carney-stop-thief/ > > > September 2012 > > To all filmmakers, film critics, film archivists, > film academics, curators, festival directors, and > film enthusiasts everywhere- > > I am writing to you because something very > unforeseen, very unexpected, and most unpleasant > recently happened in my life, > > When I moved to Paris seven years ago, I had to > decide whether or not to take with me copies of > my films, video masters, early drafts of scripts, > duplicates of reviews and announcements, etc. > When I mentioned this to Ray Carney, tenured > professor at Boston University and author of > several books on John Cassavetes and who also > claims he is "generally recognized to be the > leading scholarly authority on American narrative > art film," he eagerly offered to hold all of my > materials. I accepted his offer, with the > understanding that he would return them to me > upon request and that they remain at BU. Five > years later, in 2010, I requested the return of > some of my video masters to make copies of them > for various film archives in Europe. Carney duly > returned those video masters to me. They were in > excellent condition. > > Since that time, various companies have expressed > interest in streaming my films, and UCLA, in > conjunction with The Sundance Institute, have > volunteered to archive video masters of Sundance > alumni films. In early April, I made several > requests to Carney for the return of my > materials. I sent Carney several e-mails (to > various e-mail addresses), and I called his home > and office and left numerous messages. Carney > ignored all of my attempts to reach him. As a > result, I hired a lawyer and filed a lawsuit in > Massachusetts, where a judge issued a temporary > restraining order and a preliminary injunction > against Carney. The court entered a default > against Carney (who had not responded to my > complaint) and ordered Carney to return the > materials to me, or else be held in contempt of > court. After that, Carney hired a lawyer who > stated Carney intends to defend his conduct by > arguing that I "gave" him the materials outright > as "a gift." > > There is much at stake here for me. Without the > digital video masters, my films, everything prior > to 1990, Casual Relations, Local Color, The > Scenic Route, Impostors, Mark Rappaport-The TV > Spin-Off, Chain Letters, plus the High-Definition > version of Exterior Night, cannot be made > available for streaming, commercial DVDs, > video-on-demand, or any electronic delivery > system down the road. My life as a filmmaker, my > past, and even my future reputation as a > filmmaker are at stake. I gave Carney no rights > to my materials except the right to hold them and > return them to me on request. His lawyer has > refused to disclose the current location of my > materials. > > Carney tried to cast doubt on the truthfulness of > the inventory I presented. Furthermore, under > oath, he stated "some of the items I received I > no longer have because I gave them away to third > parties. I discarded other items due to the > degraded and unusable condition they were in when > I received them. Finally, I discarded other items > at later dates after they were worn-out by the > normal wear and tear of being used." This is > sworn statement from Carney who, earlier, on his > website bragged, "Mark is a great friend and gave > me almost everything he owned when he left New > York for FranceĀ So I am now the 'Mark Rappaport > Archive.' I have the largest collection of > material by him in the world: file cabinets and > storage bins full of amazing things: production > notebooks, film prints, rough drafts, revisions, > scripts, film stock, DVDs, tapes, notes, > jottings, journals, etc. etc. etc. It's a dream > come true for me and one of the major film > collections by one of the world's greatest > artists. All being preserved for posterity at any > cost." > http://people.bu.edu/rcarney/aboutrc/letters57.shtml > (PLEASE NOTE: If this interests you, go to the > website before this entry is removed.) > > Elsewhere, he describes me as "a genuine national treasure." > > The judge, at a pre-trial hearing, demanded that > Carney supply the court with a full inventory of > what he still had, what he gave away, and what he > destroyed. Carney subsequently delivered a full > inventory-which included absolutely everything I > gave him. None of it had been given away or > destroyed. Although he clearly had perjured > himself, I was ecstatic to learn my materials > were intact. After four and a half months of > this, Carney got in touch with me to propose a > deal, saying, "I sincerely wish you well and I am > sorry this issue has come between us." "I am > willing," he writes, to "ship everything back for > a modest consideration, simply to cover my costs > and the time and trouble of having stored the > material for the past seven-and-a-half years." In > return for my own films, I was to pay him > $27,000! Some may call this extortion, I call it > merely outrageous. Just to put it in perspective, > that would equal 3 years of the monies I get from > Social Security. To continue the suit to trial > would have cost me about the same amount, in > addition to the thousands I had already spent. I > couldn't afford to continue. > > Just when I filed for a dismissal of the suit, > Carney demanded back, because he claims they were > part of "the gift" I gave him, the video masters > that he returned to me in 2010-namely From the > Journals of Jean Seberg, Postcards, Exterior > Night, and John Garfield. > > I've heard somewhat similar stories from other > filmmakers, although none quite as breathtaking > as this. > > For a variety of reasons, I think this is a > cautionary tale you might consider emailing to > colleagues, friends, and acquaintances who are > interested in the conservation and protection of > works by non-mainstream filmmakers, film > preservation in general, and archiving not just > films but film-related artifacts of the recent > past by independent filmmakers. Please feel free > email this letter, post this on Facebook pages, > and submit it to various blogs. > > If you want to write about this situation, I have much more information. > > Sincerely, > > Mark Rappaport > mar...@noos.fr > _______________________________________________ > FrameWorks mailing list > FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com > https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks _______________________________________________ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks
