Is there anyway to get a legal fund going for this chap? This group seems well connected from my estimation.
On Sunday, September 9, 2012, Tim Halloran wrote: > 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 FranceŠ 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 f
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