You read about scandals and schemes almost every day in this country, where people are deceived into believing they will realize huge returns on their investment only to learn that their deepest desires and hopes of finally hitting it big have been betrayed by unscrupulous, greedy dogs who would stop at virtually nothing to fleece the public, sometimes specifically targeting the most vulnerable in society - the elderly and disabled.
Mike Erwin and Max Kirishima are two despicable individuals whose behavior was/is disgustingly predatory. They used others to do their dirty work for them in contacting and collecting the five million they raised for the movie Blue Hill Avenue, while deceptively giving the impression of being available to the investors to voice concerns and being there for them. Rand Chortkoff was the primary individual who headed up the venture capital thugs to siphon the victims' money. He was given the title of "producer" as well as his minions who would do cold calling and use high pressure sales tactics to sell "units" in their movies. They would sometimes call a second time to solicit more funds by indicating that they needed it to "seal the deal" with Artisan films, or whatever their fabricated story was at the time. A witness to these calls stated that the minions would laugh upon hanging up and chide each other that they should have gotten even more out of the victims - many of whom were the elderly and disabled.
The movie, Blue Hill Avenue, cost approximately one million to make. It had a very short release in theaters, I believe, to stifle the profits intentionally to the investors. It did win several independent film awards. Instead, it was simply easier to tell the investors the movie did not make any money and then simply pocket the balance that was raised. (Ever seen the movie, "The Producers?")
An individual, Mark Holdom, came forward and offered to market and sell Blue Hill Avenue for Erwin, etc. It is my belief that it was NOT the intention of Erwin, etc., to proceed to this step but rather to declare the movie a failure at the box office and split the investors' money between the crooks. I believe that Erwin, etc., went along with Holdom's offer to avoid revealing their master plan to simply make off with the money. Holdom was bestowed the title of "producer," and he proceeded to negotiate with Artisan for purchase of the film, which was accomplished. As I understand it from speaking directly to Mark Holdom, some of the five million was spent to make the film saleable, and he put some of his own money into the project as well. Mark Holdom also became a conduit in Europe to sell Blue Hill Avenue to various countries. It is uncertain whether he also sold or attempted to sell other films generated by Erwin, etc., as well in Europe. The movie has been available to rent at Blockbuster video rental stores and probably others as well and is for sale on the Internet as well as having been shown on various cable TV stations from time to time, including BET and Showtime. Over a period of time, profits from these promotional efforts were surely realized by Artisan Films. Yet, none of these profits was shared by the investors lending further scandal to this entire investment debacle.
So, as we speak, the movie, Blue Hill Avenue, is producing income, only not for the investors. As part of my mission in creating this blog, I/we intend to post any and all information as to profits that may be generated from Blue Hill Avenue or any other of the Erwin productions on an ongoing basis.
I invite everyone who has had an experience with any or all of these individuals to post their story, even if it involved one of their other movies such as Anacardium, etc. This is an open forum for investors or others who were victims or who may have worked with these individuals and suddenly realized they were crooks, etc. The full story must be told. These individuals are no less guilty than a figure such as Bernie Madoff, and they need to be exposed.
I look forward to your posts!!!
