Distributor to DCP: Without 200K, "Witnesses" Will Flop

[Dr Exiled]

I don't know if anyone outside of ours and Dr. P's apologetic world will want to see it.

I certainly want to see it. Hope it comes to Youtube at some future date.

I wonder if we could have a group streaming event if and when it goes to YouTube? I'd be fun to see everyone's reaction to it and see what whitewashing is caught in real time.

[Lem]

If it takes an extra 200K to make sure Witnesses reaches the widest possible audience for this type of production, they should probably just raise the money and spend it appropriately.

I suppose my question is why this wasn't planned and budgeted for at the start. How much were they planning on spending to advertise this? I'm guessing that there was no planned advertising spend and they were hoping to spread the word for free on blogs and social media.

Good point. At the very least, during an unexpected pandemic it provides work for the Distribution company.

I'm curious whether Purdie Distribution offered some feedback during this meeting to support their claim. For example, they signed an agreement at least 9months ago to distribute this film, and they've had trailers and artwork in theatres for the last month or so. In order to support this claim, surely they had focus group results and surveys of possible audiences.

Maybe I'm too suspicious, but when I hear the claim "we just need $200k more to make you a success" in the Nation's MLM and affinity fraud heartland, there needs to be some very specific evidence presented. I don't 'just believe.'

[Lem]

Those are great points, Lemmie, and did you catch this?:

haven’t discussed writing this blog entry with anybody. Not with my wife, not with the producer or the director, not with Ed Snow, not with Brandon Purdie, not with my board.

Maybe it would have been wiser to run this past these folks, before announcing to the whole world that you're "worried[ied]" and that the film is apparently in dire financial straights and is likely to be a box office disaster?

This is a huge point, Doctor Scratch. Wouldn't these people have been at the meeting with Peterson where the request for 200k was presented?

Eta: maybe this explains it:

I made a solemn promise to my board that I would not allow the movie effort, or fundraising for it, to come at the expense of the basic Foundation itself. I intend to keep that promise.

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/danpeters ... ppeal.html

Is that why the Film funding moved to a separate funding group? Is there some disagreement at the interpreter foundation?

[Lem]

To answer my own question:

A couple of months ago, he gave a lengthy, simply stunning, and, to me, entirely convincing presentation to our producer and director and to me on the need for an expanded advertising budget for Witnesses.

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/danpeters ... ppeal.html

Oh. So the film producer and director were at a meeting where the distributor pitched a need for an additional $200k to the Executive Producer, the guy paying the bills. I hope there was a lot of focus group data presented, at least. My mind is just way too suspicious.

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

Whatever happened to the Power of Discernment? Did the devs drop it in the Mo.6.0 patch?

- Doc

[Lem]

This extra $200k under discussion after about a million having been raised has felt a little off, especially since, as far as I can recall, he's asked before for an 'extra' $200k. I recall it being for the 'snippets,' however, but now it seems to be for advertising.

So, I went back to the old site to look up some of the discussion and found that Tom
had reported on this post:

Films are uniquely powerful tools of communication and influence, but film-making is expensive. The basic cost of even our Witnesses film project, according to the budget meticulously prepared by our producer (who was making every effort to keep it low), comes out to 1.2 million dollars.

I’m pleased to say that we’ve now raised $950,000 of that amount, and that we have a firm pledge that would complete that funding. But that pledge will only materialize when we first reach one million dollars.

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/danpeters ... esses.html

Taking a quick look at Interpreters 2019 expenses and their 2019 990, the 990 has $911,815 MORE reported in expenses than the Interpreter quarterly reports acount for. That's ok, though, because Peterson did report in 2019 that the movie donations were being shifted to an outside entity.

In the 2018 expense reports, $38,157 is spent on a "media project," which I am assuming is the film, based on his discussions that year, because if you add that to the missing $911,815 in 2019, it brings the film expenses to $949,972. In other words, the $950,000 Peterson said was raised.

Which brings us to the request for $200k more, now. That's been in the budget since the beginning, hasn't it? If so, why the big pretense now that is extra? in my opinion, he just didn't meet his goal.

[Dr Exiled]

This extra $200k under discussion after about a million having been raised has felt a little off, especially since, as far as I can recall, he's asked before for an 'extra' $200k. I recall it being for the 'snippets,' however, but now it seems to be for advertising.

So, I went back to the old site to look up some of the discussion and found that Tom
had reported on this post:

Films are uniquely powerful tools of communication and influence, but film-making is expensive. The basic cost of even our Witnesses film project, according to the budget meticulously prepared by our producer (who was making every effort to keep it low), comes out to 1.2 million dollars.

I’m pleased to say that we’ve now raised $950,000 of that amount, and that we have a firm pledge that would complete that funding. But that pledge will only materialize when we first reach one million dollars.

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/danpeters ... esses.html

Taking a quick look at Interpreters 2019 expenses and their 2019 990, the 990 has $911,815 MORE reported in expenses than the Interpreter quarterly reports acount for. That's ok, though, because Peterson did report in 2019 that the movie donations were being shifted to an outside entity.

In the 2018 expense reports, $38,157 is spent on a "media project," which I am assuming is the film, based on his discussions that year, because if you add that to the missing $911,815 in 2019, it brings the film expenses to $949,972. In other words, the $950,000 Peterson said was raised.

Which brings us to the request for $200k more, now. That's been in the budget since the beginning, hasn't it? If so, why the big pretense now that is extra? in my opinion, he just didn't meet his goal.

I just heard an explosion near the Provo area. I think it was DCP after reading your entry.

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

BUSTED.

Got dayum. Get Lemdawg outta the schoolhouse and into the field office, stat.

- Doc

[Lem]

thanks, Dr Exiled and Doc Cam. I always did think forensic accounting sounded kinda fun.....

[Doctor Scratch]

Good catch, Lemmie--very interesting! You know, I wonder if they did drum up that 50K, but then the person who'd pledged the 200K reneged? I mean, DCP was pretty distraught over the fact that some donor was withdrawing their pledge due to his politics. Maybe it was the same person who was going to give them $200K? And he was hoping that if he kept his mouth shut for long enough, then maybe he could win them back over? But that didn't work, and now they are still 200K in the hole?