From a Reader
Hi Mike,
Not sure if this is the type of story you would find of interest. I am currently owed some decent money from Atkingdom.com with invoices outstanding 120+ days.
Kim Nielsen, the owner, has not communicated with me as to when this will be resolved. Doing some research I have found that he owes quite a bit to some other shooters as well.
These were contracted shoots approved and shot on spec for him that have been delivered and are being featured in the members area of his site and on their DVD line.
While I am sure you have little interest in this from warning fellow independent shooters such as myself. This being a personal business matter. Assured I am actively engaged in resolving. However the impact of this foreshadows what could be a big problem for talent. ATKingdom is a known launch pad for new talent and established talent. Shooters like myself have to finance these shoots up front and wait to be paid. The majority of LA Based shooters shoot on payroll leaving the model to collect should the producers not pay them in a timely manner. With ATKingdom becoming increasingly insolvent this could effect a large number of the talent pool that are unaware they are shooting for producers that can not guarantee a payout. Quick fact finding will point to the number of productions they put in motion monthly.
Like I said this a personal axe to grind, but it does have industry implications. Quick research into Kim and ATKingdom will show how involved they are with contracting a network of shooters and talent that are at a huge risk of shooting for free. Should you need any contacts or have follow up questions let me know.
Appreciate your time,
20 Responses
ATKingdom In Trouble? Be Careful If You Shoot For Them http://t.co/U8vTSYX2JB
Yea I am not surprised I was going to shoot for then but I dont do that pay me later shit.
Hey affiliates, heads up. Another company might be going bust. Just read about it 🙁 http://t.co/vkdU7V3r2M
@MikeSouth1226 ut ho this could get ugly soon .
Poor Bob Fields. Good shooter.
In America we have something called the legal system. If someone owes you money and you can prove it you goto court. Who shoots on spec in 2013? Shooting on spec was a way to get jobs back in the 90s. If your work is worth anything you should be able to get commissioned work and instead of hoping and praying you get paid. I remember guys going to shoot on spec for Mike at Totallytasteless Video in Sun Valley and even John Bowen in North Hollywood. Guys would make verbal agreements with these gentlemen and then they goto to their offices to screen the footage. Both guys would say oh, the camera was shaky or the lighting was bad or the girl had an ass rash and the previous agreement would go out the window. The shooter would say okay, how much will you give me? John and Mike would reply with “I’ll give you $300”. The shooter would say “But I’m into this scene for $1500”. John and Mike would smile and say “I’ll give you $300 in cash now or you can try to sell it to someone else”. Most people would take the money and learn a hard lesson.The bottom line is no one in porn should be shooting on spec anymore.
You’ve been warned. RT @MikeSouth1226: ATKingdom In Trouble? Be Careful If You Shoot For Them http://t.co/nWdFrA6qtK
Anyone that follows the adult webmaster boards on a regular basis has been seeing intermittent issues pop up re: ATK for a couple of years or more. Most, regardless of the specifics, have the same problem getting a response, which is why they’re being called out publicly. Much cheaper, and ofter much quicker and more effective than getting lawyers involved.
ive heard about ATK employees and models about not being paid on time and having to wait weeks or months before being paid at all. this is not an isolated incident.
ATKingdom In Trouble? Be Careful If You Shoot For Them http://t.co/sGHpHiqQup
Just about anything on earth is quicker and cheaper if no lawyers are involved…
😉
No shit. Fuck those Lawyers.
Chris, correct me if I’m wrong but if they file for bankruptcy no one will get squat from them, lawsuit or not.
@Lacey: HA, Truer words were never spoken … or typed. Good one!
Charity, there are different types of bankrupty(chapter 7 vs 13). The way you avoid getting ripped off by a company is to not shoot on spec. Show a company your prior work and they either like your shooting style or they dont. As a membership site they have monthly revenue coming in. They have money to hire shooters so anyone that is owed money by them needs to look in the mirror if they want figure out what went wrong. Even though I get plenty of porn girls asking for favors(porn girls can be hypocrites with short memories) I’ve never seen a girl do a scene “on spec”. All the ones I know want to get paid, in cash, on the spot. Shooters should do the same to avoid situations like this.
@Charity,
merely filing for bankruptcy does not automaticly get someone off the hook for their debt. All creditors are notified when a company files bankruptcy, and you have the right to contest the bankruptcy. If you can show that the company was just ripping people off, and engaged in unsound business practices the courts will not always certify the bankruptcy. And if you can show a pattern of this behavior by the company chances are their bankruptcy will be denied.
Cal/OSHA, AHF and Why Devils Film is Fucked
How many violations does a 50 man anal creampie gangbang add up to?
Everytime we have some sort of health crisis, whether it’s syphilis, Mr. Marcus spreading it to, ten fifteen people. Who knows? You’ll never know the real number. You’ll never know. Free speech Coalition will never tell you, Diane Duke won’t tell you, John Stagliano won’t tell you, Christian Mann, Dr Miao.Nobody else talked about it, no one else reported on it. You have talent walking around with doctor notes, and you have Diane Duke and Christian Mann saying what Mr. Marcus did was he was just caught up in a circumstance and it was really Talent Testing Services that faked his test, and so on.”
Here’s where we’re showing you that there were on set transmissions, and had it been HIV you would have a shitload of talent running around with ” a manageable disease” according to Julie Meadows.
How can we say there was no on set transmission, when the testing system let someone get through, and if it had been HIV there would have been an epidemicSo what happened yesterday, AiDS Healthcare Foundation had a press release about Cal/OSHA investigating a company in San Francisco, and we actually talked about some of this with Mark McGrath of AHF (not Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray) when we met with them, and them traveling to Florida and Oakland for investigations and Cal/OSHA meetings and about how they were appalled that Kink.com challenged the workmen’s comp claim by Cameron Bay for damaging her breast on the Public Disgrace shoot, among other things. So I would tell you guys from my meetings with AHF that they told me about certain things that were coming. And all of you scoffed at me. Go figure. I had some people tell me that I dropped the ball. That they laughed at me. I’m not sure when that happened. Was that somewhere around the time I sent Cameron Bay to them so she could get medical treatment so she wouldn’t fucking die? So she could have the same dignity and respect that John Stagliano has, a man who let a transsexual with a bloody penis fuck him in his rectum. A millionaire who can afford the meds that keep his HIV status undetectable.Cameron Bay doesn’t receive her medication from the industry that infected her. She receives her medication from AIDS Healthcare Foundation. So apparently Mr. Zicari’s meetings didn’t go that bad you assholes. AHF reported that Cal/OSHA had inspected and fined a company that produces bareback gay porn, Factory Video in San Francisco.So we had a nice conversation about Mike Gatto and why people were fighting the legislation and as I delved more into the information, I told you guys a theory. Because when I sat there with AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Mark McGrath explained to me the position of Cal/OSHA.I explained this to all of you guys and you went ‘bla bla bla bla’ Because you can’t comprehend it. So let me explain it to you again.The information I was given is that Cal/OSHA are not policemen. There were not a proactive organization of Los Angeles, of California, of the state. They are not people running around with guns, badges and tasers raiding businesses checking permits, saying hey are your signs up, hey are you treating your employees humanely, none of that.
They sit in fucking offices and they field paperwork all day. And when they get enough complaints on a certain person, and the people are making enough noise that the bureaucracy of Cal/OSHA has to actually get up and go ‘All right, we heard that this restaurant had rat hairs in it and they beat their employees and they call the health department and say, ok let’s go’ And then they go on down.”
And if no one files any complaints against the adult industry, they are never going to act on anything, because when they get one or two, that’s nothing to them.So they get a pice of paper that’s written like chicken scratch, because most people in the adult industry aren’t literate, they’re fucking ignorant and then they don’t even put their real name, because they’re fucking pussies. ‘Larry Horsedick’ because they’re in fear of ‘reprisals’ So they send that letter to Cal/OSHA. And the people at Cal/OSHA go’ Hey Marvin you know what this is? It’s two company owners trying to drop dimes on each other, saying the other one’s doing pedophilia, and there’s rape and incest and then they sign it Captain Spalding. And they expect Cal/OSHA to come in with the cavalry and bust in so they sit back and laugh and go hahaha’Yeah, take that and crumple it and throw it away Marvin’
So guess what morons? Unless people show up with evidence and are willing to go on the record, Cal/OSHA ain’t gonna do a fucking thing. And when I say go on the record, an anonymous letter telling someone to do something ain’t gonna do shit. There needs to be representation. There needs to be more than some guy off the street who goes in and says ‘ Hey i know this porno dude and he doesn’t use rubbers.It’s like when people talk about the agents and reporting them to labor boards and you say ‘ that’s been going on for years’ and people haven’t gone to the police and gone through the proper channels and someone says ‘ I know for a fact that someone wrote a letter to the labor and immigration and said that Derek Hay was here illegally and he brings girls in from the Czech Republic.Are fucking serious? These people get this letter that says there’s this guy Derek Hay and he’s a bad man and you know what immigration does? They crumple that fuckin letter and wipe their ass with it. Fuckin morons. The letter’s signed Concerned Citizen of America. Please and they run back to a message board and go OOOOhhh I know bad things are gonna happen to LA Direct! You’ll see! It’s coming! Signed The Boogeyman!So you say, but Rob we sent a letter to the labor board and we signed it Captain Howdy Doody!We’ve been on the air for six months. And in six months we’ve taken a business that’s basically been silent and people are starting to speak up and you’re comparing a letter that you wrote signed Captain Howdy DoodyAnd you sit there and expect results and come to me and I say what have you done and you say ‘We wrote letters’ Why don’t you go out and rally talent and why don’t you have an activism party at your house?
“You think Christian Mann is going to get people to get together and have a meeting and talk about issues with talent and let them ask real questions? No because he would get bitch slapped because him and Diane Duke have no answers. That’s why they hide behind keyboards and specially worded press releases. Christian Mann gets together with his lovely wife and they spend 8 hours writing the biggest bunch of lying bullshit in the world.So this is the industry. And Cal/OSHA is coming. Mike Gatto said why should we pass legislation when the laws are already on the books and Cal/OSHA make companies comply with fines. So all of you people that give a shit, why don’t you get off your asses and get on Cal/OSHA’s ass?”
Why did AHF and Isadore Hall go the route they did? Because it’s easier. Once it’s statewide, they don’t have to go to each municipality.So basically Mike Gatto told them all to fuck off and go work. Use the laws that are already on the books and force a condom mandate.So what I’ve said is exactly what came into play with the San Francisco Cal/OSHA investigation. ”
Let’s read the letter:
Five of the citations Factory received were classified ‘Serious’ by Cal OSHA (others were classified as ‘General’ or ‘Regulatory’ and also resulted in fines). Of these five Serious citations, three resulted in $9,000 fines apiece including one for failure to maintain an Exposure Control Plan; a second, for failure to observe and practice Universal Precautions for possible contact with or exposure to blood or Other Potentially Infectious Materials (OPIM); and lastly, for failing to use engineering and work practice controls to eliminate or minimize employee exposure to “…minimize splashing, spraying, spattering, and generation of droplets of… blood or Other Potentially Infectious Materials (OPIM).”
“Oh my god there ain’t no way around that when we’re picking up cum rags, jizz blankets and everything else. Remember we’ve never tried to be a legitimate business because we’re all pirates and scoundrels and tough guys. But the tough guys that led us are pussy bitches. Steve Hirsch, pussy bitch, John Stagliano, Christian Mann, pussy bitch, pussy bitch, Steve Orenstein, pussy bitch, Peter Acworth, pussy bitch. Five pussy bitches that do nothing but hide and perpetuate lies.”
“And here you are all getting jammed up your assholes, because there’s no way around people ejaculating, shitting. pissing, whatever bodily fluids laying around because someone has to pick all that up.”
“That’s what you all get for having people like Ernest “Manwoman’ Greene and Bryn Pryor sit there at Cal/OSHA meetings with their arms crossed and basically telling Cal/OSHA to fuck off and mind their own business.”
“Because if all of you would’ve worked with Cal/OSHA back then, we would not be going through this now. But thanks to Ernest ‘Mr Hartley’ Greene and Bryn Pryor, you now have walking talking violations every time you shoot.”
“So now Cal/OSHA is doing something because AIDS Healthcare Foundation has been up their asses and saying guys, enough’s enough. This past year, we’ve had syphilis, Hep C, Cameron Bay. Hey how about we pretend Cameron Bay never got HIV, how about the fact that she was punched in the tit so hard on a Kink shoot, that she had to go to the hospital? That alone, Kink.com isn’t even covering the workmen’s comp claim.”
“Cal/OSHA finally said, enough is enough”
“AHF doesn’t have to think about condom laws right now, because there is about 78 violations on the Devils Film 50 man anal gangbang alone. It was shot in the Valley, but forget about that and breaking the condom law, how many violations do you think it would rack up. Condoms. Who needs stinking condoms?”
“If a gay company shooting bareback scenes where they’re coming on each other and they get hit with five violations, what the fuck do you think having Jennifer White having a anal creampie gangbang with 50 of the most disgusting human beings imaginable, including a homeless man, and they all ejaculate in Jennifer White’s anus and each guys sticks his dick into her hole one after another filled with the previous guys semen. How many violations is the 50 man creampie gonna rack up?”
“If a simple boy on boy scene produces $60,000 in violations, what does a 50 man creampie gangbang add up to? A million fucking dollars? They’re gonna walk up to Nick Orlandino and say, how long have you owned the company? A year? You owe us a million dollars. Well it’s ours now. We’re gonna call it Devil/ OSHA productions.”
“The people that think they can win a battle with AHF are fooling themselves. These people foot the bill for over a quarter million people for healthcare. Fighting them is worse than fighting the government like I did. I had people on my side like Ted Koppel defending me. Obscenity is subjective. It’s much harder to prove. Condom laws and Cal/OSHA rules are cut and dry.”
“Cal/OSHA rules weren’t meant for the porn industry. If we had embraced condom laws and worked with them and AHF, they wouldn’t have gotten involved and we would have legitimized the industry.”
“So this week you’re getting fucked by all the people I’ve been telling you are coming to fuck you. And if Bryn Pryor had not shouted these people down, we would not be in this situation.”
“Are you people getting it yet?
I was a compliance officer at a couple of credit unions in the early to mid 2000’s for a few years and while there I dabbled in collections from time to time so I think I can clarify what actually happens in a bankruptcy. In a Chapter 7 business bankruptcy the trustee (appointed by the judge) auctions off all business assets and distributes the proceeds to first the government for up to whatever is owed, then secured creditors (like a car or house loan would be to an individual) pro-rated up to what is owed, then unsecured creditors (think of a credit card), pro-rated if need be. If there is anything left, the owners receive the rest pro-rated by percentage of ownership. If there is not enough to cover all debts (and there never is), proceeds are pro-rated by percentage of debt in whatever category is shorted and the lower categories get nothing. In most cases there isn’t even enough proceeds to cover the past due taxes (management can be held personally liable for taxes but not for debts in most cases) so the secured and unsecured creditors and stockholders get nothing. The websites would more than likely be shut down and the videos sold either individually or in package form at a government auction to the highest bidder.
In a Chapter 11 (think Chapter 13 for individuals), a payment plan is written up so the business can continue to function where the government and secured creditors are paid over 3-5 years while the unsecured creditors get a percentage (usually 10% of what was owed) after the government and secured creditors get paid up.
Yes it is true that if there was mismanagement or if the owners were using bankruptcy to rip the creditors off the corporate veil can be pierced and the owners or management can be made liable for the debts while the bankruptcy is dismissed but I haven’t ever seen it happen. Charity, Chris and Jilted, I hope this helps.
There is an exception in bankruptcy law where the first $5K of wages per employee are paid between taxes and secured debts. As for a performer or a producer that worked “on spec” since most claim to be a 1099 private contractor and not an employee more than likely the court would rule these debts as unsecured debts and not as wages so you would probably end up with bupkis.
Tell Weinfuck, Zicarifuck and Cal-OSHA that they are chasing the industry out of California. That may be their real goal but they don’t realize the billion plus dollars or so that the porn industry produces each and every year (the explanation of why the amount is so high is complicated but it includes what the porn actors/producers spend in CA yearly in rent, taxes, food, cars, insurance, etc.) and the state will regret running porn out when it happens. Heck, I bet Kink.com alone produces hundreds of millions of dollars yearly for the CA economy. When Kink is run out of CA the Armory can sit and fall apart for another 30 years I guess. I advise the state to leave porn alone and let it operate as it has for the past 20 years, you will regret it if you don’t, trust me!