A follow up to the Sanborn Studios Game Changer:
It appears Sanborn Studios has claimed they created the 117 jobs they promised. The average wage was supposed to be $72,000 per year. Where are all those employees?
According to Sanborn Studios legal representation, the firm has been hurt by County employees “trash talking”, and the badmouthing has been damaging to their business. Interesting.
| From: | Kathleen Schneider | Sent: | Mon, 09 Sep 2013 19:11:26 GMT | |
| To: | David M. Boggs | |||
| CC: | Joan McGill; Jeff Maultsby; Ken Sanborn; Frederick (Rick) Elbrecht Jr; Stephen DeMarsh; | |||
| Subject: | RE: Sanborn Studios, LLC/Sarasota County | |||
 |
Mr. Boggs: Neither Mr. Maultsby nor I are aware of any information you provided to us at the meeting to show that SSLLC has met or exceeded the target of creating 117 full-time jobs. We are aware of some conflicting verbal representations, but no documentation of any kind. As I will be out of the country for the next few weeks, It would be appreciated if you would provide whatever information you have directly to Mr. Maultsby. Thank you.
Kathleen F. Schneider
Deputy County Attorney
Office of the County Attorney
1660 Ringling Blvd., 2nd FL
Sarasota, FL 34236
Phone: 941-861-7272
Fax: 941-861-7267
From: David M. Boggs [mailto:dmb@macfar.com]
Sent: Monday, September 09, 2013 3:40 PM
To: Kathleen Schneider
Cc: Joan McGill; Jeff Maultsby; ‘Ken sanborn’
Subject: Sanborn Studios, LLC/Sarasota County
Ms. Schneider,
Now that I am back from vacation, I wanted to follow up with you on our 9Aug13 meeting at the County Admin Building involving you, Mr. Maultsby, Ms. McGill, me and my client, Sanborn Studios, LLC (“SSLLC”)(represented by Ken Sanborn), and its 14Oct10 Financial Incentive Agreement with Sarasota County (the “FIA”). Has the Office of the County Attorney and County staff been able to determine who, with the County, has made statements to people in the movie/tv industry indicating that it would be toxic for people in the industry to do business with SSLLC in Sarasota County? Have you been able to determine who, with the County, has publicly stated that the County had “serious issues” with SSLLC and felt that SSLLC had “stolen money from the County?” Have you been able to determine when the bad-mouthing of SSLLC started, who all has been involved, and who all has been aware of this?
As we indicated at our meeting, the County’s trash talking of SSLLC has damaged SSLLC’s business, and has not been good for either SSLLC or the County in regards to the FIA. Now that information was provided to you in the meeting that SSLLC had met or exceeded the target of creating 117 full-time jobs during the first three year period, the sole remaining obligation of SSLLC under the FIA is to continue to operate in Sarasota County (see, Para 5, FIA) for two more years, so it is of utmost importance that the County act promptly, thoroughly and decisively to identify and expose those involved in this highly objectionable activity which has been adverse to SSLLC and which will have lasting effects on SSLLC and the County. Please let me know what you have found out.
As in our meeting, the requests herein on behalf of SSLLC are made with full reservation of all rights, claims and privileges, without any waivers by SSLLC. These matters are of great financial importance to SSLLC, and should also be to the County, so I most hopeful that you and your staff have been able to find answers for us both.
David Boggs
David M. Boggs, Esq. |Macfarlane Ferguson & McMullen
Hello
What about the entourage?
Agree. Nikki’s comment may be important for the County to be aware of. If Sanborn Studios is focusing their energies on predatory legal activity rather than film production, what implications does that have for the County’s ability to recoup our tax dollars?
These comments in the email from Sanborn Studios’ rep show us another new way to change the subject and to place blame for failure elsewhere by suggesting an intent to spread rumors! The county should have known better but they better not fall for this one too!
The real question is why did the news agencies support Sanborn initially and why are they not being held accountable? The editors at the Sarasota Herald Tribune, Jeannine Corcoran and Jeff Maultsby helped Sanborn. Why?
Furthermore, now we know that Sanborn are actually copyright trolling – They realized you can make more money from threatening to sue people who may (or may not) have downloaded their productions than you can from pursuing legitimate distribution.
Please someone tell the whole story!
Don, thanks so much for your important comment. It’s amazing how your expertise was ignored, and indicative of how our County culture operates. We all need to keep our eye on County government and share information with our friends. If we don’t, we’ll get more of the same.
Cathy
I meant to respond to your SRQ Daily piece on the Sanborn Studios demise and it’s impact on Sarasota County, which was spot on. I was on the advisory board of the EDC film commission at the time and I questioned the reasoning and vetting process used for this incentive grant with Commissioner Joe Barbetta (who was also on the committee). He became very defensive and left the meeting early to avoid further inquiry. I then read the economic impact study from another state that the county based its decision on. Being a career film Producer I immediately realized this was flawed. It was clear no one with comprehensive knowledge of the film production infrastructure was assessing this for the county. In her eagerness Jeanne Corcoran fell hook line and sinker for the Sanborn deal because she was blinded by her own desire to bring film production to Sarasota. She spent a lot of time bad mouthing Wade Tatangelo for pointing up in his reporting the dark back-story of Sanborn’s previously failed companies and tarnished executives. The vetting was extremely flawed and with little or no public review. The truth is Film production comes to a community for two reasons, one the locations, and two for the tax incentives. Many communities see a film studio, as some green industry pot of gold, but the reality is the path is littered with failed attempts, which should have been clear to the Commissioners. There is no such thing as “if we build it they will come”. Now with their actions having come back to roost it will be interesting to see if they can ever recoup funds with the claw back provisions. I am sure Ken Sanborn the pariah of this Ponzi scheme will slip out of the pay back through yet again another slippery maneuver.
Cathy keep up the sleuthing, you should be championed for you’re continued efforts, you are our watchdog, and a gift to this community.