tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34798599.post7530195868998410558..comments2023-11-14T11:44:10.396-05:00Comments on The Legion of Decency: DOING THIS RIGHTjimhenshawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07815834271470133872noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34798599.post-86907219145294247192008-02-25T10:22:00.000-05:002008-02-25T10:22:00.000-05:00Write a book.Write a book.BlaineW.https://www.blogger.com/profile/04994489500813966370noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34798599.post-6348940146684274762008-02-22T05:16:00.000-05:002008-02-22T05:16:00.000-05:00peb said... "This may seem naive, but shouldn't th...peb said... <BR/>"This may seem naive, but shouldn't the tax authorities be interested in this type of shenanigans? Don't the studios get audited?"<BR/><BR/>When you have some time, you should google and look up the outcomes of investigations of Cinar and Telefilm Canada which involved the theft of millions of tax payer dollars from 1993-2000 (paying american writers for work credited to canadian writers).<BR/><BR/>There's also the $122 million they put in their Bahamian bank accounts without approval.<BR/><BR/>The RCMP and the Surete du Quebec seized documents and started investigations.<BR/><BR/>The government issued a statement that the Telefilm investigation would be taken away from the RCMP and replaced with a Telefilm "internal investigation" because they would be the best people to investigate this. Quebec never filed criminal charges and Cinar settled out of court for a couple of millions and the story quietly went away. (Writer Fabienne Larouche received death threats for exposing this to the media).<BR/><BR/>Look it up for yourself and be shocked. <BR/><BR/>As long as production companies can commit fraud with impunity, there's no motivation for the system to change.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06986865512929596431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34798599.post-60687734840720738442008-02-19T17:04:00.000-05:002008-02-19T17:04:00.000-05:00The hardest part about this whole situation is tha...The hardest part about this whole situation is that in order to make it work, someone's going to have to fall on their sword. 'Cause the moment you kick the Giants in the Junk, well, they're going to react very, very poorly (at best).<BR/><BR/>That being said - I'm not even in the running yet and I'm absolutely disgusted with what people have told me (let alone the wonderful stories you guys shared with me in the cafe that day...). The only reason shit like this continues is because of silence, because we all gotta eat and if we rock the boat, well, dammit, we shoot ourselves in the foot.<BR/><BR/>However, there's a measure to be taken from the recent American Writer's strike: We don't have to stand for it. If those who're supposed to have our best interests at heart don't, well, we're writers. We communicate. That's what we do. There's gotta be ways to weed these fuckers out of the stream.<BR/><BR/>The thing that works against us all is the fact that so many writers are solitary in their work. There's not a lot of communication between one another and so there's no collective unconcious that tells us "hey, you're going to get burned".<BR/><BR/>The fact that you recieved such a deluge just screams to me that people are sick and tired of getting molested by a system that's supposed to empower them. Each and every one of them can help to prevent any one else from ever having to endure these things. By working together we can educate each other about the system we're all a part of and how best to navigate it - and where best we can affect change to it.<BR/><BR/>Don't worry Jim. Jupiter is coming.Brandon Larabyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08012563539334788444noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34798599.post-82772005736159142752008-02-17T20:07:00.000-05:002008-02-17T20:07:00.000-05:00This may seem naive, but shouldn't the tax authori...This may seem naive, but shouldn't the tax authorities be interested in this type of shenanigans? Don't the studios get audited? <BR/><BR/>I really enjoy and appreciate your blog.ConnectedLifehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04109647798305465981noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34798599.post-29510493588563343022008-02-15T22:27:00.000-05:002008-02-15T22:27:00.000-05:00Jim,I’m new to this stuff, but just pissed off eno...Jim,<BR/>I’m new to this stuff, but just pissed off enough to think it’s worth it. I’ve been visiting your blog now and again for quite a while and it’s always worth the read. Your “Eden” post was so very well researched, deeply considered and very enlightening. I’m not surprised you rattled some cages and ruffled and few feathers with it. Keep it up; after all if we can’t talk amongst ourselves who the fuck else can we complain to? And thank you so much for the kind words about Mayerthorpe. Michael Storey, my cinematographer on it called me today to debrief a bit about the fallout --all good by the way. Right out of the blue he said something to the effect of, ‘It was so great to work on something Canadian; something that felt like it mattered for a change.’ I couldn’t have put it better myself. Even though it’s almost a year since we shot it that feeling that we were doing something important to us AS CANADIANS still resonates in the empty space between my ears. Everybody on the set on every single day of shooting, swathed in the Calgary cold, amid the sick film set jokes, felt they were a part of something that mattered. I hope I get to taste that again sometime. Hope somebody does. Alas, I’d wager our illustrious CRTC members were tuned in to Kayne West and Amy Winehouse on Global. (Have to admit, I like Amy Winehouse)<BR/>Stay well,<BR/>KenKenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12991100804331232199noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34798599.post-91827808118603645722008-02-15T20:15:00.000-05:002008-02-15T20:15:00.000-05:00If things keep going the way they are I might be a...If things keep going the way they are I might be asking for those letters so I can set them alight and keep warm. My head's down and my neck hurts because not only do I have to watch where I step on the unplowed streets of Toronto, I live in fear of the creeping destruction of our culture by those charged with safeguarding it. Maybe I can get my hands on Jim Shaw's empty chair and burn it too. Thanks for the "Eden" post, Jim. And I'd add David Barlow to my list of heroes too.Kenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12991100804331232199noreply@blogger.com