Liberals who run Hollywood tried to block documentary about pedophiles who work in Hollywood

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https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/dustin-hoffman-speaks-following-allegations-sexual-harassment-1985-141930766.html





Child abuse documentary Hollywood 'didn't want you to see' goes viral


When the documentary An Open Secret tried to lift the lid on child abuse in Hollywood, it billed itself as “the film Hollywood doesn’t want you to see”. The marketing tagline did not exaggerate.

The film died upon release in 2015. There was no theatrical release to speak of, no television deal, no video-on-demand distribution.

“We got zero Hollywood offers to distribute the film. Not even one. Literally no offers for any price whatsoever,” said Gabe Hoffman, a Florida-based hedge fund manager who financed the film.

It did not seem to matter that it was directed by an Oscar-nominated director, Amy Berg, or that it uncovered damning evidence of the sexual abuse of teenage boys by figures in the film industry.

“There was nowhere to see it,” said Lorien Haynes, the film’s writer. “I don’t think it impacted at all. Nobody saw it. We released a film that didn’t [seem to] exist.”

Now, two years later, multiple “open secrets” of predatory behaviour are detonating across Hollywood and the documentary that blew the whistle is getting millions of viewers – but still no distribution deal.

Hoffman released the film for free on the video-sharing website Vimeo this month after reports about Harvey Weinstein’s alleged sexual assaults set off a chain-reaction, with James Toback, Tyler Grasham and Kevin Spacey among those accused of harassment and worse.

Corey Feldman, a former child actor who says he was the victim of a paedophile ring, has raised more than $170,000 through crowdfunding for a purported $10m biopic about the abuse.

Hoffman said he had intended to end the free online viewings of An Open Secret on Tuesday, but extended the window until Sunday because of public interest, with more than 3 million viewings on various social media platforms since 12 October.

“We knew a Harvey Weinstein moment was coming and when it would, that we’d release it for free,” said Hoffman. He hoped the documentary would yet make its way on to television. “We’d love to be on Amazon and Netflix. We’re always ready to talk.”

The documentary’s initial vanishing into the void and belated re-emergence underlines how Hollywood long ducked evidence of abuse. An Open Secret had the elements to make a splash.

Berg, the director, had earned an Oscar nomination for her film Deliver Us from Evil, about sex abuse in the Catholic church.

Her team obtained evidence of a paedophile ring in Hollywood – managers, agents, publicists and directors – that preyed on young boys and teenagers seeking entry to the industry.

Some hosted lavish parties where men allegedly plied the boys with alcohol and drugs and traded them for sex. Others spent years grooming victims, and winning the confidence of their families, before starting sexual assaults.

A handful were caught and served relatively brief jail sentences before returning to the industry. Brian Peck, an actor and acting coach who worked for Nickelodeon and the X-Men franchise, was convicted of two counts of lewd acts with a child. He is now working in the industry again.

The documentary features interviews with Evan Henzi, who was 11 years old when his manager, Martin Weiss, started assaulting him. Weiss pleaded no contest in 2012 to two counts of child molestation, and was sentenced to a year in jail and five years’ probation. He was freed immediately due to time served.

“I shared my story in An Open Secret so other victims who have been molested for years just like me can heal,” Henzi, 24, said this week.

“When the film was released, I witnessed a lot of support by people who actually saw the film. What I did not witness was support from film festivals or Hollywood at large to promote the film. I do believe, though, that both some of the film-makers of An Open Secret and the Hollywood establishment are responsible for this.”

Internal disputes disrupted the film’s launch. Hoffman took Berg to arbitration, alleging she did not fulfill her end of the deal. She denied that. There were other rows behind the scenes over the script, crediting and edits.

Berg declined to be interviewed, saying she would let the film speak for itself.

Hoffman downplayed any suggestion that the film-makers had shot themselves in the foot and blamed Hollywood for its distribution travails – for instance initially rating the film R, before relenting and classifying it PG-13. “Hollywood clearly blocked the film. The higher-ups didn’t like how it portrayed the industry.”...


Every single liberal celebrity who claimed not to know about Harvey Weinstein and other rapists and/or pedophiles in Hollywood is full of shit.
 
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Controversial documentary An Open Secret reveals paedophilia in Hollywood

Published back on May 22, 2015:

A revealing new documentary about the sexual abuse of children within Hollywood is hoping to lift the lid off an alleged network that implicates major industry figures.

An Open Secret, which was shown this week in an out-of-festival screening in Cannes, is a damning new film from Oscar-nominated director Amy Berg, who previously explored paedophilia within the Catholic church in Deliver Us From Evil.

First-hand accounts from young actors who suffered at the hands of managers, publicists and directors, while underage, are used alongside input from investigative journalists and psychologists who present a damaging collection of evidence.

“What you see in the film is literally just the tip of the iceberg,” executive producer Gabe Hoffman claimed. “For every victim that’s in the film, there are another five or 10 with fact-checked, legitimate accounts who didn’t want to be identified.”

Hoffman, along with producing partner Matt Valentinas, has no film experience nor desire to be in the industry, but the pair were so compelled by the subject matter that they approached director Berg about making the film. Valentinas claims there were “weekly, often daily calls” with a first-amendment specialist lawyer to ensure that the inflammatory claims were legally sound. “We’ve not had one lawsuit yet,” Hoffman said. “We’ve not even had one threatening letter from anybody.”

But the content of the film, which covers alleged drug-fuelled parties laid on by an interconnected group of older men to seduce and intoxicate underage actors as well as more personalised stories of abuse, has led to difficulties getting people to see it. It’s been rejected by major film festivals, including London, struggled to find distribution and had to receive cuts to avoid legal action.

It’s now getting a small release in the US, just 20 cities initially, in the hope it reaches a wider audience in time. The producers also hope it reaches the industry and provokes change. As it currently stands, registered sex offenders are still allowed to work within Hollywood, without difficulty. The film covers the story of actor Brian Peck, who previously worked for Nickelodeon and alongside director Bryan Singer on X-Men and X-Men 2; Peck was convicted of two counts of lewd acts with a child. Peck is now working within the system yet again.

“Why is he still working on a studio lot when he’s a convicted paedophile?” Valentinas said.

“Who is checking that? Who is doing the hiring?” Hoffman followed: “We want journalists to ask every single major studio: ‘Why would you allow any convicted paedophile to work in any form with your organisation, period? Why are they any part of what you would ever do?’”

It’s one of the main changes that the pair want the film to bring about. As well as stricter cross-checking, they want the film to lead to a mandatory minimum sentence for any convicted offenders. The film also explores the case of Marty Weiss, a youth-talent manager who was convicted of two charges against Evan Henzi, who alleged that Weiss assaulted him between 30 and 40 times over a five-year period. Weiss ended up serving just six months in prison.

“I’m angry at the legal system.” Henzi, now 21, said. “I’m starting to understand exactly what happened to me because if I keep it in my head, I’m so confused all the time. I blamed myself and felt guilty. Going back to the beginning, I realised that was not the case and it was just me trying to believe that everyone was good in the world and knew better than me. Now that I’m older, I know it was just sick. You don’t have sex with an 11-year-old kid.”

Another aim of the film is to help the victims of abuse and prevent them from falling into chemical dependency, alcoholism and further psychological problems. All profits from the film will be going to a foundation set up to provide any necessary support....
 

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