This pretty much cements it in my mind, Rick is a delusional nutcase who wants to believe that he is holding back this movie because his ego wants it to be true.
But everything you’ve posted leads me to believe that it’s nothing but coincidence. Jake didn’t write the movie. Jake didn’t direct the movie. Rick is a ridiculously common name. All of it keeps pointing back at real Rick being a delusional egomaniac.
Also, names in fiction are pretty well a free-for-all. As long as you can show that multiple people have the name you’ve chosen, the reason for the initial choosing is meaningless. Look at A Nightmare on Elm Street. Wes Craven has never been shy about revealing that Freddy Krueger was named after a bully who used to torment him in school (remember this is a character who was a child molester and a murderer before being turned into a demon). But the real “Fred Krueger” can’t say boo because there are dozens of people who share his name. It’s just a name and it’s fiction.
Richard’s the one who contacted the director – he should be able to figure out what happened. Unless he threatened to sue and followed up with a lawyer’s letter, his existence likely had very little to do with the film’s failure to launch. Hell, if he’d been serious about it (though I doubt he would have had a case, considering Jake didn’t even write the thing and many of these suits – which, I’ll admit, usually only surface once the supposed rip-off material actually becomes successful – don’t go anywhere), The Film probably could have used the money.
Yeah, making DVDs doesn’t cost much, but selling them anywhere but your own site or at festivals is easier said than done, as someone else pointed out upthread. And even a few thousand bucks for supplies and maybe some design for the cover is a lot if you’ve sunk all your money into a movie, as many indie directors do.
Heh…umm, keep in mind that while Rick doesn’t frequent the Dope anymore, he is reading this thread; so the courtesy rules of “Don’t say anything about anyone you wouldn’t say to their face” kind of apply here. Just sayin’ is all.
Hahaha, never heard that one before…ain’t Writer’s Revenge the best revenge?
Thanks for posting the title, but how would I know that Rick ever posted here and was reading this thread. More importantly, why should I care?
Looking at the IMDB listing for the movie, the only credited name for the “Rick” character is Ken. No last name, just a first name. That completely throws out the “He could sue because they used his name!” idea and makes him look like even more of an egomaniac.
(Sorry for losing my cool earlier, but Ken is a long term friend of mine…no offense taken, however.)
There was never any consideration of any legal action from Ken’s end. My sole question was whether or not the filmmakers would fear any frivolous lawsuit, and that question’s been definitely answered already.
Wait a minute, why the fuck should Richard write the email to the director? As far as I can tell, Richard has had dicksquat to do with this movie - no involvment whatsoever. So why should the director care who he is more than, say, you? Because he once had a relationship with the actor and shares a first name with the character? So?
Rick’s already had prior email contact with the director, which is why I insisted that HE send the email, not me. I’m okay with playing third-party mediator (it’s the role I was born to play, apparently…) but sometimes there are limits and boundaries.
Well, okay, but it just seems weird to me. Richard is as much a joe blow off the street as you are. Of course, if you’re involvement is primarily because of Richard rather than caring about the answer yourself, then it makes sense to make Richard do his own dirty work, so to speak.
No, we’re not. These are people I’ve known for most of my life, including Jake, and I’ve already stated that fact in the OP.
BTW, I’ve requested this thread be locked, since my main questions have been asked & answered. There’s been new developments since yesterday, but from now on, I won’t be discussing this matter outside of PM – and only with those who seem genuinely interested, not voyeristically interested…kthxbai.
I don’t think there is any explanation more plausible than lack of funding or lack of a distributor. There’s no way for me to know the true reason and I’ll grant it’s possible it was due to something else, but I think the odds are very strongly against it.
Either way, I think this is something Richard just needs to let go. Since he isn’t actually interested in a lawsuit and has already seen the movie, there’s no good reason for him to be concerned about why it isn’t out on DVD. It really isn’t any of his business. If he’s fixated on this because of other personal or interpersonal issues then he should be dealing with those and not be giving undue significance to the movie itself.
Indie film producer checking in here, haven’t read the rest of this thread yet.
The questions in the OP seem EXTREMELY plausible to the point of likelihood to me.
What has probably happened is the film was taken to festivals in search of distribution. Long story short, distributors will need certain insurance and other paperwork against intellectual property claims and other matters before buying the rights to the film, because once they do, they are liable for the outcome.
So, no insurance, or insufficient coverage, no distribution. Happens all the time. Distributors have plenty to choose from, they don’t need the headache and will walk away.
Distributors are the ones who would manufacture, market, and sell any dvds at that point.
So the film sits a while, internet distribution takes off, with online distributors less liable for the content if they didn’t select it, jut like any other common carrier. So they don’t care too much about the legal issues.
Director gets around to posting the film on line, and that is where you are today. No more need for DVDs, right?
Speculating into the future, Jake might have trouble financing future films absent this insurance, unless there is an ironclad company around it to isolate any issues from Jake personally or any future investors. Given the story, the existence of this is highly unlikely, so Jake might find his career very limited no matter his artistic promise.
