EXCLUSIVE The last time anyone heard about movie producer Daniel Adams he was on his way to prison. In 2012 he became the first producer ever to be convicted for tax credit fraud following the making of a little known project called “The Lightkeeper.” He served time at three different Massachusetts prisons, including Walpole/Cedar Junction, before securing release.
Now Adams’ name has resurfaced. Last week a new movie he’s producing in Georgia called “In an LA Minute” shut down in a Savannah second, two weeks into production. Adams was not only producing, he was directing too. The large cast included Kiersey Clemons (from the upcoming “The Flash”), Gabriel Byrne, Ned Bellamy, and Bob Balaban, all of whom were seen exiting Savannah with hopes of one day being paid for their work. (Mariel Hemingway was supposed to be in the movie, but a source says “She was too expensive.”)
The Savannah Film Commission office confirmed for me that the movie is shuttered. All queries are being routed to co producer Don Hauer in Los Angeles. If he turns up, I’ll update the story.
A source said, “They just came in while we were shooting and said we couldn’t meet payroll.”
It’s certainly a twist in Adams’ story. In May 2016, he and Nashville music producer Michael Flanders announced in Variety that they had a $50 million fund called Spiderworxx Media. “We are fully financing all of our films and are now actively making offers to actors for ‘An L.A. Minute’ and are looking forward to creating a full slate of films,” Flanders told Variety. No one questioned his statement.
Adams pleaded guilty in 2012 to ten counts of embezzlement- related charges and the tax credit fraud after five years of running what amounted to a Ponzi-type scheme. In 2014, when he was finally out of jail, he still had over $4 million in fines to pay to the state of Massachusetts as well as miscellaneous debts. It doesn’t sound like “In an LA Minute” will be resuming, which means new debts and accusations will be Adams in a New York minute.
UPDATE A source on the film says complaints by two crew members got the production shut down because they were told they wouldn’t be paid until next week. “It will get straightened out and everyone will be back,” the source says.
More to come…
