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National Board of Review Chief’s Family Business Paid U.S. $24.6 Mil in Fraud Case

Roger Friedman
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National Board of Review Chief’s Family Business Paid U.S. $24.6 Mil in Fraud Case

Annie Schulhof isn’t just busy dictating who wins awards from the National Board of Review this week. Her family company, Quadriga Art, was ordered to pay the US government $24.6 million in the settlement of a major fraud case that went on for years and concluded this summer. The case against Quadriga was cracked open on CNN’s AC360 by reporter Drew Griffin. The original video from 2011 is here:

Annie’s husband, Tom, who negotiated the Quadriga contracts and was chairman of the board of directors, was forced to resign as part of the deal.
The government won the case because Quadriga, a direct mail operation, had been bilking a new veterans organization for millions since 2007. The charity, called Disabled Veterans National Foundation, hired Quadriga to solicit donations. Quadriga was very successful.

Annie+SchulhofBut then DVNF turned around and paid most of the money that came in back to Quadriga. For example, on its most recent Form 990, DVNF said it spent over $17 million of $27 million in expenses on direct mail campaigns. Only $48,000 in cash went to two organizations that help vets.
In the filing from the Attorney General of New York, Quadriga and its offshoots is cited for raising $115 million total for DVNF, and receiving 90% it back in fees.

Quadriga (and its many other entities) is owned by Annie and Tom Schulhof’s nephew, Mark. The parent company is called RBS Direct Marketing. Among their other victims, besides veterans, is an animal rights group called SPCA. Here’s the AG report: http://www.ag.ny.gov/pdfs/DVNF-Quadriga-Convergence-AOD_14-145.PDF  It’s a doozy of a read. (Maybe this is why the NBR liked “American Hustle” and “Wolf of Wall Street” so much.) Meanwhile, Quadriga– which is now prevented from doing business with start up charities until 2019– has deleted its website. But RBS continues under various names (except of course Royal Bank of Scotland).

http://philanthropy.com/article/NY-Wins-25-Million-in/147445/

Look for NBR winners, as usual, to be heavy on Warner Bros., “American Sniper” and Clint Eastwood. No George Clooney movie this year. But they will figure out a way to get him there. They’re looking for big studio winners to purchase lots of tables at their phony-baloney dinner in January. Paramount and Fox are their other pigeons with fat wallets. I could see “Interstellar” doing very well with Schulhof, also because it’s half-Warner Bros.

Want to know more? Here’s a fun flashback to 2005:

As the movie biz breathlessly awaits annual awards next Tuesday from the fan-based National Board of Review, here is a startling new scandal to go with the old one.

As I told you last month, a group of NBR board members who’ve been “fired” have asked the New York State Attorney General’s office to investigate malfeasance in the organization.

Here’s an update: You may recall a few weeks ago I reported that the board of directors of the NBR now included Berkeley, Calif., psycho (and sex) therapist Daniel Goldstine.

You’ll be pleased to know that Dr. Goldstine, whose connection to the movie business is being on the board of the Pacific Film Archive, also has a conflict of interest. His son is Josh Goldstine, head of creative marketing for Sony Pictures.

He is not, we may conclude, a disinterested party in who gets the NBR’s top awards. The Goldstines are said to be close friends of the current NBR president, Annie Schulhof and her husband, Tom, brother of former Sony chairman Mickey Schulhof.

This would account for last year’s civil war among the NBR leaders over giving the top movie of the year to Miramax’s “Finding Neverland” or Sony/Columbia’s “Closer.” The former won. The latter had to settle for Best Ensemble Acting, an award that other groups like the Screen Actors Guild gave to “Sideways.”

“The larger group wanted ‘Finding Neverland’,” my source says. “But Annie pushed hard for ‘Closer’. It was a fight.”

Closer, directed by Mike Nichols, while having many fine characteristics, was not even nominated for an Academy Award in the long run. “Finding Neverland” was nominated in several categories.

The NBR has been never been a totally “clean” organization. “It’s believability has always been questioned,” says a former member. But Schulhof has turned out to be its most controversial and polarizing leader, appointing friends to the board, giving her veterinarian free ads in the group’s annual fundraising book and turning the place into one of even more secrecy and clique-ishness.

I doubt, for example, that the general public realizes only 12 people select all the winners of the NBR awards. Schulhof, according to sources, runs the elite, Skull and Bones-like Exceptional Photoplay Committee with an iron fist, making sure it’s stocked with her cronies like Inez Glucksman and Keith Edwards.

Though the NBR attends hundreds of screenings, dines with stars and directors, has personal Q&A sessions with them, in the end, I am told, it’s Schulhof and her Gang of 12 who make the final decisions.

All this should be interesting, since Sony/Columbia’s “Memoirs of a Geisha” — a certain Oscar nominee and potential box office hit — has become a hot potato with the NBR. “The group didn’t like it so much,” says one insider, “but Annie will fight for it since it’s Columbia.”

Sony is also represented in this year’s Oscar race by “Capote,” a Sony Pictures Classics release thanks to the merger with MGM/United Artists.

Sony, however, is not Schulhof’s only favorite studio. Warner Bros. is very dear to her, I am told, thanks to a close friendship with longtime Warner exec, Dan Fellman. Warner’s big Oscar movie this year is the well-reviewed “Syriana,” starring George Clooney.

“Annie told several people that ‘Syriana’ was going to get something before it was even shown,” a source tells me. “She said if nothing else, it would win the Freedom of Expression award.”

Last year, Warner’s was an NBR favorite with Clint Eastwood’s “Million Dollar Baby” and Martin Scorsese’s “The Aviator” receiving many citations. Eastwood has also been an NBR favorite in the couple of years.

Even though the Fellmans and Schulhofs are indeed close personal friends, it’s unlikely that Dan Fellman would have made any overt suggestion to Schulhof about getting awards.

But Annie Schulhof may be doing favors on her own without being asked for her friends in the movie business. She’s recently started a production company, Pipedream Films, and has hopes, I am told by sources, of becoming a “player” in the business.

Meantime, I have cleared up one NBR mystery. I’ve reported in the past that inexplicably the not-for-profit group says it spends over $100,000 on “screenings” even though the studios treat them to the screenings. The NBR nevertheless lists the expense that way on their federal tax filing. But Leon Friedman, the group’s attorney, told me yesterday that in fact the $100,000 is for salaries for three NBR employees. Why not list it that way?

“In the past, those people were freelance,” says Friedman. “Now they’re paid and the next tax filing will reflect that.”

But there are clear lines on the Form 990 tax form for salaries and wages even if the people employed are freelance. Less generous types might think the NBR has lied to the Internal Revenue Service for the last several years.

More news: the next tax filing will also reveal that the new group’s newest staff director is getting at least $75,000 a year to screen movies and keep the peace between the 160 or so members and the 12-member Photoplay Committee that actually runs things.

The NBR, by the way, charges $500 a ticket to members and $1,000 a ticket to non-members to attend its annual gala at New York City’s Tavern on the Green. Sources tell me the actual cost per person is around $150 “at the most.”

In 2003, the NBR gave a minuscule $17,000 in grants to filmmakers according to their most recent available filing.

Bill Cosby: Hundreds of This Saturday’s Ticket Holders Have Applied for Refunds

Roger Friedman
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Bill Cosby: Hundreds of This Saturday’s Ticket Holders Have Applied for Refunds

Bill Cosby is sinking, and without a word. More than two thirds of the people who bought tickets for his shows this Saturday have asked for refunds. The two shows are at the Tarrytown Music Hall in Westchester, New York. The Hall seats 843 people at capacity. Before the rape and drug scandal, the tickets were sold out. But theater management offered refunds to anyone who wanted to cancel their tickets. For the 4pm show, 329 people have canceled so far. For the 7pm, it’s 359.

Cosby will face a lot of empty seats in Tarrytown. But so far he’s said nothing in his own defense. On top of that, he resigned Monday from the Board of Trustees of Temple University. Last week, UMass Amherst severed ties with him. Cosby has always been about education, and a revered figure among teachers and educators. These two episodes are earth-shaking.

The Tarrytown situation is on going. By Friday, the theater may be really empty. We’ll stay on top of it….

 

 

 

Edward Snowden Is Going to the Oscars: CitizenFour Wins Second Award of the Day

Roger Friedman
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Edward Snowden Is Going to the Oscars: CitizenFour Wins Second Award of the Day

“CitizenFour” just won the Gotham Award for best documentary, just hours after winning the New York Film Critics Award.  Michael Keaton won for Best Actor in “Birdman.” Other categories are being announced.

The doc about Edward Snowden by Laura Poitras has made $1.5 million at the box office. Now it’s sweeping awards season. Maybe Snowden will be persuaded to leave Moscow and appear at the Oscars.

List of winners to follow.

Best Feature– “Birdman”

Best Actor–Michael Keaton

Best Actress– Julianne Moore

Audience Award– “Boyhood”

Brooke Astor’s Criminal Son Anthony Marshall Dead at 90, No Mention of Estate Looting

Roger Friedman
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Brooke Astor’s Criminal Son Anthony Marshall Dead at 90, No Mention of Estate Looting
Charlene Marshall put a paid obit in the NY Times this morning for her husband Tony Marshall, son of Brooke Astor. No mention of his conviction and jail sentence for looting his mother’s estate. I like the part about Charlene’s son, Robert, Marshall’s stepson, “with whom he formed an everlasting bond.” Really.Also no mention of Marshall’s sons Philip and Alec, who testified against him. Here it is in its entirety:
MARSHALL–Ambassador Anthony Dryden. A very great man has died today. Patterning his life after his beloved grandfather, General John H. Russell, 16th Commandant of the Marine Corps, Tony was first and always a Marine. Tony loved animals as much as people and was a talented wildlife photographer working for both for National Geographic magazine and World Books Encyclopedia in the 1950’s and 1960’s, an early conservationist, author of seven books and a highly respected three- time United States Ambassador. Tony very much loved his three stepchildren, Arden, Inness and Robert and three step-grandchildren James, Lyon and Weston who showered him with love, affection and respect particularly his stepson Robert with whom he formed an everlasting and most loving bond. During the course of his life, he helped countless young people get their own start in life by introducing them to those who could provide internships or jobs or sometimes he would write a check to tide one over until they could make it on their own. And then he relished in their success. Tony served his country all his life beginning as a young Marine leading his platoon onto Blue Beach on Iwo Jima earning him a Purple Heart, followed by a job as a decoder at the State Department, Consulate General to Turkey stationed in Istanbul, then 40+ years with the CIA and the U.S. Ambassador to Madagascar, the Seychelles, Trinidad and Tobago, and Kenya where he was beloved by President Kenyatta. Until his death, he remained a member of the prestigious Racquet & Tennis Club, The Brook, The Explorers’ Club and was Founding Chairman of the Marine Corps University Foundation as well as a recipient of the General John H. Russell Leadership Award. Tony had the tenderest of hearts, a brilliant mind and an outrageous sense of humor. It was my honor to love and be loved so tenderly by Tony for more than 25 years. Semper Fi my Tonyness,Your beloved Charlene

NY Film Critics: Boyhood Wins Best Picture, Director Linklater, Marion Cotillard, Patricia Arquette, Tim Spall, “Citizen Four” Snowden Movie, Wins for JK Simmons in “Whiplash,” “Lego Movie” and “Ida”

Roger Friedman
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NY Film Critics: Boyhood Wins Best Picture, Director Linklater, Marion Cotillard, Patricia Arquette, Tim Spall, “Citizen Four” Snowden Movie, Wins for JK Simmons in “Whiplash,” “Lego Movie” and “Ida”

The New York Film Critics Circle is voting right now for 2014 awards. So far Best Animation goes to “Lego Movie.” Foreign Film is “Ida.” Keep refreshing….this is an actual award, not the National Board of, er, Fans...Annie Schulhof’s politburo…

“Citizen Four ” about Edward Snowden has won Best Non Fiction Film. The doc by Laura Poitras has made $1.5 million at the box office so far. It’s from Radius-Weinstein company, as is another potential Oscar nominee, “Keep on Keepin’ On.”

BEST PICTURE-– “Boyhood”

BEST DIRECTOR-– RICHARD LINKLATER “BOYHOOD”

Best Actress-– Surprise! Marion Cotillard for “Two Days, One Night” and “The Immigrant’

Best Actor-– Timothy Spall as “Mr. Turner.” All that grunting paid off! Congrats!

Best Supporting Actor– is JK Simmons in “Whiplash.” Lovely choice! Well deserved!

Best Supporting Actress-– Patricia Arquette for “Boyhood.” She’s a slam dunk for the Oscar, kids.

Best Screenplay— Wes Anderson, the very charming “Grand Budapest Hotel.”

Best Cinematography: Darius Khondji for “The Immigrant” but also for “Magic in the Moonlight.”

Best First Feature— Jennifer Kent, “The Babadook”

Since we have to wait 10 minutes between votes, here’s a musical treat:

First Look: Angelina Jolie’s “Unbroken” Joins the Oscar Race Big Time

Roger Friedman
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First Look: Angelina Jolie’s “Unbroken” Joins the Oscar Race Big Time

Angelina Jolie’s second feature film as a director is a success. Unbroken, the story of real life Olympic hero and World War II star Louie Zamperini, isn’t perfect. But it’s a huge accomplishment that will attract a huge audience and lots of nominations. Main actor Jack O’Connell becomes an overnight sensation. There will also be lots of love for costars Domhall Gleason, Finn Wittrock, and Garrett Hedlund. Roger Deakins, as usual, shows he’s a master of cinematography.

Four major screenwriters wrestled this difficult story to the ground.  Sometimes their disparate voices show up  to different effect in the film’s at times uneven pace. Bu the whole thing works in the end.  There may be a bit of a hard sell on some points. This is a war movie, not Chariots of Fire.  There are some rough torture scenes of the US soldiers at the hands of their Japanese captors. But the edit I saw handled them pretty well.

Squeamish audience members will only have to look away a couple of times.  Those scenes are outweighed by some amazing aerial sequences, and Jolie’s extremely sure handling of Zamperini and fellow soldiers during their Olympic near death drift in a lifeboat on the Pacific Ocean.

One last word for now: some fans of the book worried that Zamperini’s religious beliefs would be diluted. They are not. Faith in god is clearly what got him through his ordeal.

Creed Singer Scott Stapp Snap: Drugs, Alcohol, Fractured Head, Suicide Attempt, Bad Songs

Roger Friedman
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Creed Singer Scott Stapp Snap: Drugs, Alcohol, Fractured Head, Suicide Attempt, Bad Songs

Once there was a time when an interminable record called “With Arms Wide Open” was on the radio day and night. Creed was the group, Scott Stapp was the singer. They had some more minor hits and faded away. Now Stapp is in the news again. He’s declared himself homeless and penniless despite having just finished a small solo tour. His wife put him in a psychiatric hold even though she’s apparently divorcing him.

Stapp– who reportedly has major drug and alcohol issues– tried to commit suicide in 2013 by throwing himself off a building. He fractured his skull. He wrote a book about the suicide attempt and being a Christian rock star. Then he made a video called “Slow Suicide”–name of a song, really — and re-enacted his hospital adventure.

Now Stapp is issuing bizarre videos on YouTube. He seems paranoid, although this is rock and roll– he’s probably owed a ton of money from someone. We do learn that Stapp’s son is named Jagger. But this shows no understanding of Mick Jagger, really. The biggest rock star in the world cuts bait and moves on. There’s none of this hand-wringing. Stapp’s next move would be to date Amanda Bynes (Just kidding!)

Here’s the hit. Creed will not be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, obviously.

Good Manners Matter: Judith Martin and Letitia Baldrige Have a Successor

Roger Friedman
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Good Manners Matter: Judith Martin and Letitia Baldrige Have a Successor

My old friend Norah Lawlor writes in a new book: “Why do manner matter? … In an era where a message placed online can be transmitted world-wide and where modern cities are cultural melting pots comprised of people from many different nationalities, all with their own customs, the opportunity for making social errors is multiplied many fold…Good individual etiquette has a role at the larger level of society—if we were to all practice good manners, would not the world simply be a nicer place?”

Norah’s foreword is to a book called “Manners That Matter Most: The Easy Guide to Etiquette at Home and in the World” (Hatherleigh Press). It’s by June Eding, who asked Norah, a prominent New York publicist, to write an introduction. She was the perfect choice. Norah comes from an old world family in Canada, “properly raised,” as my grandmother would say. Norah and her lovely sisters are all successes in the Lower 48, but with a price. I’ve often seen them gap mouthed, slack jawed or wide eyed at some of the coarse things that go on here. We ignore them, being New Yorkers or Los Angelenos, because we’ve seen everything. But not everyone does.

Norah concludes: Good manners are in short supply today, not necessarily because people are less courteous, but because sources of guidance that are relevant to modern lifestyles and language are harder to come by.” June Eding picks up where my late friend Letitia Baldrige, Judith Martin (Miss Manners), and Dorothea Johnson leave off. Before we head into the full on holiday season, “Manners That Matter Most” seems like more urgent reading than “Mockingjay Part 2” or “Twilight: the Return of the Vampires.” Even the latter need to know where to put a napkin!

Tom Cruise’s Scientology Leader: “We are Everywhere and Everyone…We are the rock and fortress of humanity”

Roger Friedman
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Tom Cruise’s Scientology Leader: “We are Everywhere and Everyone…We are the rock and fortress of humanity”

You can’t make this up. Former Scientologist turned critic Mike Rinder posted this speech on his website earlier. It’s Scientology chief David Miscavige’s speech at the closing of the recent 30th anniversary cult gala in the UK. Your friends Tom Cruise and John Travolta were in attendance.

Miscavige, whom Cruise reveres, told the audience “We are everywhere and everyone.” In italics. He also said “You are witnessing a space time continuum where clocks stand still, and production hits levels that are are almost supernatural.”

I’m disappointed to hear that it’s just ‘almost.’ I feel let down by this information.

Miscavige adds: “We are the rock and fortress of humanity.”

Did you know– this is true– the name of the mental hospital on “General Hospital” is the Miscavige Clinic? It’s not a coincidence.

cob-30th-ias-closing-remarks

Rupert Murdoch Defends Moses Movie Casting: “Since When Are Egyptians Not White?”

Roger Friedman
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Rupert Murdoch Defends Moses Movie Casting: “Since When Are Egyptians Not White?”

Rupert Murdoch took to Twitter tonight to defend 20th Century Fox’s new movie “Exodus” that casts Christian Bale as Moses, and a variety of white actors as Egyptians. There’s been scuffle on Twitter ever since Murdoch made his observations. And a lot of this stems from a quote director Ridley Scott gave Variety about why he didn’t use Egyptian or Arab actors for the film. He said: “I can’t mount a film of this budget, where I have to rely on tax rebates in Spain, and say that my lead actor is Mohammad so-and-so from such-and-such,” Scott says. “I’m just not going to get it financed. So the question doesn’t even come up.”
The other main characters are played by Joel Edgerton, Sigourney Weaver, John Turturro, and Aaron Paul. It’s a little odd that, according to the imdb, black actors only seem to be playing “lower class civilians and a thief. But this is Hollywood. And this from the same company that released “12 Years a Slave.”

Now here are Murdoch’s comments:

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