medawar

rohrbacher wrote screenplay

Following up on yesterday's post about Joseph Medawar , the Hollywood scam artistproducer arrested for allegedly swindling over $5.5 million from churches and little old ladies for a Department of Homeland Security TV show said to be backed by the Bush administration --

* Here's the website for DHS: The Series. Flash with obnoxious sound.

* Here's the trailer: Link, and mirror link (12.8 MB QuickTime), full of stolen or stock but undeniably schlock footage. A synopsis:

VO: Bush's declaration on the morning of Sept. 12, 2001. "The deliberate and deadly attacks which were carried out yesterday against our country were more than acts of terror. They were acts of war."

Innocent American children frolic carelessly through ominous blue daisy fields.

Dirka-dirka terrorists!

Agents with furrowed brows peer into cellphones

Dirka-dirka terrorists!

DHS helicopters zoom, DHS SUVs vroom, DHS guns boom

* Medawar's business partner, actor/co-producer Alison Heruth-Waterbury appears in the trailer. She has not yet been charged in the case, but her acting is a crime.

* Nextel and a local Ford dealership are listed as sponsors. That explains all the freedom-fighting-gadget placements in the aforementioned trailer, but not the Chevy Suburbans.

* Here's the merch (Link to mirror). Surely the shoddy photoshoppery evidenced on the DHS-The-Series-branded "Aluminum Coffee Mug, "Class Coasters," and "Elegant Pen" raised an alert somewhere? Nobody honest uses bevel + emboss + drop shadow anymore. Also, try lugging Non-lethal Laser Pointer #11 through airport security.

* You can learn a lot about people by reading their source code. Behold, the opened kimono of www.dhstheseries.tv:

meta name="keywords" content="dhs, department of homeland security, action, spy, terrorist, group, guns, secret, weapon, attack, threat, threat colors, orange, blue, red, yellow, green, screen, drone, army, east, Iraq, producer, Joe medowar, steven blinn, stefan beese, mathew crouch, michel shane, chris bialek, metin berekli, police, cars! , fighter jet, machine gun, gashed, swat, prayer, Showtime, network, broadcast, harbor, TV, TV series, pilot, terror, agency, Cannes, mipcom, helicopter, chase, seal, president, terrorism, security, thriller, international, usa, Alison heruth waterbury, timothy patrick cavanaough, monitor, advisory system, explosion"

* Yesterday's LA Times story on DHS: The Scandal called Medawar and co's claims thatDHS: The Series was backed by high-ranking Bush administration staff "false." Funny, that's not what the press said six months ago. The "News" section onwww.dhstheseries.tv points to earlier press clips which present the administration support claims as fact.

E! Online News: Bush Backs New Terrorism TV Series by Jeffrey Jolson-Colburn, Feb 26, 2004.

US News and World Report: "Team Bush Lends a hand to a brand-new TV show." Link.

Boston Globe: Homeland Security Meets Home Theater. "The [E! Online report] raised eyebrows because the Bush-Cheney campaign intends to make the president's 'war on terrorism' a central prong in his reelection strategy. Pushing a pseudoreality show on that subject as the campaign enters its final stretch would be unprecedented." Feb. 28, 2004.

WaPo: "War President 'Loves' New TV Show."

Fact-checking, anyone? And finally, dhstheseries.tv features what appears to be a faked Hollywood Reporter cover from Feb. 2004: Link. The date shown is a Sunday. THR doesn't run on Sundays. Could also be a purchased ad thing; THR sells "cover layouts" to sponsors.

* Since Mr. Medawar and Steeple Entertainment are now under fed investigation,www.dhstheseries.tv may be yanked. If so, no worries: mirrors exist. (Thanks, PJ,Warren Ellis, and Colin Berry)

Previously on Boing Boing:

Hollywood producer bilked $5.5m for TV show claimed "backed by Bush"

UPDATE: My friend and ex-colleague Ben Fritz covered this for Variety, and unearths reports that Medawar pitched "DHS" to investors as "promoting Christian values."

Here is a reg-free Link for "Producer arrested over fake show: 'DHS' creator meets FBI, IRS." Ben adds,

"I think the Washington Postarticle is extremely skeptical. But as I noted in my Varietypiece, there's another media outlet that did get totally suckered: NPR's On The Media (ironically). Here's a link to the transcript:Link."

Snip from that "On The Media" transcript:

BROOKE GLADSTONE: To what extent is the White House and the Department of Homeland Security involved in the program?

JOSEPH MEDAWAR: We try to give on a every two week basis a complete package of what we're filming and what the story's about to the proper authorities that we are working with here in California at the governor's office, and they pass it on. And it continues to the right channels, and the person with us is Congressman Rohrbacher from our district.

ALISON HERUTH-WATERBURY: Rohrbacher is the one who has had contact with, a complete conversation with the president, and we know that he knows about it; we, we told him ourselves personally.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: The president.

ALISON HERUTH-WATERBURY: Yeah, we met with him for a photo op- and we briefly ran it by him with the little time that we had.

JOSEPH MEDAWAR:Before we saw the president, we had a very nice conversation with Karl Rove on where we are and how far we're going with it. When Mr. Tom Ridge came to Los Angeles to inspire the entertainment division of doing shows about the department, the head of our production had met with him; there was tremendous amount of enthusiasm and excitement, and I, I -- if I may add something, it was very funny. Our head of production turned to Mr. Ridge and said "Who would you like to see play your part? And Mr. Ridge kind of giggled, and he says 'Hold off two years. Maybe I'll come back and play it myself.'"

BROOKE GLADSTONE:So Tom Ridge himself went to Los Angeles to try and get the entertainment industry interested in producing programs that would bring the message of homeland security and the war on terror to the people.

JOSEPH MEDAWAR: Well, absolutely. They're assembling an office in Los Angeles for producers, writers, directors to be able to contact for authenticity and information -- to help filmmakers deliver a right message.

boing

Hollywood producer has been charged after allegedly taking $5.5m (£3.3m) from investors for a TV drama he said was backed by US President George Bush.

The US attorney’s office alleges Joseph Medawar, 43, collected money from investors for two years but spent the majority of it on himself. It said Mr Medawar had falsely claimed the White House had endorsed the proposed series, called DHS.

More than 70 investors, including churches, had invested money in the series on the basis that DHS - Department of Homeland Security - had been personally approved by Mr Bush…

Link, and here is the Los Angeles Times' take:

Link, and here is the Los Angeles Times' take:

Saying his drama had the blessing of President Bush and others in Washington, D.C., Joseph M. Medawar quickly found plenty of backers for the show – one that he promised would be followed by a reality-based series titled "Fighting Terrorism Together."

But on Friday, in an ending that might have been foretold by anyone with a healthy skepticism of the Hollywood pitch, Medawar was arrested by FBI and IRS agents on charges that he bilked at least 70 investors – many of them from local churches – out of more than $5.5 million. Virtually all of the money, according to authorities, went to a lavish lifestyle that included luxury cars, shopping sprees, fancy dinners and $40,000-a-month in rent for a Beverly Hills mansion.

(...) The plans, he said, called for shooting 26 episodes and distributing it in 137 overseas markets. Assured that government involvement would make the show a hit, investors were urged to buy stock in Medawar's production company before he took it public.

Mr. Medawar is listed on this website as a producer and co-chairman of Steeple Entertainment. His co-chairman has also been charged. (via Warren Ellis)

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

**Joseph Michel Medawar** (in Arabic جوزف مدوّر, born November 22, 1961 in Beirut, Lebanon) is a Lebanese American financial strategist and investment-banking counselor specializing in Media, Entertainment and related industries,^[1] and a film producer.

[hide]

Early life

Joseph Medawar was born in Beirut, Lebanon, into a Christian family. He immigrated to the United States in 1975 fleeing the war in Lebanon and settled with his family in Palos Verdes, California.

Business Development

Over the past 25 years, Medawar has been responsible for over $500 million in financial transactions. This consisted of acquisitions, mergers, newco's, co-production and production financing, theme parks and events, new film processes as well as biotech and medical industry financing and funding.^[1]

Real Estate

Mr. Medawar was also Co-chair for ADG in Los Angeles. ADG is responsible for one of the most exclusive residential development projects in the world, Beverly Park. Mr. Medawar also led the financial and investment initiatives for the new Travertine, LaQuinta Development for ADG near Palm Springs.^[1]

Motion Picture/Entertainment Career

Medawar launched his motion picture career producing the feature film Vendetta (1986) for Concord Entertainment. The same year, Medawar launched First American Film Capital, an independent film production company based in Culver City, California, which produced Hardbodies 2, Pretty Smart and Slaughterhouse Rock.^[2][3]

In 1989 Medawar formed the film development and production company ION Pictures. ION Pictures distributed the documentary Champions Forever and The Closer and produced Sleepwalkers (1992).^[4]

Legal problems

Medawar was arrested on September 23, 2005 by Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on charges arising from an investment scheme in which he claimed to investors that his company, Steeple Entertainment, was producing a television series based on the Department of Homeland Security. Complaints had been filed in U.S. District Court in the Central District of California, that Medawar told investors that his show, entitled DHS had the endorsement of President George W. Bush and the real Department of Homeland Security, and that he had contracts to distribute the show in 137 overseas markets. Medawar also told investors that Steeple Entertainment would go public in the near future at a per share price significantly higher than that being paid by investors. The complaints alleged that only a tiny fraction of investor funds were spent by Medawar on anything related to the film production of DHS. In addition, Medawar did not have the endorsement of President Bush or the real Department of Homeland Security. On the contrary, according to the official justice.gov website, Medawar had been told specifically by the actual Department of Homeland Security that he did not have permission to use their name or official seal; had no contracts with overseas markets; and was never in a position to go public.

The vast majority of investor funds raised, reportedly several million dollars from tens of investors, were allegedly diverted to other ventures of Medawar.^[5][6][7][8] Alison Ann Heruth-Waterbury, who claimed to be the lead in the television series pleaded guilty to charges of concealing an investment scam related to the show.^[9] In May 2006, Medawar pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and income tax evasion for the fake reality TV project.^[10] He was found guilty and sentenced to a year and a day in prison and ordered to pay $2.6 million in restitution to the defrauded investors and to perform 3,000 hours of community service. The jail sentence was later reduced to probation. In 2011, a judge reinstated a sentence of 45-months imprisonment for alleged violations on his probation.^[11]

In season 2 of its documentary series American Greed, CNBC broadcast in March 2008 an episode consecrated to the affair.^[12] under the title "Inside The WorldCom Scam / DHS: Department of Hollywood Scams".^[13]

Filmography

Production

1986: Vendetta (executive producer)
1986: Hardbodies 2 (assistant producer)
1987: Pretty Smart (executive producer)
1988: Slaughterhouse Rock (executive producer)
1989: Champions Forever (documentary) (producer)
1990: The Closer (producer)
1992: Sleepwalkers (executive producer)

Acting

1987: Pretty Smart as The Lebanese

References

Producer Joseph Medawar gets longer resentence in scam

Originally given a lenient term after bilking investors,

producer Joseph Medawar is resentenced to four years because of cheating on his community service

January 19, 2011|By Carol J. Williams, Los Angeles Times

A former Hollywood producer whose lenient sentence on a 2006 fraud conviction outraged his victims and led to reversal by a federal appeals court drew a fresh four-year sentence Tuesday for padding his community service hours to go to movies and the gym.

U.S. District Judge Manuel L. Real ordered Joseph Medawar to prison for 45 months for violating the probation to which he was sentenced after "scamming" friends and business colleagues out of millions of dollars with a bogus television show. Real also accused Medawar of deceiving his court, which had given him a break when originally sentencing him to only a year and a day in prison and later reducing it to probation.

FOR THE RECORD:

Medawar fraud case: An article in the Jan. 19 LATExtra section about the sentencing of former Hollywood producer Joseph Medawar for probation violations reported that the former chief financial officer of his Steeple Productions company, Jeffrey Rosenberg, was sentenced to 10 months in prison for lying to federal agents about fraud. The court later amended Rosenberg's sentence to five years' probation and 2,000 hours of community service. —

Real, whose erratic sentences have led to accusations of judicial misconduct and disciplinary procedures, had sentenced Medawar to a term far below federal guidelines for swindling about 70 investors with his purported reality series about the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The judge deviated from the recommended sentencing range of 57 to 71 months, without explanation. After a unanimous panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the sentence in March 2008, Real resentenced Medawar to just supervised probation.

Medawar, 48, also was ordered to pay $2.6 million in restitution to the defrauded investors and to perform 3,000 hours of community service. His attorney, Darryl Snider, told the court Tuesday that Medawar had repaid about $21,000 to his victims so far.

Federal authorities brought Medawar back to court for probation violations, including skipping out during the hours he was supposed to be cleaning up at Peck Park Community Center north of San Pedro. Assistant U.S. Atty. Jean-Claude Andre told Real that Medawar spent the time going to films, working out at a gym or putting in hours at his paid job in a family jewelry business.

Snider appealed to Real to give Medawar another chance to pay back his victims by letting him remain free and working. The onetime producer made a brief statement, apologizing to the court and saying he took responsibility for his actions.

Real ordered Medawar back to prison and said the 45-month term was not to be reduced by the 317 days served in pretrial custody and on his original sentence.

"Mr. Medawar was and is a scam performer," Real stated with a steely glare at the defendant. "He scammed people from whom he took money … and he scammed this court."

Medawar, dressed in a suit and tie, showed little emotion over his sentence and declined to comment as he left the courtroom. He was ordered to surrender to the U.S. Marshals Service by Feb. 14 to begin serving his term.

In May 2006, Medawar pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and income tax evasion for thefake reality TV project, having used investors' money on luxury cars, high-rolling dinners and shopping sprees and a $40,000-a-month Beverly Hills mansion for the show's purported lead actress, Alison Heruth-Waterbury.

Heruth-Waterbury, charged as a codefendant in the fraud, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years' probation. Jeffrey Rosenberg, former chief financial officer of Medawar's Steeple Productions company, was sentenced to 10 months in federal prison for lying to agents about the fraud.

carol.williams@latimes.com

lat 9 05

Hollywood producer has been charged after allegedly taking $5.5m (£3.3m) from investors for a TV drama he said was backed by US President George Bush.

The US attorney's office alleges Joseph Medawar, 43, collected money from investors for two years but spent the majority of it on himself.

It said Mr Medawar had falsely claimed the White House had endorsed the proposed series, called DHS.

Mr Medawar had previously produced several B-movies in the 1980s.

He has been charged with mail fraud, relating to documents given to the FBI, and obstruction of justice.

"The US government will not stand for individuals who use the name of the government to commit crimes and steal money from victims," assistant US attorney David Willingham said.

More than 70 investors, including churches, had invested money in the series on the basis that DHS - Department of Homeland Security - had been personally approved by Mr Bush.

Heavily-promoted

Former Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge was also said to have offered his support to the project.

Prosecutors allege the money was spent on cars, houses and expensive dinners for Mr Medawar and his associate, Alison Heruth-Waterbury, who was billed as the star of DHS.

Mr Medawar heavily promoted the series, giving interviews to newspapers and taking out adverts in Hollywood trade papers.

But prosecutors allege they found no information "to indicate (Medawar) actually took steps to produce a television series".

Ms Heruth-Waterbury, who is co-founder of Steeple Entertainment with Mr Medawar, has not been charged in the case. Investigations are ongoing.