by the fans for the fans

Are we absolutely sure they're not doing the same thing with robotech.
Sell movie rights to WB, make lots of money to the point it's not profitable for the movie studio to make.
Sell movie rights to Sony, make lots of money to the point it's not profitable for the movie studio to make.
Sell movie rights to- rinse, wash, repeat.
Are there anymore bridges left to burn, does anyone know?
It makes no sense to make things worse for yourself before you even start something.

I'm sure these companies have the money necessary to produce this movie but whether it gets made or not didn't hg still get paid?
It seems to me the only thing hg has done in this movie deal is to sell a rather limited commodity for a pricey sum to yet another customer, much like they have done with all their expensive limited production items sold to their regular customers. When/if Sony passes on the movie anyone who is left that is still interested will still end up paying hg for the rights whether they make a movie or not. And if it does get made hg gets paid again, then they'll take credit for as much success as they can or they'll blame the movie studio and anyone else they can pin for the failure acting like they themselves really didn't have a hand in it at all.

You can give hg another 30+ years but nothing good will ever come of it.

City of Fright wrote: Are we absolutely sure they're not doing the same thing with robotech.
Sell movie rights to WB, make lots of money to the point it's not profitable for the movie studio to make.
Sell movie rights to Sony, make lots of money to the point it's not profitable for the movie studio to make.
Sell movie rights to- rinse, wash, repeat.
Are there anymore bridges left to burn, does anyone know?
It makes no sense to make things worse for yourself before you even start something.

I'm sure these companies have the money necessary to produce this movie but whether it gets made or not didn't hg still get paid?
It seems to me the only thing hg has done in this movie deal is to sell a rather limited commodity for a pricey sum to yet another customer, much like they have done with all their expensive limited production items sold to their regular customers. When/if Sony passes on the movie anyone who is left that is still interested will still end up paying hg for the rights whether they make a movie or not. And if it does get made hg gets paid again, then they'll take credit for as much success as they can or they'll blame the movie studio and anyone else they can pin for the failure acting like they themselves really didn't have a hand in it at all.

You can give hg another 30+ years but nothing good will ever come of it.

I certainly don't doubt it now. Too bad for the fans that had any faith left in this series.

Alpha Bravo wrote:

LadyGrimes wrote:

Alpha Bravo wrote: Frank Agrama hasn't exactly been a model citizen.

I've heard bits and pieces but I don't know the whole story. Care to explain?

Quick Google search gave me these:

Further proof that the world of animation is not purely a candy-coated, kid-friendly wonderland: Harmony Gold USA founder Frank Agrama, who is best known for exec producing the dubs of Robotech, was sentenced to three years in prison by a Milanese court for tax fraud on Friday—along with four other individuals including scandal-prone former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who received a four-year sentence. All the defendants have also been ordered to pay 10 million euros (approx. $12.9 million USD) in damages. Out of 11 persons on trial, three were found not guilty and four were exempted due to the statute of limitations.

An announcement made Sunday clarified that due to a 2006 amnesty law which keeps convicted persons out of jail if their sentence is three years or less to prevent overcrowding in Italian prisons, Agrama will not serve jail time. The same law will see Berlusconi’s actual imprisonment limited to one year. However, Berlusconi is expected to appeal the decision which may push over the remaining time on the statute of limitations for the offenses.

As ANN summarizes, the case began in 2006 and had to do with numerous Paramount properties (not Robotech) which Agrama resold to Berlusconi’s media company, Fininvest, for broadcast in Italy. Prosecutors argued that Fininvest overpaid Agrama, who acted as middle man for the deals, for these rights to make Fininvest appear less profitable, while extra funds were transferred to an offshore slush fund account own by Berlusconi.

Tax-fraud conviction in Mediaset trial (1988-98)

The Mediaset trial was launched in April 2005, with indictment of 14 persons (including Silvio Berlusconi and Agrama) for having committed: (A) false accounting and embezzlement in order to mask payments of substantial "black funds", committed in 1988–94. ( tax fraud equal in total to more than €62 million (120bn lira), committed in 1988–98.

Both indictments were related to achievement of personal tax evasion, through illicit trade of movie rights between Mediaset and secret fictive foreign companies situated in tax haven nations, causing fictive losses for Mediaset, with the trade gains being accumulated by the foreign companies owned (in this case, Harmony Gold) by the indicted tax fraudsters, who ultimately had the gains paid out as personal profit without paying tax in Italy.

On 26 October 2012, Agrama was sentenced to three years of punishment by an Italian court for tax evasion. The charges were in relation to a scheme to purchase overseas film rights at inflated prices through offshore companies. The three-year term was never served in accord with a 2006 amnesty law intended to reduce prison overcrowding. Agrama and his co-defendants were also ordered to pay a 10 million euro fine.

Acquittal in Mediatrade trial

In October 2011, Paddy Chan Mei-yiu and Katherine Hsu May-chun, along with nine others (including Frank Agrama and Pier Silvio Berlusconi, son of Silvio Berlusconi), were indicted by Milan court and charged with buying rights for US television series and movies, then reselling them to broadcasting rights firm Mediatrade (a subsidiary of Mediaset) at inflated prices and laundering the money in a complex scheme. The four companies allegedly involved in this scheme were Wiltshire Trading, Harmony Gold, CS Secretaries and Loong Po Management.

According to prosecutors, Chan met Agrama in Cannes, France in the late 1970s at a trade fair and they decided to form a partnership to trade movie rights internationally. Chan set up a Hong Kong-based Harmony Gold Limited in 1979, records from the city's Companies Registry show. In the same year, Agrama set up Agrama Film Enterprises on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. Four years later, he set up Harmony Gold USA. He later also became the Los Angeles representative of another Hong Kong company established by Chan, Wiltshire Trading. Prosecutors estimated the illicit profits between 1988 and 1999 amounted to US$170 million. Earlier in 2005, Swiss investigators froze 150 million francs (HK$1.29 billion) at a UBS branch in Lugano belonging to Harmony Gold, Wiltshire Trading and other companies.

On July 24, 2014, Variety reported that some of the charges have been dropped due to expiring statute of limitations. An appeals hearing is set to take place January 20, 2016.

On March 18, 2016 Hollywood Reporter reported that at the January 20, 2016 appeal Frank Agrama was confirmed acquitted. Five other people, including Paddy Chan Mei-yiu and Katherine Hsu May-chun, were confirmed acquitted. Mediaset CEO Silvio Berlusconi and Chairman Fedele Confalonieri were sentenced and received the same 14-month sentence.

Surely there is also an underlying Italian Mafia connection somewhere too.

JFC now it all makes sense lol