In the spring of 2009 I was contracted by Ettamogah Entertainment, an Animation Company based in Brighton, Vic (Australia) for Creative Consultant services.in this capacity, I would provided guidance and general direction for a 26 episode animated television series "Lil Larikkins", which at the time was in the early stages of development.
The first few months of the assignment went as well as can be expected for a fledgling series in development: There were the usual problems with creative and technical pipelines, starting with story, and working it's way through lighting and post-production. They were developing a technique for a "2D-3D" look and feel to the show, and it generally looked good. My only concerns these first few months were the budget: The look and feel of the show was generally close to "feature" quality - not what you'd usually get for the smaller production budgets associated with television shows. The owner of the company, one Leigh Obrien, assured me that his primary concern was quality, and that budget was not a concern. The other concern was staffing - we were missing key members of the team, and during this first few months, Leigh indicated he was "unhappy" with the budget the producer had given him, and was therefore considering demoting her.
At the 5 month mark things begin to fall apart. It was indicated to me by the story supervisor that we were falling behind on the script schedule. One reason indicated at that time was that this was because Ettamogah had not paid some of the contract writers. I didn't think much of it at the time, but the the Production Coordinator indicated to me that some of the production artists had not been paid. A few days later, it turned out the entire staff (almost 100 people) had not been paid in two weeks. Because of my importance to the production, I'd assumed I'd been paid... Big mistake, as it turns out.
Leigh Obrien, desperate to produce the show, but apparently not having any money, held a meeting in which he begged the employees to keep working, and that he would pay them "on Tuesday". This "Tuesday" turned out to be an elusive day... After another week, he would hold a meeting in which he laid everyone off, without pay.in an effort to avoid paying any employment termination fees, he termed the layout a "stand down" - this is an Australian labor term, which essentially means some disaster has struck the company - like, say, a meteor has fallen through the roof. His "disaster" was that he didn't have any money to pay. He swore this was not the case, that he did indeed have money, but that "the budget wasn't sorted"."The producer can't give me a damn budget that I can work with", he said. He also blamed the cause for the stand down on his IT crew, saying that the back-up capabilities of the show were inadequate... Justifying an "emergency".in fact, Leigh was given many what in most cases would be considered very workable, professional budgets, by competent producers. He just never agreed to how expensive the show was going to be (but at the same time kept asking for a more and more expensive look - go figure).
He "stood down" almost the entire staff, in two rounds. At the time I stood by his decision, giving him the benefit of the doubt. It would be a good time to work on writing some stronger shows, and tweaking the pipeline, I thought. But during this week, more news and more untoward actions poured forth from Mr. Obrien.
It turns out that Leigh had not paid the majority of his staff super-anum (?) (social security tax) for almost a year. This was a big labor no-no. Then, artists began contacting the union, and it seemed clear that Leigh's "stand down" was underhanded, at best, and possibly illegal. Leigh was unremorseful. He would call me into his office, point to his computer screen, where some poor employee, about to get kicked out of his flat, had written begging him for some portion of his pay. "He thinks he can make me feel guilty? He'll never step back in these doors!" he would quip. He took it as a personal offense that anyone felt they ought to be paid anything. One poor sap with three kids, one new born, took the bus in one day and cried in Leigh's office. Leigh bragged about how he wrote him a check for $200 (aussie) dollars.
Leigh had not only not paid his employees, but, as hinted at, writers, consultants - hell, he hadn't even paid the VOICE ACTORS! He was bitter and defensive when anyone asked for as much as a dime. His behavior and reaction to the situation was bizzare. He complained of one of his employees who'd taken out "salary insurance", as if it were some extravagant expenditure - but then admitted that he himself had it.in my opinion, Leigh was a man truly in turmoil, and behaving like an irrational child. It was as if he couldn't see that his most important assets were his artists, and that without them, at least in an animation studio, he had no show, no pipeline, no nothing. If anyone complained, he fire back that he'd never do business with them again (uh, whose loss is this?). He indicated he could hire any jack off the street to do the job, as if the animation industry was like the construction business.
I finally looked into my bank account, and, of course, had not been paid. Leigh owes me, at this point, almost $18,000. He also ripped off another consultant whom I'd recommended for the show for a similar amount.
I have written several letters asking for remittance for invoices, and have gotten nothing. I served him with a summons, to which he has not responded.
I have since talked to others who have had dealings with Ettamogah Entertainment and Leigh Obrien. Their assessment, and mine? Stay away, far away, from this company. I trusted the company, and Leigh Obrien, and for my trust, I was repaid by being ripped off.
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