One of the producers of Spinning Gold, the biopic of Casablanca Records founder Neil Bogart that opens Friday, said Wednesday the film is almost certain to be a box office dud – which might come as good news for some Canadians who worked on it.
Alex Habrich, CEO of Montreal-based SolidXperience Group, filed a multi-million-dollar lawsuit in 2020 against director Timothy Scott Bogart (the eldest son of the late Neil Bogart), alleging contractual fraud. A jury trial is scheduled to begin on Oct. 16 in Los Angeles Superior Court.
“Tim, in his mind, he thinks this is going to a wonderful success, it’s going to be like Rocketman … he’s going to make hundreds of millions of dollars and he’ll just pay me off,” Habrich told iHeartRadio.ca. "Reality is, he’ll be lucky if he gets $5 million out of this film.”
Director Timothy Scott Bogart at the Spinning Gold premiere. Albert L. Ortega / Getty Images
On Wednesday, Village People founding member Victor Willis said Spinning Gold “should never have seen the light of day.”
Willis, the “cop” in the disco group, said in a statement on Facebook: “No, Village People are not featured in that movie because [director] Tim Bogart could not afford to pay the required licensing fees associated with use of Village People music and image.
“So, he somewhat went around it by inserting an unauthorized scene with people dressed as Village People doing the ‘YMCA’ dance. And we are not cool with that at all.”
Despite being Casablanca Records' most successful act, the Village People are only mentioned in a 20-second scene.
Bogart did not respond to a request for comment about Willis' statement.
MORE:
Spinning Gold Celebrates Casablanca Records Founder Neil Bogart
Willis said Spinning Gold was “stitched together” by Bogart and he blasted the movie’s “shameful and outright horrendous casting of Donna Summer and Gladys Knight.” (Summer is portrayed by Grammy-winning songwriter Tayla Parx and Knight is played by Grammy winner Ledisi.)
Spinning Gold was scheduled to be shot from July 15 to Sept. 20, 2019 in Montreal, where it could take advantage of a favourable exchange rate and taxpayer-funded production credits.
Habrich, a one-time mayoral hopeful in the town of Baie d’Urfé who describes himself on LinkedIn as “a serial entrepreneur,” had never produced a film but he and wife Susie are cinephiles. They figured renting their home to the makers of Spinning Gold for the filming of some party scenes would be a good way to see some movie magic first-hand.
One night, while the crew was on a dinner break at a nearby school, Habrich said he mentioned to Bogart that he’d consider being an investor in his next project. The following day, Habrich said Toronto-based producer Jessica Martins suggested he come onboard Spinning Gold. He agreed to meet her and Bogart at the since-shuttered luxury hotel, Le St-James in Old Montreal.
According to Habrich, he was told the movie had a budget of $22 million (all figures U.S.) and they had already secured $18.5 million in financing and tax credits. They asked him to invest $2 million and he agreed.
Habrich said the following day he was asked to send $1 million to SAG, the union representing American actors, so production could continue.
“They wouldn’t have been able to film unless SAG had been paid,” he claimed. Habrich said he transferred $700,000 to SAG and put the balance in a Quebec-registered company.
Habrich said he started to question how much financing Bogart actually had for his film when the director asked him for more money.
Timothy Scott Bogart, right, with Jeremy Jordan as Neil Bogart.
As depicted in the movie, Neil Bogart was infamous for spending money that he didn’t have in hopes there would be a payout.
“Tim is no different than his father was. He basically started a film, he didn’t have the money,” said Habrich, alleging that Bogart “misrepresented” the financing.
Habrich said production on Spinning Gold was shut down on Aug. 1.
Samuel L. Jackson, who was portraying George Clinton, and Neil Patrick Harris, who was playing KISS manager Bill Aucoin, are among the stars who left Montreal when the cash ran out. "There’s a whole bunch of footage that no one will ever see,” said Habrich. (Jackson was replaced by Wiz Khalifa and Harris was replaced by Michael Ian Black).
AQTIS 514 IATSE, the union representing technical crew, said that at one point producers owed workers about $600,000 in wages. In 2021, AQTIS executive director Sandrine Archambault told iHeartRadio.ca that the union’s beef with Spinning Gold “has been resolved to our satisfaction and all our members have received payments.”
Habrich said it was he who paid the $600,000 to AQTIS so the local workers were paid. “I said I will take care of that and I’ll figure this out with Tim.”
Habrich alleged that Bogart left Montreal and returned to California. “He skipped town owing local suppliers $2.8 million,” Habrich alleged. (He also claimed Bogart left behind a $40,000 hotel bill.)
Talent union ACTRA Montreal told iHeartRadio.ca, in a statement, that “payments owing from the production were late and, in some cases, not forthcoming. “After pursuing the payments, ACTRA was informed by a whistle blower that something was ‘not right.’ ACTRA took necessary actions.”
The union issued a “Do Not Work” order to its members, alleging that Spinning Gold LLC and the numbered Quebec company it was required to register were “unfair engagers for failure to meet payroll obligations.” ACTRA warned its members that working on the film could result in “disciplinary action.”
ACTRA Montreal said: “To this day, the Producer is not in full compliance with all of its payroll obligations.” (Habrich said when Bogart left Montreal, ACTRA was owed about $140,000.)
The union said actors who appear on screen have been paid in full but choreographers, dancers and background performers are still owed money.
ACTRA Montreal said it used the production’s deposit to pay a percentage of what its members were owed but said the union is “determined to recoup … the remaining amount owing to performers, the Insurance & Retirement contributions, Late Payment Penalties (still accruing) and other unpaid expenses … along with ACTRA’s administrative fees.”
Habrich said he and fellow Canadian producer Neil Dunn flew to Los Angeles after Spinning Gold production halted to meet with an entertainment lawyer and managed to strike a deal with Bogart allowing them to control the financing. He claimed in February 2020 they found someone willing to put up the cash.
But, Habrich claimed, “Tim didn’t like the fact that we ended up finding somebody … because he was losing control. If he brought the financing then he could continue spending money like a stupid man.”
Habrich stood firm. “We get the financing, I control how it gets spent. I’m a businessman. I know how to control money. We’ll make a good film but we’re not going to waste money.”
Habrich also secured a copyright mortgage – basically an insurance policy, or lien, on the rights to the film.
Meanwhile, in Montreal, Habrich was paying for storage of the Spinning Gold sets in shipping containers on his commercial property and several tractor trailers in the parking lot of Cinepool, the studio in Lasalle.
By the summer of 2020, there was talk that production of Spinning Gold would eventually resume in Ottawa. Habrich said Bogart offered to buy him out because he believed there was an infusion of cash coming from a cannabis entrepreneur in the national capital region. But the investment never happened.
Bogart told iHeartRadio.ca earlier this month that production didn't return to Canada due to pandemic-related border restrictions. About 120 Canadians are listed in the movie's end credits but the logos for ACTRA, the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit and the Quebec Film and Television Tax Credit do not appear.
Production of Spinning Gold was completed in New Jersey in 2021 and Habrich said it’s clear a lot of it was done on the cheap. “The portions that were filmed in Montreal … you can see the difference between the quality of what was shot here versus what was shot there,” he said.
In August 2020, Habrich said he foreclosed on the copyright mortgage and put the film up for auction. Bogart went to court and got an injunction barring any sale. “He sued me saying I can’t sell the film,” said Habrich, who countered with a lawsuit alleging contractual fraud.
“I am suing him for all of the money I invested plus my legal fees and everything else,” said Habrich, adding that he is seeking at least $4 million.
A jury trial is scheduled to start in Los Angeles Superior Court on Oct. 11 and Habrich said he believes his case is strong. “I’ve been in business a long time. I document everything,” he said.
“In the end, either I will get my money back or I will be very content to see Tim [and] Jessica in jail because in the U.S., fraud… that’s serious. You do jail time for that.” (None of the defendants in the civil case have been charged with a crime.)
Habrich doesn’t hold back when talking about Bogart.
“I don’t think Tim is evil. I just think he’s delusional [and] a narcissist,” he opined. “He’s a smaller, less orange version of Donald Trump.”
Contacted by iHeartRadio.ca, Bogart declined to answer a question about the legal battle. He also declined to answer when asked if he will work with ACTRA Montreal to resolve the payroll issues and ensure that everyone who worked on the film is paid in full.
“He stiffed Canadians,” said Habrich.