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axacon_records [2018/10/23 18:00] – Carlos Pedrazaaxacon_records [2018/10/30 17:19] (current) – [No Access for Axanar Critics] added subhead Carlos Pedraza
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 Axacon attendees could "come over, look through any of the four six-inch thick binders of receipts and three binders of bank records and financial summaries," Peters said. "They can ask me questions, take notes, and hopefully they see how buttoned up we are. But the books stay here, and the tour only lasts for a few hours."(([[https://fanfilmfactor.com/2018/10/22/full-axanar-financials-to-be-displayed-to-attendees-during-axacon-interview-with-alec-peters/|"Full Axanar Financials to be Displayed to Attendees During Axacon: Interview with Alec Peters,"]] Fan Film Factor blog, 10/22/18.)) Axacon attendees could "come over, look through any of the four six-inch thick binders of receipts and three binders of bank records and financial summaries," Peters said. "They can ask me questions, take notes, and hopefully they see how buttoned up we are. But the books stay here, and the tour only lasts for a few hours."(([[https://fanfilmfactor.com/2018/10/22/full-axanar-financials-to-be-displayed-to-attendees-during-axacon-interview-with-alec-peters/|"Full Axanar Financials to be Displayed to Attendees During Axacon: Interview with Alec Peters,"]] Fan Film Factor blog, 10/22/18.))
 +----
 +<WRAP>
 +//**__ <wrap lo>«Let’s face it, you won’t be able to silence Axanar’s critics until you’ve released the two 15-minute segments. … You need to put your head down, plow through production and not release anything substantial until the first of the two parts are done and you can promise a delivery date on part two that you’ll meet without fail.»</wrap>__**// <wrap indent>//— Axanar PR Director Mike Bawden's Advice to Alec Peters//</wrap>
 +</WRAP>
  
-==== Not for Axanar Critics ====+==== No Access for Axanar Critics ====
  
-Axanar critics, however, would continue to be denied access to those records because, Peters said, they would only be "opening up the door to an endless point-by-point debate about minutiae."(([[https://fanfilmfactor.com/2018/10/22/full-axanar-financials-to-be-displayed-to-attendees-during-axacon-interview-with-alec-peters/|"Full Axanar Financials to be Displayed to Attendees During Axacon: Interview with Alec Peters,"]] Fan Film Factor blog, 10/22/18.))+Axanar critics, however, would continue to be denied access to those financial records because, Peters said, they would only be "opening up the door to an endless point-by-point debate about minutiae."(([[https://fanfilmfactor.com/2018/10/22/full-axanar-financials-to-be-displayed-to-attendees-during-axacon-interview-with-alec-peters/|"Full Axanar Financials to be Displayed to Attendees During Axacon: Interview with Alec Peters,"]] Fan Film Factor blog, 10/22/18.))
  
-[{{ :jonathan-lane-headshot.jpg?152|Fan Film Factor blogger and Axanar surrogate **Jonathan Lane**}}]+=== 'I Wanted to Release the Financials' ===
  
-Even when questioned by Lane about what anyone could learn from only two hours inspection of the records he chose to display, Peters defended his decision to limit access.+Peters claimed he had once "wanted to release the detailed financials as I thought it was so clear cut no one could have an issue with them." 
 + 
 +However, he said, it was Axanar's public relations director, Mike Bawden, who "felt strongly" that **AxaMonitor**'s [[annual_report|coverage]] and [[ambition_vs._achievement|criticism]] from "haters" would only result in "find[ing] things wrong, because facts weren’t what they were interested in." Peters added, "Their agenda dictated everything."(([[https://fanfilmfactor.com/2018/10/22/full-axanar-financials-to-be-displayed-to-attendees-during-axacon-interview-with-alec-peters/|"Full Axanar Financials to be Displayed to Attendees During Axacon: Interview with Alec Peters,"]] Fan Film Factor blog, 10/22/18.)) 
 + 
 +[{{ :mike-bawden.jpg?100&nolink|Axanar PR Director **Mike Bawden**}}] 
 + 
 +However, Bawden didn't remember his advice being framed quite that way, telling **AxaMonitor**: 
 + 
 +> That's an interesting take on my advice to Alec. Not entirely the tone I used, but the sentiment is, I suppose, true enough. Alec originally asked me for my opinion on having a panel discussion at Axacon on the financials. I told him I didn't think that was a good idea because: a) I wasn't sure a panel discussion about the financial records of a fan film production was particularly scintillating but would, instead, come off as defensive and b) I wasn't convinced there would be any new revelations that would either convince Axanar's detractors to change their opinion or make a case for those in support to be even more supportive.((Email from Mike Bawden to AxaMonitor editor Carlos Pedraza, 10/23/18.)) 
 + 
 +=== How to Silence Axanar Critics === 
 + 
 +In addition, Bawden's exact advice to Peters included his recommendation "on how to silence the #haters once and for all. It's advice I suspect you might actually agree with": ((Email from Mike Bawden to AxaMonitor editor Carlos Pedraza, 10/23/18.)) 
 + 
 +> There is no amount of validation that haters are likely to accept or believe, so if you want to do something like this … our accountant is likely to face unfair and harsh criticism from Axanar's detractors while supporters are likely to say, "We knew all this already." \\ \\ Let's face it, you won't be able to silence Axanar's critics until you've released the two 15-minute segments. I imagine you'll face … unfair scrutiny every step of the way. That's why you need to put your head down, plow through production and not release anything substantial until the first of the two parts are done and you can promise a delivery date on part two that you'll meet without fail.((Email from Mike Bawden to AxaMonitor editor Carlos Pedraza, 10/23/18.)) 
 + 
 +So far, every delivery date promised by Peters for //Axanar// has passed without delivering anything. 
 + 
 +[{{ :jonathan-lane-headshot.jpg?100|Fan Film Factor blogger and Axanar surrogate **Jonathan Lane**}}] 
 + 
 +=== A Two-Hour Tour === 
 + 
 +Meanwhile, when questioned by Lane about what anyone could learn from only two hours inspection of the records he had chose to display, Peters defended his decision to limit access.
  
 Lane asked: "The first thing [a detractor would] say is, “He’s still hiding something! No one can possibly look though all of those books in two hours!” Lane asked: "The first thing [a detractor would] say is, “He’s still hiding something! No one can possibly look though all of those books in two hours!”
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 > You go to a museum to look at the exhibits while you’re there.  But you don’t get to take them home with you.  You can buy a souvenir book or postcards or even take pictures of the exhibits sometimes, but they stay at the museum.(([[https://fanfilmfactor.com/2018/10/22/full-axanar-financials-to-be-displayed-to-attendees-during-axacon-interview-with-alec-peters/|"Full Axanar Financials to be Displayed to Attendees During Axacon: Interview with Alec Peters,"]] Fan Film Factor blog, 10/22/18.)) > You go to a museum to look at the exhibits while you’re there.  But you don’t get to take them home with you.  You can buy a souvenir book or postcards or even take pictures of the exhibits sometimes, but they stay at the museum.(([[https://fanfilmfactor.com/2018/10/22/full-axanar-financials-to-be-displayed-to-attendees-during-axacon-interview-with-alec-peters/|"Full Axanar Financials to be Displayed to Attendees During Axacon: Interview with Alec Peters,"]] Fan Film Factor blog, 10/22/18.))
- 
 ===== Straw Man Argument ===== ===== Straw Man Argument =====
  
-Throughout the Fan Film Factor interview, Peter used the same rhetorical device, answering one of Lane's questions but not another, and claiming his critics had accused him of things they hadn't, using access to the records to refute allegations never actually lodged against him by AxaMonitor or even the majority of his critics.+Throughout the Fan Film Factor interview, Peters used the same rhetorical device, answering one of Lane's questions but not another, and claiming his critics had accused him of things they hadn't, using access to the records to refute allegations never actually lodged against him by AxaMonitor or even the majority of his critics.
  
 Lane asked, "What if you left out those receipts that show you embezzling money from donors?  Where’s the receipt for those [[summary_fact_check|tires for your car]]?  Where’s your health insurance?  Where’s all that delicious sushi?" Lane asked, "What if you left out those receipts that show you embezzling money from donors?  Where’s the receipt for those [[summary_fact_check|tires for your car]]?  Where’s your health insurance?  Where’s all that delicious sushi?"
  
-Lane's question presupposed that Peters had been accused of embezzling money. None of **AxaMonitor**'s coverage has pointed to evidence of embezzlement; instead, its coverage questioned the [[studio-financials|lack of documentation]] produced by Peters to back up his claims, as well as Peters' [[financial_concerns|management decisions]]. AxaMonitor has only analyzed, at a high-level, how he had previously reported on [[annual_report|Axanar spending]].+Lane's question presupposed that Peters had been accused of embezzling money. None of **AxaMonitor**'s coverage has pointed to evidence of embezzlement; instead, its coverage questioned the [[studio-financials|lack of documentation]] produced by Peters to back up his claims, as well as Peters' [[financial_concerns|management decisions]]. AxaMonitor has only analyzed, at a high level, how he had previously reported on [[annual_report|Axanar spending]].
  
 In another instance, Lane asked, "Seriously, though … what if this is all just a smoke screen?  What if you took out all of the incriminating receipts and left in only the 'safe' ones?  What if you just forged all of the receipts in those books?" In another instance, Lane asked, "Seriously, though … what if this is all just a smoke screen?  What if you took out all of the incriminating receipts and left in only the 'safe' ones?  What if you just forged all of the receipts in those books?"
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 Peters also told Lane "lawyers, two sets of accountants, a panel of industry experts, and a number of donors have all seen the financials and approved of them." Peters also told Lane "lawyers, two sets of accountants, a panel of industry experts, and a number of donors have all seen the financials and approved of them."
  
-The lawyers, of course, were bound by confidentiality to disclose any information about the financials. Peters has never disclosed any conclusions reached by accountants who have examined the records, and none of those examinations was an audit. None of those have released public statements that "approved of" the financials.+The lawyers, of course, were bound by confidentiality not to disclose any information about the financials; they also served as Peters' paid advocates, not in any independent role. 
 + 
 +Peters has never disclosed any conclusions reached by accountants who have examined his records, and none of those examinations was an actual audit. No accountants have released public statements that "approved of" the financials.
  
-No donors have made public statements about Axanar's finances, except one, Cedric Yau, who served on the financial review panel. He told **AxaMonitor** that despite the voluminous amount of financial records they were provided, Peters did not charge the committee to review all of Axanar Productions' books, just the expenses he had attributed — [[exclude_evidence_opposition#second_set_of_financials|after the fact]], according to court documents — to the money directly raised by its [[axanar_kickstarter_details|Kickstarter]] and [[axanar_indiegogo_details|Indiegogo]] campaigns They were not, according to committee members, given records covering the totality of Axanar Productions Inc.'s finances.+No donors have made public statements about Axanar's finances, except one, Cedric Yau, who served on the financial review panel. He told **AxaMonitor** that despite the voluminous amount of financial records they were provided, Peters did not charge the committee to review all of Axanar Productions' books, just the expenses he had attributed — [[exclude_evidence_opposition#second_set_of_financials|after the fact]], according to court documents — to the money directly raised by its [[axanar_kickstarter_details|Kickstarter]] and [[axanar_indiegogo_details|Indiegogo]] campaigns. They were not, according to committee members, given records covering the totality of Axanar Productions Inc.'s finances.
  
 === Missing 'Independent' Review === === Missing 'Independent' Review ===