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reel_trek [2019/01/22 03:49] – [Standing Up for Sargon] Carlos Pedrazareel_trek [2019/02/15 23:40] (current) – [OWC Timeline] adds update Carlos Pedraza
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 An increasing number of conservatives, alt-right figures and extreme free speech advocates are boycotting Patreon following its banning of Carl Benjamin, a combative right-winger whose handle is "Sargon of Akkad," named after the ancient Mesopotamian ruler. An increasing number of conservatives, alt-right figures and extreme free speech advocates are boycotting Patreon following its banning of Carl Benjamin, a combative right-winger whose handle is "Sargon of Akkad," named after the ancient Mesopotamian ruler.
  
-"Sargon" Benjamin had been earning more than $12,000 a month on Patreon when he was banned December 7, 2018, from the platform for “racist and homophobic slurs,” apparently referring to an interview in which  Benjamin used the "n word" and homophobic slurs to describe his foes on the extreme right.(([[https://www.thedailybeast.com/stars-of-intellectual-dark-web-scramble-to-save-their-cash-cows|"Stars of ‘Intellectual Dark Web’ Scramble to Save Their Cash Cows,"]] by Will Sommer, the Daily Beast, 12/18/18.))+"Sargon" Benjamin had been earning more than $12,000 a month on Patreon when he was banned December 7, 2018, from the platform for an interview in which  Benjamin used the "n word" and a homophobic slur to describe his foes on the extreme right.(([[https://www.thedailybeast.com/stars-of-intellectual-dark-web-scramble-to-save-their-cash-cows|"Stars of ‘Intellectual Dark Web’ Scramble to Save Their Cash Cows,"]] by Will Sommer, the Daily Beast, 12/18/18.))
  
 Peters, whose own avowed political views tend toward the left, spent a great deal of time on his ad hoc Reel Trek episode defending Benjamin's right to free speech. Peters said he sympathized with those who were refusing to support his Ares Studios effort, and he went on to criticize Patreon for banning "Sargon" for behavior that occurred off the platform. Peters, whose own avowed political views tend toward the left, spent a great deal of time on his ad hoc Reel Trek episode defending Benjamin's right to free speech. Peters said he sympathized with those who were refusing to support his Ares Studios effort, and he went on to criticize Patreon for banning "Sargon" for behavior that occurred off the platform.
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 ==== Dark Money ==== ==== Dark Money ====
  
-Peters tried to assuage his putative supporters' feelings by saying he would also launch a PayPal account they could use for recurring monthly payments to support Ares Studios.+Peters tried to assuage potential supporters' feelings by saying he would also launch a PayPal account they could use for recurring monthly payments to support Ares Studios.
  
 That alternative would create a revenue stream for Ares without any accountability. Peters ran similar operations for Axanar, with direct donations at conventions and via PayPal, as well as sales on his Donor Store, raising an undisclosed amount over and above the $1.2 million in crowdfunding. That money has never been accounted for. That alternative would create a revenue stream for Ares without any accountability. Peters ran similar operations for Axanar, with direct donations at conventions and via PayPal, as well as sales on his Donor Store, raising an undisclosed amount over and above the $1.2 million in crowdfunding. That money has never been accounted for.
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 Lawrenceville, Ga., warehouse real estate listings examined by **AxaMonitor** revealed the following: Lawrenceville, Ga., warehouse real estate listings examined by **AxaMonitor** revealed the following:
 <WRAP center 90%> <WRAP center 90%>
-  * Ares Studios' current space at 248 E. Crogan St., Suite 301 has already been advertised as available for lease. Its rent is listed at $4,250 a month.(([[https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/248-E-Crogan-St-Lawrenceville-GA/14203564/|LoopNet listing for 248 Crogan St., Ste. 302, Lawrencevill, GA 30046 (Industrial For Lease)]], retrieved 1/21/19.))+  * Ares Studios' current space at 248 E. Crogan St., Suite 301 has already been advertised as available for lease. Its rent is listed at $4,250 a month.(([[https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/248-E-Crogan-St-Lawrenceville-GA/14203564/|LoopNet listing for 248 Crogan St., Ste. 301, Lawrencevill, GA 30046 (Industrial For Lease)]], retrieved 1/21/19.))
   * Six smaller, newly built warehouse spaces are in fact available next door to Ares Studios. At about 3,000 square feet, each is about half the size of Peters' 6,000 square foot current space. The monthly rent ranges from $1,700-$2,000.(([[https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/248-E-Crogan-St-Lawrenceville-GA/12289914/|LoopNet listing for 248 E Crogan St, Lawrenceville, GA 30046 (Industrial For Lease)]], retrieved 1/21/19.))   * Six smaller, newly built warehouse spaces are in fact available next door to Ares Studios. At about 3,000 square feet, each is about half the size of Peters' 6,000 square foot current space. The monthly rent ranges from $1,700-$2,000.(([[https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/248-E-Crogan-St-Lawrenceville-GA/12289914/|LoopNet listing for 248 E Crogan St, Lawrenceville, GA 30046 (Industrial For Lease)]], retrieved 1/21/19.))
 </WRAP> </WRAP>
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 </WRAP> </WRAP>
  
-==== OWC Timeline ==== 
  
-Counting four months backwards from January means OWC had pulled out by the end of September 2018 
  
 ===== When OWC Walked Away ===== ===== When OWC Walked Away =====
  
 Peters has been vague about the circumstances under which tech company Other World Computing [[ares_patreon#owc_sponsorship|walked away]] from the sponsorship in which they had won naming rights to Peters' warehouse, implying the sponsorship was time-limited, though OWC gave no such indication when they announced the partnership in 2017.(([[https://blog.macsales.com/40978-owc-announces-sponsorship-of-film-production-company-studio|"OWC Announces Sponsorship of Film Production Company, Studio"]], MacSales.com Newsfeed, 5/11/17.)) Peters has been vague about the circumstances under which tech company Other World Computing [[ares_patreon#owc_sponsorship|walked away]] from the sponsorship in which they had won naming rights to Peters' warehouse, implying the sponsorship was time-limited, though OWC gave no such indication when they announced the partnership in 2017.(([[https://blog.macsales.com/40978-owc-announces-sponsorship-of-film-production-company-studio|"OWC Announces Sponsorship of Film Production Company, Studio"]], MacSales.com Newsfeed, 5/11/17.))
 +----
 +<WRAP>//**__«<fs smaller> OWC Digital is still sponsoring the studio that bears their name, and they’re still very happy with what we’re doing both now and going forward.</fs> »__**// <wrap indent>//— Axanar producer Alec Peters, a week before OWC stopped paying his rent//</wrap>
 +</WRAP>
  
 ==== Peters Paid Rent ==== ==== Peters Paid Rent ====
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 Counting four months backwards from January means OWC had pulled out by the end of September 2018, with Peters taking over rent payments in October. That coincided with when **AxaMonitor** first heard OWC may have pulled out. Counting four months backwards from January means OWC had pulled out by the end of September 2018, with Peters taking over rent payments in October. That coincided with when **AxaMonitor** first heard OWC may have pulled out.
  
-One of the last direct references Peters made to OWC's sponsorship was just a few months before in June 2018 in which he described the relationship in glowing terms with a bright future, pinning his hopes to a partnership with a local school district:+One of the last direct references Peters made to OWC's sponsorship turned out to be in late September 2018 — just about a week before Peters reportedly began paying rent himself — when he must've known OWC was ending its sponsorship. In an interview about Axacon, Peters described a healthy relationship with OWC.
  
-> I have been working on a program to open OWC Studios to high school students, and we had our first student film filmed at the studio! <wrap hi>This program is being expanded as we work with OWC studios to make the studio more robust and able to handle more professional productions. Our conference call with OWC last week went very well, and I am pretty excited</wrap> about what we can do here.  Stay tuned as we develop the studio into a laboratory for film students!(([[https://axanarproductions.com/captains-log-june-12th-2018/|Captain’s Log – June 12th, 2018, +=== 'Still Very Happy' ===
-by Alec Peters]], 6/12/18.))+
  
-About two months later, OWC was no longer paying Peters' rent.+**SEPTEMBER 2018** In an interview, published on Axanar surrogate Jonathan Lane's Fan Film Factor blog on September 24, 2018, Lane asked Peters, " So no one is giving any money to Axanar or OWC Studios at the moment … other than you, of course?" Peters' reply:
  
-As Peters has demonstrated several times before, he did not publicly share bad news for months (see "[[tony_todd|Tony Todd Leaves Axanar]]" and "[[hunt_resigns|Axanar Co-Writer Announces Departure]].") In this case, he continued to use the OWC Studios name for the warehouse in advertising his fan convention, [[axacon_schedule|Axacon]], in November 2018, when he had already been paying the rent himself for two months.+> No one is funding Axanar right now except me.  <wrap hi>OWC Digital is still sponsoring the studio that bears their name, and they’re still very happy with what we’re doing both now and going forward.</wrap>  And we’re certainly grateful for their support!(([[https://fanfilmfactor.com/2018/09/24/alec-peters-talks-about-axacon-the-latest-axanar-financials-and-the-bridge-set-interview-part-1/|"Alec Peters talks about Axacon, the latest Axanar financials, and the bridge set! (interview, part 1)]]j" Fan Film Factor, 9/24/18.))
  
-For those who have followed the Axanar saga, the circumstances sounded familiar.+Three months earlier, in June 2018, Peters had also described the relationship in glowing terms with a bright future,  at that point pinning his hopes to a partnership with a local school district:
  
 +> I have been working on a program to open OWC Studios to high school students, and we had our first student film filmed at the studio! <wrap hi>This program is being expanded as we work with OWC studios to make the studio more robust and able to handle more professional productions. Our conference call with OWC last week went very well, and I am pretty excited</wrap> about what we can do here.  Stay tuned as we develop the studio into a laboratory for film students!(([[https://axanarproductions.com/captains-log-june-12th-2018/|Captain’s Log – June 12th, 2018, by Alec Peters]], 6/12/18.))
 +
 +<WRAP right round important 320px>
 +<fs smaller><wrap em>UPDATE</wrap> [[owc_contradictions|Contradictory Details Emerge in OWC Sponsorship]].</fs>
 +</WRAP>
 +
 +
 +**OCTOBER 2018** About two months later, OWC was no longer paying Peters' rent.
 +
 +==== Staying Mum ====
 +
 +As Peters has demonstrated several times before, he refrains for months from publicly sharing with supporters any  bad news (see "[[tony_todd|Tony Todd Leaves Axanar]]" and "[[hunt_resigns|Axanar Co-Writer Announces Departure]].") In this case, he continued to use the OWC Studios name for the warehouse in advertising his fan convention, [[axacon_schedule|Axacon]], in November 2018, when he had already been paying the rent himself for two months.
 +
 +For those who have followed the Axanar saga, the circumstances sounded familiar.
 ===== Patreon Mirrors Failed 2017 Effort ===== ===== Patreon Mirrors Failed 2017 Effort =====
  
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 ===== Effect on Axanar Shorts ===== ===== Effect on Axanar Shorts =====
  
-Unaddressed by Peters was the impact the prospect of losing or moving his studio might have on his always-slipping production schedule for the two //Axanar// short films for which donors have been waiting for nearly two years. He had recently said he was aiming for a spring 2019 shoot. {{page>footer}} {{tag>studio Georgia Patreon Axanar crowdfunding}}+Unaddressed by Peters was the impact the prospect of losing or moving his studio might have on his always-slipping production schedule for the two //Axanar// short films for which donors have been waiting for nearly two years. He had recently said he was aiming for a spring 2019 shoot. {{:axamonitor-ico.gif?nolink|}} 
 + 
 +<WRAP tip 75%> 
 +<wrap em>COMMENTS</wrap> \\ 
 +Discuss this article in [[face>groups/axamonitor/permalink/564047824110069/|AxaMonitor's Facebook group]]. 
 +</WRAP> 
 +---- 
 +**Keywords** {{tag>studio Georgia Patreon Axanar crowdfunding}}