James Hergott posted this on Myspace and later removed it. Because he himself posted it publicly, I think that current and prospective IPEI stockholders have a right to read it:
Dear "Never Submit" Cast and Crew,
I would like to address several rumors and update you about what is
going on. As some of you may or may not know, I resigned from my
position as president of Imperia Entertainment, Inc. I did however
NOT resign from my position as writer/director of "Never Submit".
I did not feel that it would be necessary to address the details of my
resignation, but chairman for our company Ken Eade has been responding
to emails about this, and I saw an email posted on an investor website
which read as follows:
Posted by: JulieN
In reply to: None Date:3/17/2007 3:43:58 AM
Post #of 30562
EMAIL FROM KEN ABOUT JAMES!!!!!
Dear Julie, it is not unfcommon for an executive to forgo pay for the
benefit of the company. The reason he resigned was creative differences
with me over a casting decision. He is owed money from months and
months ago and our lawyer and accountant are settling accounts with him.
Sincerely yours,
Kenneth Eade
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
I would like to clarify my position on Ken's take on the situation.
The following are the chain of events and the reason for my
resignation:
-I have been owed a great deal of back compensation for months. I
asked Ken a number of times to catch me up on my back compensation.
There were various times that I was promised I would get certain
amounts of my back compensation and then the various deadlines would
come and no back compensation would materialize.
-I had my attorney look at my contract and he advised me that in my
position as president I was in a position of great risk legally
because Imperia is a publicly traded company. Many times I was
focusing on creative decisions for the company and since Ken is a
securities attorney, he was handling financial and securities issues.
My attorney recommended that with the amount of compensation
outstanding, and the risks associated with my position, I should
resign as president. I wanted to be loyal to the company and to the
shareholders so I held off on my resignation.
-On March 13th Ken informed me that his wife Agata would be given a
lead role in the "Never Submit" movie. I did not agree with the
casting but this is not what inspired me to be so concerned. What was
upsetting to me was that Ken told me several months ago that if Agata
were to be cast in the movie that it would be my choice as director.
-I felt very hurt and that in my mind I had been lied to. Compounding
the issue is that we are only four weeks away from filming. Ken never
gave me any warning about this or even asked. I felt betrayed and
hurt and became concerned about if I was being misinformed about other
things. I became skeptical of if I would ever see the money owed to
me.
-Based on my state of mind in that moment I informed Ken that I wanted
to be paid what was owed to me within a set number of days or I would
be resigning as president. Ken sent me a text saying that I must do
what I am told or be fired and that was followed with an "F--- You!"
-At that point I became paranoid about what was going on. I had
written and created "Never Submit". "Never Submit" has not even shot
one frame and already garnered more publicity than all of our projects
combined. I have been developing and working on it for more than a
year, bringing many strategic partners to the table as a result. I
became concerned about if Ken and others in the company were planning
to take something I was so passionate about away from me. It seemed
to me that several creative decisions were now being made without my
knowledge for this project. At that point I became fearful and
resigned effective immediately from my position as president.
I am a very passionate person. I am human and I was extremely hurt
by the way the situation was dealt with. I felt that I deserved more
respect than that.
I am embarrassed for many of the things I said as a result of this
situation but what I am far more embarrassed about is that last night
I almost gave up on this project. Something happened that I never
thought would happen. I lost my passion for this project. I promise
you that unless they can drag me kicking and screaming from this
project, that will never EVER happen again.
I am the writer AND the director of this project. I always have been
and I always will be. I don't care what happened or what anyone says,
I am here to stay. Not only that, I am going to make the absolute
best movie I possibly can for all of us. I may have resigned from my
position as president of Imperia, and I think that was for the best,
but I have not and will not be resigning from my position as director
of "Never Submit". I am its creator, it's heart and soul and the
reason it exists and I am ready to get back to work. No director
knows MMA, the fighters or this script like I do. My contract for
"Never Submit" states that I will be directing the movie.
It is time for me to stop feeling sorry for myself and to step up to
the plate and do what a director needs to do, and that is to lead.
Ken Eade – you may hate me now, but I am going to make Imperia so much
money with this movie that in the end you will love me.
Rosemary – my original plan for the movie was similar to what they did
with the movie 300 which just made $70 million over the weekend and
that is to use a largely unknown cast. I thought at our price range
this would be better than having to cast some old burn outs who will
not be respected by the younger generations. However, you are vastly
more experienced when it comes to casting and you have made some great
suggestions. I realize that I probably wont have much more choice in
the casting so hopefully you will do the best you can for the project.
Try and keep me in the loop when you can. Miscommunications can
cause problems.
Greg – I know sometimes I am late for things and it is hard to pin me
down. My mind is always working overtime which is how I come up with
my ideas. Please understand that I am sometimes distracted by my own
thoughts and work on my own time table but I know that I will have to
adjust my ways in order to accommodate the production. Lets work
together and kick some ass!
Agata – Those who have the gold make the rules, so even if I don't
agree with the casting, I understand and accept the situation and will
make the best of it.
Stephanie – Thank you my love for standing by me no matter what.
Thank you for hosting the Neversubmit website and myspace page…
Mom – Get well soon!
Dad – Thanks for always offering great advice.
Tarquin – Thanks you for always being a great mentor to me and your
advise to me in this situation.
Jeff C. – Sorry buddy, I love you and you are a great director and I
am proud to say an "All That I Need" fan. Unfortunately you wont get
to direct this one. This one is my baby.. ;)
Cam – Stephanie and I will see you tonight.
Cung – Thanks as always for your words of encouragement.
Ken Shamrock and Rodney – Thank you for being so loyal.
Nate – Thanks for all of your help, I might still take you up on your offer.
Julio and Shogun – Can't wait to have you guys work on the project.
Casey – Thank you for everything
TapouT – I look forward to my next article for you
Cindy – You know you can't keep from staying mad at me!
Attorney David Albert Pierce – Sorry but I have a contract with your
client and will be directing the movie as outlined.
I am very excited to work with all of you in four weeks time. I am
very enthusiastic. I give my commitment to all of you that I will
give 100% effort to the project. All I ask in return is the same.
Let's get started!
All the best,
James
"Never let the bastards get you down!"
Jock Ewing "Dallas"
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