It was the story, and I have no problem with that. What better way to attract investment than to pitch a story?
At some point, however, it has to get past that.
Using your signature movie terminology: every movie starts with a story idea, but not every story idea ends with a movie. The deciding factor, more often than not, has nothing to do with the quality of the story, but with the skills and resources of the people attached to the project. By many accounts, "Avatar" was not a spectacular or very original storyline... but it had a major advantage: a guy who had the skills and resources to get it made.
The MSX movie project is about to be killed.
So... replace the writer/director/producer to get the project done. Give Brent a spot in the credits and a cut of the proceeds (which he already will have because of his ownership stake). In the end, it's the best thing for both the investors and for Brent.
