New E of I Documentary

[Brandon Whited]

Hello everyone!

A few minutes ago I was checking my e-mail and the message below had been sent to me. It's regarding a new documentary about the EoI. I have never heard of Mistral Films, and I was wondering whether or not anyone else here received one of these e-mails.

I'm kind of puzzled as to why they would want my input on this tragedy, as I'm far from being an EoI enthusiast, and I'm certainly not worthy of being interviewed on the subject. This gave the whole thing a fishy smell to me. Can anyone verify or discredit these claims?

Here is the e-mail:

"Dear Sir,

My company, Mistral Films, is involved in documentary filmmaking, and
we have embarked on a new project on the Empress of Ireland. We are
scheduled to begin underwater filming this September, and have
partnered with Green Flash Production, Inc., a firm of deep sea
diver/cameramen. The program is to be shot entirely in High Definition
video, and we hope to distribute it through channels such as National
Geographic etc. For your information, we handle the entire project
in-house including all post production (editing) work, and the
authoring of DVD and VHS tape versions with full menu chapters.

Two of our diver/cameramen have been on the Empress before, and we
already have a wealth of research under our belts, but we would
obviously very much appreciate your input and, if possible, we may want
to interview you for the project.

In the event that you are interested in participating in this
documentary project, please get in touch with the undersigned
forthwith.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

David A. Glen
Executive Producer
Mistral Films
Documentary Filmmakers
4101 Birch Street, Suite 210
Newport Beach, CA 92660

Tel: 949-475-0010
Fax: 949-260-9727

OR CONTACT

Vickie Davenport
Production Manager
Mistral Films
E-Mail: [email protected]"

It was sent by [email protected]. Thanks for any input!

 

[Kyrila Scully]

Hi, Brandon. It's been awhile since I've chatted with you. Well, I can tell you that if you're concerned about the legitimacy of this film company, that's understandable. You may ask for a list of their distributed films to start with, and verify them with Writer's Guild, Directors' Guild, and Producers' Guild. If you do a Google search you will find that there is a Mistral Films that does documentaries (their most current being "Ice With Everything - The Life and Times of the Legendary British Explorer H.W. Tilman." David Glen is listed as the writer, director and producer, and apparently this doc has appeared on TV and will be released in DVD. He should also be a member or at least registered some work with one of the three guilds I mentioned. However, I wonder if this Mistral Films is the same Mistral Films shown on Yahoo Search as a p~~~ Film company?

Anyway, no telling how they got your information unless you're on somebody's list and they sold it to this company. They may be looking for investors also, so keep this in mind and don't be suckered into investing anything unless you have previous experience with film investments. I can tell you that most film companies do a lot of creative bookkeeping, and they're so good at it that most of them stay out of prison. LOL

Kyrila

 

[Michael H. Standart]

I tend to be very cautious of any e-mail I recieve, especially if it shows up in my webmail inbox. I use it for forum business and the only way anyone could get it is by accessing my profile. Today, I got something that didn't have the name of the sender and was marked "No Subject" which I deleted at once. For all I know, it may have been these guys, but better safe then sorry. Having been stung by a virus from time to time, I won't take chances.

If somebody wants to chat me up for a documentary or ask for my input (Can't imagine why anybody would, but no matter) then I'll trouble them to identify themselves and post a subject title which let's me know what they're interested in.

 

[Geoff Whitfield]

Brandon,

I received one of these too.....and am currently looking into it.

Geoff

 

[Gavin Murphy]

Me too! Fill us in G if you get any details.

 

[Brandon Whited]

Thanks for the input, everyone. I too tend to worry when it comes to e-mail because, like Michael, I've had a virus or two in my time. I've received some very strange messages before, and I'm sure that they were all an attempt to get information from me in order to fulfill a scam of some sort. The senders claimed to have been from another country, and they were wanting me to help them smuggle money into the US or something. It sounded like the plot of a James Bond film!

Yes Geoff, please keep us posted on what you find. I am very much looking forward to getting to the bottom of this.

 

[Inger Sheil]

Hmmm...intriguing. Please do keep us updated, Geoff - if it's got your stamp of approval I'd say it's legit.

Brandon, was that a variation of the Nigerian Scam, or a new one? Even with all our spam filters, there are days I get into work and find a couple of variations on that one...I have friends who collect each mutation (up-to-date version have the sender trying to get money out of Iraq).

 

[Brandon Whited]

I'm guessing that's what it was, Inger. I've had several different storylines sent to me over the year. I have spam filters also, but I still get those annoying "scam mails." The first time I got one, which was well over a year ago, I was seriously alarmed by it. I didn't understand at the time that it was a scam, and I was considering contacting the authorities. I still find them unsettling, even though I know it's all a scheme.

BTW: The e-mail concerning EoI had no subject, and it was from Production, being sent to [email protected]. It doesn't make much sense to me. If it was being sent to that Yahoo! address, then why would I receive it?

 

[Geoff Whitfield]

The Roughseas address is that of a great personal friend of mine. I contacted him and he knows absolutely nothing about it. Neither has he ever heard of the film company.I will delve a little deeper.

Geoff

 

[Tom Bates]

Personally I would take it as spam. If its real I would like to know why they would contact people like they did. to me it seams like they went on ET and emailed different members. Could it just be some one playing a joke?

 

[Kyrila Scully]

I already checked and this guy is a filmmaker. I discussed this above. He has another film doc under his belt which is on it's way to DVD. Now, whether he's a filmmaker of some caliber is up in the air. Anyone with a camera and money can make a movie - but what you want to know is whether their films are getting distribution - in other words, are they finding theaters to show their films and are they finding an audience.

Granted, young filmmakers starting out may not have much credibility, but they should be supported so they can improve their art. But all it takes is a phone call to the Directors' Guild of America. I used to have the phone number but I've changed address books and can't find it at the moment - however I'm sure it's easily available online. Even young filmmakers join the guild.

This guy makes his bread and butter making corporate films, but he's trying to branch out into mainstream documentaries from the looks of it - and his first doc "Ice With Everything - The Life and Times of the Legendary British Explorer H.W. Tilman." supposedly appeared on TV and is currently being processed to DVD.

His website is very much under construction with only two working pages. But the pages he does have look very nice.

Again, check the filmmakers' guilds (Writers' Guild, Directors' Guild) and see if he's a member in good standing.

Kyrila

 

[Kyrila Scully]

Update: AV Media Resources lists David Glen as a photographer for their Resources for the Film & Television Industry list.

Kyrila

 

[Brandon Whited]

Kyrila,

I don't know if you received the e-mail from Executive Producer and forwarded it to me (it has no "FW"), or if it was sent to the wrong address. Either way, I received it. I am forwarding it to you in case you didn't receive it. It's from David Glen.