50th Anniversary World Tour Tribute DVD - scrapped?

[The Shift]

Just had my PayPal upfront payment returned without explanation.

Anyone else?

Looks to me like this might have been a half-hearted project from the start.

But what happens to all that C50th footage now??

[ontor pertawst]

Bunch of amateurs. Jesus, I can't believe they didn't have this sorted out with some pros. What a waste!

At least you got a refund, tho.

[Lowbacca]

I recently re-watched some YouTube clips from the August 3rd show in Berlin which I attended and I noticed how much of it they had actually filmed with multiple cameras. Something they did at a lot of the C50 gigs. They must have tons of live footage . . .

[pancakerecords]

Mine was refunded too.  Too bad, would have liked to seen the footage. Maybe there wasn't enough interest to keep the project afloat.

[Justin]

Was just gonna post the same, John.

Yup, it looks like it's over.  They seemed to have good intentions coming into the project but they lost steam and petered out.  Add this to the shelf with other projects they've scrapped.  What a shame.

[HeyJude]

Just got my refund too... Strangely, it appears the website for the pledge is still up.

[ontor pertawst]

The wrong people were in charge, clearly. It was a botched, half-ass effort from the start.

So... who has the gossip on what went down?

[Paulos]

So all we have for the recorded legacy of the C50 tour is the hideous DVD and the not quite as appalling 2CD set. Balls, massive sweaty ones at that.

[Mikie]

Surprised you guys sent them money in the first place.  Got to see product come to fruition before I send money!

[Justin]

If I had the time and the resources, I'd string together my own version of the tour DVD just using what's on YouTube.  There are so many AMAZING clips on YouTube from the tour (Singapore, Berkeley, London, Irvine) that it would completely blow the official DVD out of the water.  I'd want to do this just to stick it to the idiots who dropped the ball on this project...

[SonicVolcano]

Can anyone enlighten me on this? What was supposed to come out?

[Lowbacca]

What makes you guys think they lost steam / petered out / etc. - or that it was a "half-assed effort from the start"?
Someone might scrap a project for a number of reasons other than that. They're giving you your money back - so no harm done, right? Sure, it's sad that their documentary might never see the light of day - but on the other hand: lots of other cool stuff doesn't either and promising projects get canned all the time (for various reasons).

[ontor pertawst]

Everything I saw from these people from the start looked pathetic and raised red flags. The plans for fan interviews being a huge part of it, ugh! Those videos they put up -- Jesus, you think that wasn't half-assed? They had a wealth of amazing material to use and dropped the ball completely. The fundraising for this was inept beyond belief, incredibly poorly organized by folks who weren't good at crowdsourcing or getting the word out. It didn't inspire much confidence, and for all the promises of fan input and stuff online we saw very, very little.

Here's to hoping the footage finds a good home eventually with a sympathetic team who knows what they are doing.

Until then, Justin's plan sounds like some serious fan fun. There are so many amazing performances!

[Rocky Raccoon]

Eagle Rock needs to get their hands on the Royal Albert Hall footage, get Mark Linett to mix the audio, and give us the concert film we deserve.

[Justin]

What makes you guys think they lost steam / petered out / etc. - or that it was a "half-assed effort from the start"?

From my view, it looked that way because of what I saw as they filmed the shows and the results of their work.  Many of the shows---especially the last two shows in London (Wembley and Royal Albert Hall) were filmed using these tiny GoPro cameras that were littered around the stage.  You could see the quality of these cameras in the official DVD from the Phoenix show.  You'll notice it because the footage from these cameras have a weird "fish eye" effect and the quality is significantly less than the sophisticated HD cameras covering the rest of the stage.  There was only one or two handheld cameras that were lumbering around the stage in Wembley but the only thing truley covering the band were these tiny cameras.  I'm not sure of the set up at the rest of the shows they may have filmed (Red Rocks, Hollywood Bowl) but this was a red flag when I saw this at London. 

In the early days of the Pledge site, they put up a few clips of what they had filmed.  They put up a few interview segments with Mike and then Brian and both were deplorable quality.  Low light, terrible contrast and overall completely amateur quality.  That was another sign that this whole thing was done on the cheap---perhaps with them knowing that this whole thing could've been scrapped anyway.  And it turns out they were right.

[Justin]

Everything I saw from these people from the start looked pathetic and raised red flags. The plans for fan interviews being a huge part of it, ugh! Those videos they put up -- Jesus, you think that wasn't half-assed? They had a wealth of amazing material to use and dropped the ball completely. The fundraising for this was inept beyond belief, incredibly poorly organized by folks who weren't good at crowdsourcing or getting the word out. It didn't inspire much confidence, and for all the promises of fan input and stuff online we saw very, very little.

Here's to hoping the footage finds a good home eventually with a sympathetic team who knows what they are doing.

Until then, Justin's plan sounds like some serious fan fun.

Right?  Honestly, considering all the footage that's out there PLUS the behind the scenes stuff on the official YT channel....it's basically assembling a puzzle! 

[The Shift]

Like the Eagle Rock idea but anything that sounds like sense is gonna get overlooked in BBs Land. Sometimes seems Phil's pessimistic outlook about product is the realistic outlook to have.

MiC excepted!

[smyleysmyle]

I too was refunded.  I asked why the project was cancelled, and got this response:




Hi Michael,

Due to new licensing rights issues the project has been cancelled. This does not rule out the possibility of a future project roll out.

Stay tuned for a future post regarding the cancellation.

Best,

Anneliese
Team Pledge

[Lowbacca]

I too was refunded.  I asked why the project was cancelled, and got this response:




Hi Michael,

Due to new licensing rights issues the project has been cancelled. This does not rule out the possibility of a future project roll out.

Stay tuned for a future post regarding the cancellation.

Best,

Anneliese
Team Pledge

What did I tell you?

[ontor pertawst]

Capitol or some other Mr Moneybags stepping in to buy the footage? If so I hope the people responsible are all replaced. This team needs to stick to wedding videos.

[Pretty Funky]

Can anyone enlighten me on this? What was supposed to come out?

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,14938.0.html

[PS]

What did Deep Throat say in All The President's Men?

"Follow the Money"

After following up on this thread by talking on the phone with a friend from high school who knew the people in question (we both went to high school with them, though they were certainly not in my world),  and then doing a little more internet research, I think the answers to your questions can be found in the thickets of this blog by one "Shakedown Shannon," - I will leave the rest to you to sort out, but suffice to say that this whole sordid C50 tale (save for the great shows and music!) would make a MUCH better movie script than any of the biopics....what a way for this thing to blowup. We're lucky we got what we did, I imagine...

OK, folks, start here:

Cost Of Stock Fraud Could Be 155 Years For Florida Couple

"A Florida couple could get a combined 155 years in prison and $10 million in fines after being convicted in New York City of a multi-year pump-and-dump scheme. The Department of Justice reports that David Levy, 60, and Donna Levy, 57, of Fort Lauderdale, were convicted after a three-week trial of conducting a massive dump-and-dump scam that used e-mail newsletters and social media sites to hype the penny stocks of companies including Cardiac Network, Inc. and Bannneker, Inc. They received shares in exchange for staging misleading promotional campaigns and then dumped the stock when prices rose, prosecutors said. At one point, David Levy delivered $2 million in cashier's checks earned from the scam to Panama, and deposited the money in accounts maintained by a money launderer, prosecutors said. Nine other defendants have already pleaded guilty in the same case, and three have been sentenced. No sentencing date has yet been scheduled for David and Donna Levy."


That gives you the background for Shakedown Shannon's diary (I believe Shakedown Shannon is married to "KP", who is obviously involved in the production) and her take on the matter, and the history of their involvement with the Levys  ---and you can see that people like producer Marc Bennett also got screwed out of money and probably budget:

http://shakedownshannon.blogspot.com/

To cut to the chase, here's a key moment:

"The Beach Boys want to do a documentary video of their “comeback” tour throughout the US and Europe.  Somehow DCLP (PS note: David Chaim Levy Productions) & Blast Music convinced The Beach Boys to give entrust them with this job.  
Patrick has seen very little money up to this point and I believe we are 2 months behind on our mortgage and line of credit.  I say to KP ”Are The Beach Boys relevant & is there really any money that is going to be made from this?”  Yes, of course, & David now has money for this and the project starts in a week.  At this point, we do get paid (some) and caught up on our debts, but it’s not what we are owed.  We are told that money is coming any day....
 
Spring 2012

"The Tour starts and money finally arrives.  Arrangements need to be made and paid for, crew needs to be paid and hired, The Beach Boys need to be paid.  As does their manager.  That leaves nothing for KP and he doesn’t get paid.  
The Tour begins March 2012 and KP hits the road for the US part of the tour and only a few of those dates. I look at our statements and once again KP is spending money on things he shouldn’t & he isn’t receiving a paycheck.  “But it’s coming…"

-------------------

I think I read somewhere in these legal notices that Levy was just ordered to start making consumer reparations, which is probably why you are just now seeing your PAYPAL accounts being refunded....

Doesn't it just figure that The Beach Boys would pick about-to-be-busted shysters (who probably offered them a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow) to finance this golden capstone moment to their career, and right from the very get-go??

The questions remain: Who has the footage? Who owns the rights? Will another production company put it together - and why would they??

Just think: This video footage and the un-treated audio from the shows could become our new SMILE hunt...the game's afoot!

[ontor pertawst]

Son of a bitch! Nice find. Game on, teen gang!

I don't wanna say I toad a so...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhFHIlwCSq0

Attention actual journalists. There's a helluva Rolling Stone piece here.

[Pretty Funky]

Son of a bitch! Nice find. Game on, teen gang!

I don't wanna say I toad a so...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhFHIlwCSq0

Attention actual journalists. There's a helluva Rolling Stone piece here.

Several of us here were sceptical from the get go.

Hmmmmm… need to know more… there's no word as far as I can see as to who's behind this. Brad Elliott?

Ha Ha Ha! I was thinking the same thing.  See the finished product before forwarding funds!

Well the clip is Marc Bennett, who is behind the live DVD already released.

A 2 hour package from 600 plus hours of filming?

I'm sounding a bit negative. I better take a phil......I mean pill.

[ontor pertawst]

Ah, memories... my comment on that thread was: "Your call will be answered in the order it arrived. Press 1 for badly edited footage of doughy men in Hawaiian shirts saying "This is the best band ever!" Press 2 for a harsh lesson in crowdfunding. Press 3 for Al Jardine to give a gripey interview about it two years from now."

So... time to go to Al Jardine, the man in the white suit with the view from Big Sur. Wha happa, Al? Say it ain't so, Alan.

"I'm afraid it is, boys."

Jack Rieley's famous quote comes to mind! Imagine if they went with talented, committed people instead.

Till then, Justin still has the right idea:

Honestly, considering all the footage that's out there PLUS the behind the scenes stuff on the official YT channel....it's basically assembling a puzzle!

Let's all get some competing versions going by next year, eh?