YOUR DIRECTOR IS CLAIMING A "NETFLIX" DEAL ON THIS NEW PROJECT...???...

Houston, Texas - We've been approached on more than one occasion about what the rules are concerning Independent Film projects who are claiming they have a contract deal with Netflix, Amazon, or a distribution compan far away agreeing to help stream this new project or put it out in store on DVD/BlueRays, so they can receive big checks from investors and the like, bringing the project to the next level of success. A lot of new actors and some talented veteran thespians are often dragged into these projects, that sometimes work on scenes for six months to a year, but eventually die out after some investor backed out or the director and his production crew were unable to make a trip to "LA" [Los Angeles] to meet with the right people.

A large majority of these new Indie films start off with a bright burn of fast cash that all seems legit. A smaller percentage manage to contact some big name in Hollywood; usually an actor from the 80's or 90's that's still trying to make payments on his/her new home or a new car. With all of the cash flying around, the local Indie actor sees very little and extras on the set are just an after thought to brag about it on their resumes or IMDB page. But was all the effort worth the trouble?...Many male directors look at casting strong local talent as an open door policy to attracting "hot babe" actresses who just want to stand in the limelight and garner local attention, which can be plenty of pay enough to sate their thirst for being the "big name" in town. Besides, just knowing that the Netflix or Amazon deal is on the wings now, is just a bonus - "Everyone in the world will get to see my work in front of the camera!"

Well boys and girls, I really hate to break it to you on this blog, but NONE of the streaming services like Netflix, VUDU, HULU, Amazon.com or distribution companies work this way; and for sure, investors don't sign paychecks to anyone in the payroll for projects they helped fund. Although investors maintain ownership of a project until they're paid back in full with the percentage of interest promised in a contract, the production team has to maintain the projects budget through a project manager who ensures the entire project's budget is maintained and every cent accounted for and that it is NOT being used for personal again. They also ensure that the project has insurance to cover any loss in the production. Most veteran thespians should already know all of this, but sometimes their minds lax a bit and they slip through and they wind up grabbing a hold of hope.

Hope won't save anyone's ass should the project fail to produce a promised project and funds are misused and not reported to the investor(s). Case in point is an Indie project called "LEGENDS" out of Los Angeles, where Adam Joiner was able to acquire a little of $14Million in investments from South Korea and China with a brilliant script, through a studio company he called Dark Planet Pictures. The entire thing was sham and Joiner was living the high life until he was arrested by the feds; buying two homes and a beach house in Manhattan with the big money. There are accusations that he swindled more people in the U.S. with this project that had a long list of talent that was going to take part as the production team and cast. You can read more about this true story here. And you have to remember, this guy had previous film credentials and, at one time, was even a winner of an Oscar.

Here in Texas, the claims that an Indie film project is being "seen" by Netflix have been brought more times that anyone can count. In Houston alone, it's part of the status-quo; some projects brought up on prior blogs that wound up being bad productions that eventually were only released on the Internet, having some "small change" views on YouTube.com and they turned out to be webisodes of bad formatted shows filled with acting performances you'll wish you never spent time viewing. We posted warnings about film directors claiming "Netflix status" on more than one occasion, but it seems that either the word just isn't getting out or people would rather ride the wave of sex, film and fun until the magic dries up. Some those choices made by first time actors/actresses prove to be a huge burden and many are never seen again in the Indie film making world.

How do you protect yourself?...well, the first thing to do is to do research on the film's director and crew that you've chosen to work with. What previous works have they submitted to Netflix, Amazon, etc. If they have no previous experience, do your best to ask the right questions; "How did Netflix find out about you and contact you?" - "Can I see some of your previous works?" - "Who's going to be the production manager?" - "Is there a budget?" - "Are there camera requirements for the submission?" - If you get crummy answers [or non-answers] to any of these legitimate questions from the director, then you should have a good sense to know that you could be wasting your time on this film project.

Every streaming network has a format that is required prior to accepting any film project that is submitted; especially the type of camera and data sizes for streaming purposes. There truly isn't a point of contact with the streaming service and they never call anyone about the progress of the film as they only accept completed film projects that have all of the proof as required on their home pages; anyone can look this up. The information posted under their submission procedures doesn't change just because you're a director or producer.

And take warning, if you're in an Indie project that has an actual budget that has money being spent everywhere, be sure that the director isn't also the editor, leading actor, and project manager in the project. If any these things are currently occurring in the film project your in, it's time for you to take any losses you may have incurred and step away.

RAMIRO AVENDANO ADDS ANOTHER FAILURE TO HIS ALREADY BADLY TAINTED RESUME...

 DAMN, ALREADY AN UPDATE TO THIS BLOG!!! - Please read below

THE OATH Series

DIRECTOR/WRITER: RAMIRO AVENDANO

STARRING [We guess] – Ramiro Avendano, Tony Todd, Jose Rosete

Story/Plot - Totally unknown. But apparently Avendano plays an ex soldier who is caught in the middle of a zombie outbreak where he alone is the hero and has to find people to aid him in his fight to survive???...it doesn’t sound all that original.

Well, here we are again. After two years of boasting that he would make his BIG film debut, but with a new production team, a real budget, and some Hollywood talent to brag about that he was able to secure, Ramiro Avendano made it clear on IMDB that his newest attempt at producing a professional production would be released for all to see on July 4, 2019. But instead of proving a point, he’s only done the same old shit that everyone who has searched this blog has learned...that he has failed to do anything but hype his own crap that will never see the light of day.

After such a weak trailer (released on THE OATH’s Facebook page) what will be the excuse this time, I wonder? (1) Ramiro has to take the footage to LA to have some professional editors put it together? (2) Ramiro has to hold back the release because...say it with me...”the powers that be at Netflix or Amazon said that they want to see more episodes?” (3) Tony Todd found a real producer in the business who wants to give the series a view first?...oh, the excuses will be plentiful and those in Ramiro’s “inner circle” will completely understand, I’m sure. (4) There’s another possibility that Avendano will push back the release date a few months to buy him time to put something together. Like always, he has a history of pushing release dates back to try and give him some time to try and impress only those around him and his inner circle.

UPDATE!!! - And Avendano does not disappoint as he has changed the release date for THE OATH Series now to October 2019, which is only just a few months away. We have received a few emails that have solidified the opinion within some of the cast and crew that Avendano is grasping for time and more funding to try and complete the two episodes of the series and get them out for release. Any chance of him holding a premiere in Vegas is planned only as a private viewing and probably only at someone’s home with a few cast and crew members allowed to attend. Another rumor [that is now a fact] surfaced from an email that alleged Ramiro and some of his team members planned to re-visit San Antonio to film some scenes to fill in gaps in one of the episodes. Emails have alleged that Avendano has asked several old cast and crew member to assist and mostly all have declined. He handled all camera duties and oversaw all material needed to be completed on a weekend schedule.

With Avendano's personal obsession with Automated Dialog Replacement [or ADR] that also derailed production efforts on another film, there is more confirmation that Ramiro arrived with his wife [Cynthia Chambliss-Avendano] to solely record some lines with local friends in san Antonio and film some small scenes; he in return has asked at least one of the actresses to promote herself as a star in a network series that will be released in October; something Ramiro had asked his old cast and crew to do during the Zombie Reign [ZR] campaign of film production. This is sure to spark a hefty response of older ZR actors and crew who were promised to be paid by Avendano for all of their hard work. But it’s obvious that Avendano will make no plans to visit old cast and crew members to pay them for their services over the course of two to three years that they worked for him. It's even more obvious that that he did not come to San Antonio to actually film, as he doesn't have any permits to film in Texas and he knows he's under a watchful eye now.

The funny thing is, where Avendano truly believes that there’s this mass following that is patiently waiting for his film to hit the streets has only been a fabrication of the dream world that he has built up in his mind. He has started to claim to his cast and crew that OATH will be released on NETFLIX, which is an invalid statement, as his production on OATH and it's Facebook page has already broken most of the rules for submission requirements to the streaming network. True, he has access to some names, but they would never have showed up unless he had a paycheck for them – that includes some old San Antonio talent that he brought to Vegas to impress with some new equipment and crew; no one in their right mind owes any favors to this nobody, that couldn’t produce a film whether he’s had a cool million dollars to waste on any film project or his now infamous lunch appetites and exclusive budget on fancy eating at high priced restaurants. What is clear at this point is that Ramiro certainly does not know what he's talking about and the admissions process for OATH will not let him select a release month for the series IF it was approved for acceptance.

We only learned about the release date to THE OATH Series a few months ago and we jotted down the date on our day planners just to keep an eye on the premiere – if there would even be one – and see what all of Avendano’s new hype would present. With the forty some odd Facebook followers [possibly the cast] who follow his posts, we’re pretty sure that a little over fifty people would have showed up for any type of premiere.

We’ve seen this Titanic sink before, once a pretty gruesome death. Even now, the crew in Las Vegas has grown ill of Avendano’s apparent lack for basic film principles and they’ve begun to jump ship before THE OATH Series has even been completed. There are rumors that Avendano’s team failed to secure film permits in Vegas, also as much as filming on locations without permission, and some other odd behavior that will be released on a later blog after we’ve confirmed some of the oddities with the actual people who witnessed them.

But for now, this review will stand as a COMPLETE waste of everyone’s time. I might be willing to change this review should the project ever actually hit a network or big screen for proper review.

UPDATE! - The OATH Series has only a handful of episodes that are sparsely completed and emails from the Vegas cast and crew have alleged that only two episodes are actually close to being complete, but still require a lot of filming to have them completed for submission to NETFLIX, who requires at least six fully completed episodes to be considered for acceptance into that streaming service contract with the network. And Avendano, who seriously does not know what he's doing or saying, does not have anything that fits withing the required format for submitting to NETFLIX. 💫 [.5 of 5 Stars]