Back in November, I was hired to work on a low budget horror film titled 'Angels of Death' which was being produced and directed by Menetie Ejeye of M. Ejeye Films. When we wrapped in December, Menetie told everyone he had gone over budget but would be able to pay everyone within 30 days. He even wrote a few people checks that he post-dated 30 days. However, all
of those post-dated checks bounced. Now it's 90 days since we wrapped, and we still havn't been paid, not to mention that Menetie won't return phone calls or e-mails. And to make matters worse (for the actors), it now appears that he never filed any of the SAG paperwork for the show.
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Fri, Mar 20, 2009 at 8:38 PM
Thank you to the creator of this blog and the individual who originally added Menetie Ejeye / M. Ejeye Films to the Hollywood Blacklist. I too worked on the film specifically mentioned. I do not disagree with any of the details already posted. In addition, contracts were handed out and signed on the first day of the shoot. M. Ejeye continuously "forgot" to provide copies of the signed contracts, finally stating he would mail them because that's how it is "normally" done. Needless to say, I never received a copy of my contract from him, and was fortunately only able to get one thanks to another crew member who had obtained copies of some. Since various cast/crew members have contacted M. Ejeye requesting payment, M. Ejeye has only responded once, as far as I know. In that response, he demanded written apologies from some individuals for being "immature, rude and for harrassing him," before remitting payment to anyone. He provided his own experience, saying he once worked on a big-budget production with an A-list actor and was not paid for a month, claiming that the way he was handling things was how it "really works in Hollywood." Of course, it has been over three months now that he has not paid anyone. I personally stopped contacting him regarding payment due to his last response, which contained what I consider to be veiled threats, and made me worried for my safety, especially since he has my address. Also, on the odd side, I continue to be on his mailing list and have received promotional messages regarding his prior feature film, "Roadside Assistance," which he is currently selling online. To other filmmakers who read this, especially editors, composers and others working in post-production, please remember the names Menetie Ejeye, M. Ejeye Films, and "Angels of Death" and do NOT work on the project. It cannot and should not survive post-production and hit distribution until ALL cast/crew are paid. Thank you.
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2 comments:
for his ANGEL OF Death i met with him for an interview to do the special fx makeup. It was one of the most unprofessional interviews i've ever been on. He had every person waiting outside a starbucks and has his "assistant" call people in. also i was forced to interview along side another make-up artist and asked to discuss rates. i felt like i was in a weird bidding war. Weeks later he emailed me and asked if i could write up a special fx budget which i did and never heard from him again. Now that i'm hearing about him not paying actors i'm quite relieved taht i didnt wind up working on the "film". From his myspace page, it loooks horrible.
I completely agree with everything said about Menetie. I too worked on the film as an actor. Shooting was pushed back weeks on this film and when I came to him with a very minor scheduling conflict well in advance he bombarded me with harassing emails, calling me names and telling me what a worthless person I was and how I'll "never work in this town again". I was scared for my safety because he knew my home address and I felt I was being threatened by several of his comments. I was forced to deal only with the AD because of his unprofessionalism and ended up having to leave the project. It was to date, the absolute worst experience I've had in this town and I've since heard Menetie cannot be reached by anyone who worked on the film and SAG unfortunately did not return my phone calls on this matter. I hope this film never sees the light of day.
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