818-909-6800

I'd be very happy if you'd buy me out now.  Still game?

For those of us who do know that we were not "accredited investors", why don't we get together and try to get some or all of our money back?  I am an everyday kind of person and these guys got almost all of my 401K just after I lost my job. I was desperate to try to make something serious out of the money and the stock market was crashing (2008).  

So did you claim on the subscription form that you were an "accredited investor" and sign the form attesting to that ? Not sure what the law is on this - does the fundraiser have to have proof that an investor was accredited (not sure many people would willingly hand over tax returns of financial docs  , I know I wouldn't) or does the fact that an investor certifies in the subscription documents that they are an accredited investor satisfy that requirement?  Anyone here that can comment on the legality of that?

As others have commented , I doubt there are any funds right now as the distributor has to get paid back first and they haven't brought in enough money to pay them back yet. There are other potential revenue sources (foreign film, dvd, virtual world, licensing, etc) but I have Zero idea of their potential and the timing of these flows , and for what amounts that may come in.

Switching gears, I did see the movie and didn't think it was as bad as the critics made it out to be, I thought that it would be something that kids would enjoy. Not sure what happened , hopefully the movie can get a little more box office in this weekend and move onto the foreign market. But hope is not an investment strategy and I am pretty sure most investors are feeling pretty down .

I'll have to pull out and see what I signed.  I was guided over the phone where and what to sign by N.K.  

Yes, to the buyer beware, but I wasn't in the best shape at that time.  I had just lost my employment of 20 years and my Dad two weeks later.  I'm a realist and no that "it is what it is" but it still doesn't make it right.  I saw the movie too and it wasn't bad nor was it fantastic.  Not sure how it will do in the UK because I understand it only made $46,000+/- so far in Hungary.  

I'm guessing what's gone is gone but if these people are truly proven cons then there should be some recourse...no?

I like you was "guided" by Neil Kaufman.  I know I did not fax or email a personal balance sheet or any financial statements. I just verified that by opening the folder and looking at the documentation I had not seen in a while.  My blood pressure is already rising just thinking about those conversations (these took place in 2005) with both NK and one of the Carroll brothers.  Can't believe what a schmuck I was.  However, that does not excuse Alpine and BOP from their activities.

I really feel for you.  Based on what I have read here and in various readings on the internet regarding this situation, my advice would be to make peace and move forward.  The amount of time and extra money you would have to put into this to try and recoup something will only age you and drain you.  I'd be willing to bet there are people who lost a lot more than you or I did and who have more means than we have at our disposal to deal with them, one way or another.

"guided" is that correct? I wonder who else was "guided"

Will we ever get our money back?  And I have all of these other investors that I talked into investing as well.  Friends even.  I was told I'd get more shares if I got them in.  I actually feel guilty.  This is a fantastic movie, I don't know why it is not making money.  

None of us will get our money back.  After this weekend, I think it will be all over. RIP Dorothy, Legends of Oz.  

Don't know why any of us saw the Ripoff Report on Dana Tejeda.  That should have been the first warning sign.

How do your friends feel about you losing them their money. Is it legal for you to receive a "finders" fee for soliciting your friends?

It appears that Marc Lane's comment is still on this thread, but it's on a different page than it was previously, as page flow is affected whenever someone replies to an existing comment. Currently Mr. Lane's November 2012 comment is on page 9.
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-818-909-6800/9
I agree that the comments by Legends of OZ Scam Expert make a lot of sense. I'm still trying to figure out if there is a Marc Lane-Kevin Trudeau connection that somehow brought GIN members into this debacle. If not... well, gee. Small world, eh?

wow --i thought it would be a better hit in Europe with the producers spending so much time over there .

Interesting that the producers have chosen to not report this weekends box office numbers to the trade.

Date    Rank    Gross    % Change    Theaters    Per Theater    Total Gross    Days
2014/05/09    8    $1,007,382         2,658    $379      $1,007,382    1
2014/05/10    7    $1,616,064    +60%    2,658    $608      $2,623,446    2
2014/05/11    8    $1,124,334    -30%    2,658    $423      $3,747,780    3
2014/05/12    8    $191,376    -83%    2,658    $72      $3,939,156    4
2014/05/13    8    $236,878    +24%    2,658    $89      $4,176,034    5
2014/05/14    8    $208,068    -12%    2,658    $78      $4,384,102    6
2014/05/15    8    $222,919    +7%    2,658    $84      $4,607,021    7
2014/05/16    10    $468,831    +110%    2,578    $182      $5,075,852    8
2014/05/17    9    $874,586    +87%    2,578    $339      $5,950,438    9
2014/05/18    9    $614,039    -30%    2,578    $238      $6,564,477    10
2014/05/19    9    $198,153    -68%    2,578    $77      $6,762,630    11
2014/05/20    10    $167,454    -15%    2,578    $65      $6,930,084    12
2014/05/21    10    $148,623    -11%    2,578    $58      $7,078,707    13
2014/05/22    10    $154,571    +4%    2,578    $60      $7,233,278

Total take is 7.5 million so far. I think that it is out of almost all theaters at this point. 3.5 million gets kept by the theater leaving Clarius with 3.5 million to pay themselves back out of the 20 million or so that they spent on distribution and advertising.

It appears in their email that the LLC itself is 17 million or so in debt. That has to be pad back before investors. So far there has been virtually no revenue and likely wont be any from the foreign release.

Here is the excerpt from the update:

"Everyone wants clarity on the accounting.  We have received approximately $1.7 million dollars from the foreign territories in minimum guarantees and the licensing and merchandising.  Those dollars have been applied to P&A and any finishing dollars on the film.  We’ll probably be receiving another $2 million in minimum guarantees.  Those dollars are obligated to P&A loans and outstanding legal and accounting costs.  Above that is the overages from all the different territories.  We have the CAM account with Fintage House, and all of it is in a pre-determined waterfall.  First the senior lender, Macquarie.  We spent $17.2 million of the $21 million available to us, and we have to pay that back plus interest on a senior-lending basis. It will be cross-collateralized from our DVD sales and so forth. After that, it comes to us and we will disperse that quarterly."

This thing is as good as dead. There is no way they will ever pay back all of those loans for the P&A budget. NO WAY IN HELL. Investors will never ever see a dime from this.  I hope no one was too financially hurt by this.

Robert, I think you already know the answer.  If your posting is legitimate, you are out almost $500K.  Hopefully you are blessed with a good income and you can spend the next few years trying to make up for it.   Work with your accountant carefully so you can try to take some writeoffs that will probably last for decades.  Since this is an LLC, wondering if there is a way for investors to go after the Carrolls and the other main partners for their personal assets.  Piercing the veil of LLC ownership.

If the project can somehow stay out of bankruptcy , I am guessing that any possible recovery is going to be a long, slow drawn out process. As others have pointed out before me, there is approx.  $17 mln of debt outstanding to be paid back. I am not sure if this was P&A funding supplied by Clarius? If that is all the debt there is, that could take some time to pay back , it is likely that there is a pretty steep interest payment on it also. While there are other revenue sources , they were dependent in part on a successful box office to promote the other lines (virtual world, licensing, dvd's, music , etc).I have zero idea how successful these potential revenue streams will be. Someone posted above some financial info , hopefully there will be more financial communication like this in the future

While I can hope that investors were not seriously financially wounded by this investment , I am  a realist and know that unfortunately many were, putting in much more than they should have into ECOZ. I also don't know if there is much recourse for investors as there is currently no money to recover and any type of lawsuit would be difficult , esp for accredited investors as the poster LoOZ Scam Expert pointed out. But I guess it all depends on what individual investors were shown and promised.

As far as Robert above, I hope that is not a legit post. That is a big hit to a retirement plan and is generally not tax deductible. If it is legit, as the previous poster mentioned, I hope you can absorb the hit and carry on.

Why wouldn't it be tax deductible?  That's about all I can look forward to at this point and that would be a write off for years to come. My loss in this doesn't include another little side investment that I was told about with people calling me from the same number.  The stock went public and is now worthless so add that to my stupidity but I did read that stock losses are deductible and for years if they're big???

In terms of the investment in Oz, if you have other similar investments, then the loss will be utilized against the gains of those investments. Otherwise, the losses will be suspended. (Frustrating to be sure).  If you bought Alpine/Summertime stock, that will be a capital write-off of $3K a year until exhausted or until you have a  stock gain to put it against.  

When did the Alpine (or whatever) stock go public, and how are you determining it is worthless?  I doubt they have issued a formal statement.  In any case, I would recommend you consult with a good tax preparer and have him/her attach a statement to the return you will file explaining this entire situation and why you are declaring the stock worthless.  Better to over document and use a lot of words than being too vague thus leaving it to the judgment of an examiner of your return.