Directors impersonated by this scam:
Guillermo del Toro
Alfonso Cuaron
Amat Escalante
Diego Luna
Carlos Bolado
Company names associated with this scam:
The Spotlight Media Productions
Above the Line Film and Media Productions
Blue Screen Production
The FilmHouse Production
If a rash of solicitations over the past few months are to be believed, there’s a major rush down in Mexico to acquire film rights to books.
These virtually identical emails are, of course, laughably bogus–from the peculiar capitalizations, to the anonymous “Hollywood Movie Agents”, to the implausibility of these supposed directors bollixing up their own movie titles, to the unlikelihood of famous film folks personally soliciting authors via funny-looking Gmail accounts–but they have been briskly doing the rounds since this past summer, and I’ve collected quite a trove of them thanks to the many authors who’ve sent them to me.
Obviously a scam, in other words. But what’s the endgame?
Writers who respond to their “Mexican Film Director” receive a long spiel about turning books into movies, in which the Director claims that the writer’s book is in his “top 5”, and promises a “guaranteed film” with a huge budget and “advance royalties” to the tune of “$400K – $2M”.
Just one thing is needed for all this to happen: a screenplay! Does the author have one on hand? If not (or if they do and it inevitably fails to meet Hollywood’s exacting standards), the Director is happy to provide a referral to a “movie investor” who will foot 70% of the cost of creating one.
(Charlie McDowell, by the way, is another well-known film director. In what appears to be an earlier, nationality-neutral iteration of the scam, his name is used in solicitation emails identical to the ones above.)
Here’s The Spotlight Media Productions (not to be confused with Spotlight Media Productions AG, a real production company in Germany–though confusion is certainly the intention). Its homepage is plastered with Netflix content scraped from other websites, and things go downhill from there, with a false origin story (the claimed 2002 founding date is belied by a web domain that as of this writing is just 125 days old), a page of sad-looking current projects that are all “coming soon” (and are definitely not Netflix), and fake testimonials with the names of real authors attached. Impressive! If perhaps not in the way intended.
If you’re not put off by all of that and make the call, The Spotlight Media Productions will promptly send you a welcome email.
The email includes two attachments: a Movie Project Screenplay Service Agreement (see it here) and a Movie (Film) Non-Disclosure Agreement (see it here). The Service Agreement reveals the hit to your bank account:
And what you get for the money:
But wait. A screenplay, yes; the other stuff, very nice–but “submission to Film Production Companies”? Your Director promised you a “guaranteed film”, not a bunch of screenplay submissions! Hang on, though. Maybe everything’s okay, because the Non-Disclosure Agreement definitely comes from Netflix–well, at least the logos do–and even though you haven’t gotten a contract yet, it definitely says that there’s going to be a film of your book:
It’s even signed by your Director!
Note all the confidentiality/non-disclosure language in this crude document. It’s followed, on page 2, by an Indemnity clause that threatens legal action for “any use or disclosure of Confidential Information”. A similar notice appears at the bottom of every page of the Service Agreement, claiming that sharing that document “may constitute criminal lawsuit” [sic] . The scammers really, really don’t want their marks to pass these documents on to people like me.
I can imagine what my readers are thinking right now. Who on earth would fall for something so transparently, painfully bogus? But if it didn’t work, the fraudsters wouldn’t keep doing it. Like the Nigerian prince scams, they only need a small percentage of people to respond in order to make a killing. None of the many writers who’ve shared “Mexican Film Director” solicitations and documents with me have handed over $33,000…but without a doubt, there are those who have.
Remember: other than a fee for a service you shouldn’t have to pay for, out-of-the-blue solicitation is the number one sign of a scam these days–especially if it seems too good, or too outlandish, to be true.
POSTSCRIPT: What about “Brullen Excel Film Production”, whose logo appears on the Service Agreement alongside The Spotlight Media’s?
Google can find no such company, but there is a Brullen Excel, a “website design, SEO, and digital marketing” enterprise with a cheesy website and content that links it to another scam, Vellumme Innovations, which also does business as Impact Media Press & Publishing (you can see how convoluted these operations can be). It’s a reasonable guess that Spotlight Media is run by the same people, but apart from the cohabiting logos, I don’t have independent evidence of that at this point.
UPDATE 1/11/23: Diego Luna has been added to the list.
UPDATE 3/8/23: Based on identical website content, The Spotlight Media Productions is also doing business as Above the Line Film and Media Productions.
UPDATE 7/25/23: The scam is also impersonating filmmaker Carlos Bolado, and has added a new “production company”: Blue Screen Production. In keeping with the generally slipshod nature of this scam, check out Blue Screen’s Projects page, which not only duplicates the content of the other two “production companies”, but their errors as well.
UPDATE 9/4/23: A new “production company” has been added: The FilmHouse Production. It has the same obsession with Netflix. The About page has been re-worded, but is basically the same as the others, and the Testimonials page features the same bogus quotes…but oops, they slipped up:
UPDATE 10/10/23: I’m reprinting this recent comment, which gives a good overview of how this scam entices and entraps writers, and pushes them to pay huge fees.
It all started around September 2022 when I started getting E mails from Amat Escalante, saying my book…had reached his desk and qualified for international film. This was exciting since it is my biggest dream to have my book become a movie. I had also been to pitchfest in 2020 so I believed my book could have hit his desk.
I emailed back saying I didn’t have a screenplay yet for that particular book, but I would find a way to provide one. Then I started getting calls from Spotlight Media, saying they would provide a screenplay and “movie investors” would front 70 percent. And this would only cost $33,000. I even received a non-disclosure letter from Netflix, which looked like my book was definitely going to be a movie. Even signed by Amat Escalante himself! I seriously considered this, since I know screenplays can be costly.
Then I started getting calls from a UK number from Amat Escalante himself. He said he wanted to make sure Spotlight Media was doing what he had asked them to do. In the end, I said 33k was way too much and I found a cheaper way to provide one. I told Amat I would send it over when it was done. He seemed disappointed, but agreed.
So 6 months went by until the screenplay was done, and I e-mailed it over to him. I got a phone call from “Amat” saying he sent my screenplay to a company for review, and it was good, just needed a little tweaking. But now we just needed to provide a cinematic trailer. He wanted me to work with Above The Line Media Production, and said movie investors would be fronting a large amount. He said he wanted to make it so I paid nothing. But when I spoke to Above the Line they said movie investors would front 50 percent. My obligation was just 17k. But I had come so far, and the thought of my book being a movie was so overwhelming I went with them. They were able to arrange a payment plan so I thought that could work.
Well, there was little communication, although I did receive an E mail with the press release which was supposed to go to many production companies. Also a poor quality screenplay or part of one even though this wasn’t part of the deal since I already provided one. This confused me, since I thought this was already a guaranteed movie. I also did another book video through the same company I had used for my screenplay since I wanted to compare. Anyway, when I finally got the book trailers back, the one I provided, which I paid less than 2k was much better quality than the one I was supposed to pay 17k to Above the Line Media.
Anyway, I finally read this post on writer beware, when I had already wired over half of what I owed, and they kept switching where the money should be wired which was a huge red flag! Amat was still trying to contact me, and I told him great, if we can meet in person, or at the very least face time or zoom call so I could see it was really him! I doubt I will ever hear from “Amat” again or get any money back since it was wired over.
I am one of those gullible or hopefull writers that has been following this scam or whatever it is for over a year now and I have actually them given money which I will probably never get back. I just want to warn people so no other authors can be targeted. It all started around September 2022 when I started getting E mails from Amat Escalante, Saying my book Blank Slate had reached his desk and qualified for enternational film. This was exciting since it is my biggest dream to have my book become a movie. I had also been to pitchfest in 2020 so I believed my book could have hit his desk. I emailed back saying I didnt have a screenplay yet for that particular book, but I would find a way to provide one. Then I started getting calls from Spotlight media, saying they would provide a screenplay and “Movie investors” would front 70 percent. And this would only cost $33,000. I even recieved a non disclosure letter from netflix, which looked like my book was definately going to be a movie. Even sighned by Amat Escalante himself! I seriously considered this, since I know screenplays can be costly. Then I started getting calls from a UK number from Amat Escalante himself. He said he wanted to make sure spotlight media was doing what he had asked them to do. In the end, I said 33k was way too much and I found a cheaper way to provide one. I told Amat I would send it over when it was done. He seemed dissapointed, but agreed. so 6 months went by untill the screenplay was done, and I E mailed it over to him. I got a phone call from “Amat” saying he sent my screenplay to a company for review, and it was good, just needed a little tweaking. But now we just needed to provide a cinematic trailor. He wanted me to work with Above The line media production, and said Movie investors would be fronting a large amount. He said he wanted to make it so I paid nothing. But when I spoke to Avove the line they said movie investors would front 50 percent. My obligation was just 17k. But I had come so far, and the thought of my book being a movie was so overwhelming I went with them. They were able to arrange a payment plan so I thought that could work. Well, there was little communication, although I did recieve an E mail with the press release which was supposed to go to many production companies. Also a poor quality screenplay or part of one even though this wasnt part of the deal since I already provided one. This confused me, since I thought this was already a garanteed movie. I also did another book video through the same company I had used for my screenplay since I wanted to compare. Anyway, when I finally got the book trailors back, The one I provided, which I paid less than 2k was much better quality than the one I was supposed to pay 17k to Above the line media. Anyway, I finally read this post on writer beware, when I had already wired over half of what I owed, and they kept switching where the money should be wired which was a huge red flag! Amat was still trying to contact me, and I told him great, if we can meet in person, or at the very least face time or zoom call so I could see it was really him! I doubt I will ever hear from “Amat” again or get any money back since it was wired over. I feel like a fool but I want to help other writers so the same thing doesnt happen to them. By the way, the website for Spotlight media and Above the line media are currently under construction, since they are now working ad Blue Screen or Filmhouse Production. People probably cought on to them, so of course they had to change their name. Anyone else gone through a similar situation?
Thank you for your comment, Shanell, and for sharing your experience. I know it’s not easy to talk about something like this.
I spoke with Above the line media today. The work requested was performed. As far as the Weight of the content described in this blog is non conclusive. My fear is, that we have people representing good people. Misleading people into employing them and investing. I feel that work is needed. Work needed to expose these imposters. Imposters who are tarnishing the reputation of truly good people.
For me, my employment of Above the line media was a good move. Just make sure that you are employing the right company. This holds true for all web based support companies. Like what was described in this blog. If something doesn’t feel right. Back off and question everything.
Perhaps something can be learned from this blog. To decipher a means to establish quantified working relationships.
This is what makes it so difficult for good people to help anyone.
“I spoke with Above the line media today.”
You mean you are Above The Line. Your propaganda is hard to decipher due to poor literacy in English, but it appears to have a few obvious lies. If you wish to deceive more people, you might consider asking someone who has English as their “first language.” Perhaps you might wish to try:
“In no way am I connected to the predatory scam Above The Line Film and Media Production. I am just here to tell everyone that Above The Line Film and Media Production is not a scam. Everyone who works at Above The Line Film and Media Production (including me) are fine, upstanding, honest, caring, dedicated people who just want to help authors turn their books into films for altruistic reasons. We here at Above The Line Film and Media Production, which I am in no way connected, are merely misunderstood by the ignorant people we have robbed. Perhaps something can be learned from this blog by deleting all of its factual content. Thank you. Post Script: if you are ever in the Philippines, feel free to visit me.”
I would also like to share, in order to get your story considered by a movie production company. I writer must have a script. To hire a script writer is in the 100,000
00 dollar range for a successful script writer.
All of us writers entertain the idea. That he or she might one day see their story on the big screen.
This writer / movie production business is a mystical door. Think about it, finding a contact is next to impossible.
So if a talent scout says that they found your story interesting. Discovering your story at a book fair. After all, a book fair is the place to advertise and produce book sales.
This is how they found me. Not some cold call. So all of the writers are subject to be targeted. From all sorts of angles.
Writing is supposed to be fun and entertaining.
“I would also like to share, in order to get your story considered by a movie production company.”
Dude. You do know everyone knows you are lying, right?
Also, what you wrote is the exact opposite of how books become films.
It is absolutely not true that a writer needs a screenplay in order to sell film rights to their book. Film rights sell to production companies via reputable agents; the film companies then hire their own screenwriters. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying, or trying to get you to pay for something you don’t need.
You’re right that having your book made into a movie is many writers’ most fervent desire. But it is also one of the rarest outcomes of publishing a book. Even most very successful books never sell or option film or TV rights. The vision of Hollywood that’s being sold to writers by so many scammers and opportunists is a predatory lie that enriches the scammer and cheats the writer twice: not just of money, but of dreams.
Yes, it is easy to say that anything is obvious. When a person has information to reference. Thanks to this thread, maybe this deceitful and hurtful scam can be stopped. Speaking of that! How can these scammers be persecuted? What actions can be made to bring these folks down. This act called “Scams” is simply another form of theft. This is growing into a luquitive business. What steps is our legal system doing to bring these people to justice?
is Above the Line Film and Media Productions a scam? Adam De Guzman offering a deal
Above the Line Film and Media Productions isn’t on my scam list (only because I’m too tired to add it tonight)–but looking at its website, it’s a clone of The Spotlight Media Productions, which runs the scam discussed in this post. So yes, definitely a scam.
“So yes, definitely a scam.”
Registry Expiration: 2024-01-02 16:10:49 UTC
Updated: 2023-01-02 16:10:56 UTC
Created: 2023-01-02 16:10:49 UTC
The website asserts “ten years” in the business.
Q: “is Above the Line Film and Media Productions a scam?”
A: Yes, it is a scam. It appears to be yet another one-person scam that sells utterly worthless “advertising” and “exposure” to film producers; the film industry does not work this way. Note that the person’s website https://www.abovethelinefilmproduction.com/ has no information at all regarding who made the website; who the “experts” are; who the producers of their/his listed “projects” are.
The scam takes money from people who want to see their novel turn into a film.
One of the listed “projects” is the book _The AHASFER GAME._ I read the first chapter and it is utter garbage, and of no interest at all to any film producer, nor film production crew. The book was published by a predatory vanity press named _AuthorHouseUK._ AuthorHouse has published some good books about ten years ago.
Adam Guzman is a big time scam artist so are his assistants Trisha and Catherine! Stay away from these crooks!
Marlena Fearing
Yes the same scam was attempted by this “famous” director. He & his partner wanted me to pay $30,000 for the script. Had them investigated & yes a big scam. Of course, they want you to wire the money.
It’s likely that these are the same boiler-rooms in the Philippines that are self-publishing predators. They have just enough info to make a lay person think it’s real. This one was Guillermo and Kathryn Bigelow. One of my clients was just contacted by them. Luckily he called me right away and I put a stop to it. But yeah, they’re still at it…
I just hung up with an Asian, man claiming that Guillermo del Toro, wanted to talk to me about turning my book into a movie for Netflix. I immediately knew it was a scam, after finding this page, while talking to him!! They just want out money!
Yep, happened to me. Same scam.
I just got off of the phone with “Jean Gray” whose pitch was pretty much as set out above. I kept asking her to get to the point as to what she wanted from me and she kept launching into what I heard as some sort of canned speech. The red flag was asking me to call Guillermo Del Toro. I told her that I was dubious that someone of that caliber was involved at that level. She parried it pretty well. I got off of the phone and Googled del toro scam and found your piece. Good work.
Wow, not only Guillermo but the X-men! This is one high-flying scam.
I was called by Jean Gray just a few minutes ago. It sounded suspicious from the get go, but thankfully Victoria here confirmed it. Thank you Victoria Strauss!
It is a couple, the scammers. They called me for two days now, on march 12th, and 17th, from tel. # 213-457-3299. Why and how do they obtain these local phone numbers? Why isn’t Verizon blocking these suspicious calls? This guys, a woman, and a man, are actually FILIPPINOS, with heavy accents. I caught them, and they swiftly canceled the 1st phone number they called me from, after playing the Guillermo “disk”. How can we stop these phone numbers to be misrepresenting people, and businesses, especially that we hava law, privacy law, I need to sue these assholes.
How do the scammers find out about book authors to scam? Do legitimate publishers sell them their author lists?
The vast majority of targeted authors have used one of the Author Solutions imprints, or with high-priced fee-chargers like Page Publishing or Dorrance. I do suspect that these companies sell their customer lists.
Thanks so much for highlighting this scam. One of our writers had the same email from American Bookstore Mexico as one of the commenters above.
Is there any way they’d be willing to share that email with me? Assuming they still have it. beware@sfwa.org . Thanks!
I got a phone call from the DIrector del Toro and interview. Sounded too good to be true.
Me too. I am feeling rather gullible. Thank you for the warning.
Me too
Thank you so much, David Michael Rice for your insightful comments. It makes sense to me, now. You have just verified this is a Scam! I will block this scammer, Richard Torres of Pen Culture Solutions, previously Paper Leaf Agency from doing all means to carry out his evil scheme.
I have checked ABM domain name; americanbookstoremx.com and I found out it is not even registered. Looks like ABM is a Scam, too!
Dear Victoria,
I received an email this morning from American Bookstore Mexico (ABM) claiming to have received a pitch for my book from Pen Culture Solutions whom they have worked since 2015.
ABM intents to carry out a “Book Acquisition” from me through Pen Culture Solutions. The initial purchase will be 1200 books display on their shelves over 18 months period. If profitable, they will purchase a further 1500 books. They want me to contact Richard Torres, a Senior Literary Agent of Pen Culture Solutions to conclude an Agreement before ABM initiate the purchase.
I understand Pen Culture Solutions is one of your Blacklisted agency of Scammer. I am unsure now and would be grateful if you may advise me the following questions:
1. Could ABM be part of a scam link?
2. Should I proceed to contact Pen Culture Solutions under the circumstance?
3. ABM offers of my Book Acquisition appears to be an opportunity for book sales. Is there a possible trap?
Your prompt and early reply would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks,
Jeremy
“1. Could ABM be part of a scam link?”
Yes.
“2. Should I proceed to contact Pen Culture Solutions under the circumstance?”
If they want to buy 1,200 of your books, they would have done so already via wherever you have them for sale: certainly they need not contact you to do so. Note also that their domain is misconfigured and uncertified: one should avoid looking at their website.
Their website’s “About us” page says nothing at all about them / him / her.
“3. ABM offers of my Book Acquisition appears to be an opportunity for book sales. Is there a possible trap?”
I looked at “American Bookstore Mexico” (Bolivar 23, 06000 Mexico City, Mexico City, Mexico) and it is not a bookstore, and it is marked “closed” (I presume out-of-business). It appears that this is a location once used by AUTHOR SOLUTIONS, and operated out of the Philippines .
Hi, Jeremy,
Pen Culture Solutions is definitely a scam; I’ve gotten many reports of its deceptive solicitations and high fees. To answer your questions:
1. I know of two pay-to-play bookstores that are associated with Philippines-based scams like Pen Culture. However, if ABM is a real store and not a front for Pen Culture to run a scam, my guess would be that it doesn’t know that its name is being used.
2. No. My advice would be to have nothing to do with them.
3. It is not an opportunity for book sales–it’s an opportunity for Pen Culture to get your money. I suspect they haven’t yet revealed this, but they will tell you that you have to pay some large amount of money for the 1,200 books, or for some aspect of printing them or securing some sort of bogus legal service associated with them. It’s also possible that you’ll just be told you have to let Pen Culture re-publish your book. At any rate, once you’ve handed over the money, Pen Culture will press you to spend more. Eventually, when you get suspicious and start asking questions, or when they judge that you’re tapped out financially, they will ghost you.
Bookstores purchase books from book wholesalers or distributors, not marketing companies or literary agencies or whatever Pen Culture is presenting itself to you as. When bookstores buy books, _they_ pay for them. You do not. None of what’s being presented to you is how the real world of publishing and bookselling operates. It is, however, a fairly common scam.
Would you share the email with me that you received from ABM? My email is beware@sfwa.org
Dear Victoria,
I appreciate very much receiving your comments.
I have taken notes of your advice, it means a lot to me.
You reckon ABM doesn’t appear to be “scammy” but I found their website; americanbookstoremx.com is not even registered. Here is their email I received, happy to share it here…
Quote:
[Hi Jeremy,
Greetings!
We are elated to inform you that our Bookshop would like to offer you and your book an Acquisition Partnership. We received a pitch letter from Pen Culture Solutions and have been doing business with them since 2015.
American Bookstore Mexico would like to order 1,200 copies of your book and display it for a period of eighteen (18) months on our shelves. After (18) months, if your book is profitable, we will order 1,500 more copies of the book.
This Acquisition Partnership will commence once You and Pen Culture Solutions have come to an Agreement. Kindly coordinate with your Literary Agent Richard Torres regarding this matter.
Sincerely,
Fernando Pascual
Senior Director for Strategic Planning
American Bookstore Mexico
support@americanbookstoremx.com
República de Cuba 33, Centro Histórico de la Cdad. de México, de la, Cuauhtémoc, 06000 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico
The content of this email is confidential and intended for the recipient specified in the message only. It is strictly forbidden to share any part of this message with any third party, without the written consent of the sender. If you received this message by mistake, please reply to this message and follow with its deletion, so that we can ensure such a mistake does not occur in the future.]
Unquote.
If you find any further suspicion from ABM email, please advise. Thanks.
Hi, Jeremy,
I’m intrigued, so I did some research. The bookstore itself does exist at the address mentioned in the email, although it’s called American Bookstore, not American Bookstore Mexico. Here’s its Facebook page. Here’s its website: http://americanbookstore.com.mx/. Notice the subtle difference between that URL and the dot com URL in the email.
Both the slightly different business name, and the slightly different URL, are a common trick used by scammers who are impersonating real people or organizations, so that if someone targeted by the scam does a websearch, a real company will show up, and hopefully the person won’t notice that the company name and web domain are not quite the same as those cited by the scammer.
The americanbookstoremx.com URL in the email is just 26 days old, according to WhoIs. There’s no website at that address, maybe because the scammers haven’t yet had a chance to slap one up. I would guess that the real American Boookstore knows nothing about this scheme.
Thank you once again, dear Victoria.
I appreciate your research works highlightiing a subtle difference in domain. Absolutely, spot on. The scammer can’t get away with this evil scheme. Damn evil!
Thank you for keeping us informed.
Sorry. I wrote my post fast without proof reading. Rewrite- Thank you for the article for confirmation. I just received a Guillermo Del Toro scam email today. I have been an Author for a while now and I definitely know that things do not work that way. I do have screenplays that I have written which will be submitted to reputable contests, but I would definitely not make a movie adaptation of my book series Tabby (I would like to do a TV series someday, but definitely not a movie), which proved the email was fake knowing that no one involved had actually read my book…
Thanks for this post. I figured it had to be a scam, so nice to have the confirmation.
Just got my scam email today! Thank you for posting this.
I just got a call the other day claiming to be from Amazon film production. I think this is someone impersonating them. What do you think?
I think you’re correct. Production companies don’t cold-call writers.
That’s the thing about scammers; they don’t want to waste their time on people who aren’t gullible enough to take them at their word. So most of these scams that are blatantly obvious are like that on purpose. If someone is willing to believe the first step, they’re way more likely to believe anything going forward. Whereas if it was convincing on step one but step two starts falling apart, they’ll have way more people bailing out.
“Director del Toro.” Good gods!
One of the “sad-looking current projects” shows a book titled “The Power of Passion,” written by “Dennis W C Wong.” That book was published by “Writers’ Branding.”
Poor Mr. Wong has been ripped off by multiple scammers, of which Writers Branding (on my list of overseas scams) is just one. That’s often the case for people who fall for these schemes.
It is unfortunate that people fall for scams that are pretty obvious. As you say, they only need a few marks to fall for it and they’ll make a decent profit.