Pinewood...more Govt Propaganda

[Donald Trumps]

Does it belong to IOM PLC?

[FACT]

No, it was built with the aid of a grant, mentioned elsewhere on here. £750k IIRC

[newsnight]

Over the next weeks all the accounts on the films funded with the IOM Film Investment Fund will be published on Manx Forums.

 

The Treasury should be accessing this information and providing it to any Member of the House of Keys who wants to see it, but they appear to be in ignorance of the fact that this information can be easily accessed or maybe Minister Teare just doesn't want to face questions when the accounts are read by certain MHK's who are able to understand what they are showing?

 

http://online.morningstarir.com/ir/pws/downloads/pdf/IRSept2013.pdf

 

15. Related party disclosures

The unaudited interim consolidated financial statements include the financial statements of Pinewood Shepperton plc, its

subsidiaries and its interests in the joint ventures listed in the following table.

Country of incorporation

% equity interest

30 September 2013 30 September 2012

Pinewood Studios Limited United Kingdom 100 100

Shepperton Studios Limited United Kingdom 100 100

Pinewood-Shepperton Studios Limited United Kingdom 100 100

Teddington Studios Limited United Kingdom 100 100

Pinewood Shepperton Facilities Limited United Kingdom 100 100

Baltray No.1 Limited United Kingdom 100 100

Baltray No.2 Limited United Kingdom 100 100

Shepperton Management Limited United Kingdom 100 100

Pinewood PSB Limited (previously Project Pinewood

Property Limited)

United Kingdom

100 100

Saul’s Farm Limited United Kingdom 100 100

Pinewood Malaysia Limited United Kingdom 100 100

Pinewood Germany Limited United Kingdom 100 100

Pinewood Dominican Republic Limited United Kingdom 100 100

Pinewood USA Inc USA 100 100

Pinewood Film Production Studios Canada Inc Canada 100 100

Pinewood China Limited United Kingdom 100 –

Pinewood Atlanta Limited United Kingdom 100 –

Pinewood Films Limited United Kingdom 100 100

Pinewood Last Passenger Limited (previously

Pinewood Films No.2 Limited)

United Kingdom

100 100

Pinewood Belle Limited (previously Pinewood Films

No.3 Limited)

United Kingdom

100 100

Pinewood Films No.4 Limited United Kingdom 100 100

Pinewood Films No.5 Limited United Kingdom 100 –

Pinewood Films No.6 Limited United Kingdom 100 –

Pinewood Films No.7 Limited United Kingdom 100 –

Pinewood Films No.8 Limited United Kingdom 100 –

Pinewood Films No.9 Limited United Kingdom 100 –

Pinewood Films Advisors Limited United Kingdom 100 100

PSL Consulting Limited United Kingdom 100 –

Pinewood Shepperton plc is the parent entity of the Group.

Isle of Man Media Development Fund

The Group incurred costs of £360,000 in the prior period mainly in relation to professional fees as a result of signing an

agreement with the Isle of Man Treasury (“IOMT”) to source and advise on film investment opportunities for the

£25 million fund established by the IOMT and to monitor and capitalise on UK distribution rights in films and television

programmes funded by the IOMT. No such costs have been incurred in the current period.

15. Related party disclosures continued Transaction with Director

The Group has a consultancy agreement for services related to the Isle of Man Investment Advisory Agreement with

Gasworks Media Limited, a company incorporated in the Isle of Man, whose sole shareholder, Steve Christian, is also an

Executive Director of the Group. The total value of the transactions during the year is £135,000, of which £45,000

remains outstanding for payment by the Group at 30 September 2013 (six month period ended 30 September 2012:

no transactions). The balance owing is unsecured, interest free and payable in cash upon invoicing.

http://www.pinewoodgroup.com/sites/default/files/ps-pdfs/ar13.pdf

http://wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk//wcframe?name=accessCompanyInfo

Company Numbers provided below.

PINEWOOD FILM ADVISORS LIMITED 08864165 PINEWOOD FILM ADVISORS (W) LIMITED 07660856 PINEWOOD FILMS LIMITED 08519564 PINEWOOD FILMS NO.8 LIMITED 08599286 PINEWOOD FILMS NO.9 LIMITED 08818148 PINEWOOD FILMS NO.10 LIMITED 08865342 PINEWOOD FILMS NO.11 LIMITED 09006529 PINEWOOD FILMS NO.13 LIMITED 08865668 PINEWOOD FILMS NO.12 LIMITED 08446929 PINEWOOD FILMS NO.7 LIMITED 08370083 PINEWOOD FILMS NO.6 LIMITED

PINEWOOD BELLE LIMITED
PINEWOOD STUDIOS
PINEWOOD ROAD
IVER
BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
ENGLAND
SL0 0NH
Company No. 08146449

Include Allotment of Shares Type Date Description Order

AA 17/10/2013 FULL ACCOUNTS MADE UP TO 06/08/13

AA01 17/10/2013 PREVSHO FROM 30/11/2013 TO 06/08/2013

 

[newsnight]

Belle / Pinewood No 3 Ltd.

 

 

Pinewood Films No 3 Belle.pdf

Pinewood Films N3 Annual Return 2013.pdf

Pinewood No3 Financial Statements 30 Nov 2012.pdf

PW No3 Belle AA 2013.pdf

[Donald Trumps]

What significant physical assets does it have & what is their value in the books?

[quilp]

Is this a storm in a tea-cup or is the ship of fools sailing too close to the wind? So far, after reading these accounts (half way through), I can't see anything that lends itself to illegality, dishonesty or sharp-practice.

 

Maybe I'm missing something....

[newsnight]

Notes to the Financial Statements Period 17th July 2012 to 30th of November 2012, Under Contingent Liabilities on Page 11, Paragraph 15.

 

"Charges have been made against the film in favor of the following parties in order to secure their interests in the copyright of and title to the film.

 

CinemaNX Ltd

Head Gear Films FN Ltd

Pinewood Films Ltd

Firemans Fund Insurance and International Guarantors LLC

The British Film Institute.

 

Why does CinemaNX Ltd have copyright and title to the film?

 

What is the value of the copyright and title to the film owned by CinemaNX Ltd.

 

Who is the Director and majority shareholder of CinemaNX Ltd?

 

Who is paid to be the 'Investment Coordinator' between Pinewood Films / Pinwood Film Advisors Ltd and the Isle of Man Film Investment Fund?

 

Who is the Director and majority shareholder of GasWorks Media Ltd?

 

What films have been financed out of the IOMFI Fund that have copyright and title in either CinemaNX or GasWorks Ltd and what amounts have been provided?

 

Is there a conflict of interest between Steve Christian as a member of the Board of Directors of Pinewood Shepperton Plc and the directorships in CinemaNX Ltd, GasWorks Media Ltd when it comes to coordinating investment advice as to what projects are to be funded out of the Isle of Man Investment Fund?

 

Should these questions and others be asked by the Public Accounts Committee?

 

These are questions not accusations, questions that lead to others and all of them should be answered in an open and fully accountable way on the floor of the Parliament and why should that be? Because it is public money that is being spent and that means under the laws of the Isle of Man they have to account for it to you and me though our elected representatives, that's Democracy when it works as it is intended to do, isn't it?

 

 

 

 

[The Sick Moon]

Is this a storm in a tea-cup or is the ship of fools sailing too close to the wind? So far, after reading these accounts (half way through), I can't see anything that lends itself to illegality, dishonesty or sharp-practice.

 

Maybe I'm missing something....

 

Maybe you are, but it isn't a cliché.

[newsnight]

Deemster Doyle doing stand up comedy now?

 

"Respect for rule of law vital for economy"

 

http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/business/respect-for-rule-of-law-vital-for-economy-1-6651334 MHK Alf Cannan had this to say on the topic of Government having respect for the rule of law, http://www.manxradio.com/oNews/uploaded/audio/80381-1.mp3

 

May I respectfully suggest that Mr.Cannan and the Public Accounts Committee might like to revisit the Isle of Man Film Investment Fund and related matters to see if Government has had any regard to the law in matters relating to the IOMFI Fund?

 

Given that Mr. Christian has been at the very beginning of the Isle of Man Government's involvement in Film Funding and has been the author of the changes that have been made in Government Policy, he was also the "broker" of the deal with Peel Holdings and Pinewood and was the director of IOM Film that paid for the Oxford Economics Report that was cited as giving legitimacy to the Pinewood management deal in the first place, he is also the owner and director of companies that have received substantial financial benefits out of the Film Fund could that lead to a supposition that the film fund has been misnamed?

 

Is the Film Fund a guaranteed source of finance for Mr Christian in an industry where finance is historically difficult to find money for projects? If that is the case then why is that the case?

 

Over to you Mr. Cannan and the Public Accounts Committee, or is the law only the law when it is convenient for Government to have it be so?

 

 

 

[Albert Tatlock]

Well done on the research Newsnight.

[slinkydevil]

https://www.facebook.com/groups/IOMPAG/10152062246496567/

5th June 2014

The Hon S C Rodan SHK
Legislative Buildings
Finch Road
Douglas
IM1 3PW

Dear Mr Speaker

 

Pinewood Film Advisors questions asked in the House of Keys

Tuesday 11th February 2014.

 

I enclose copy of the Hansard where we see a blatant attempt to demean and mislead an elected Member and the Hon House by the Treasury Minister, who claimed that he was unwilling to answer the questions put to him on the grounds of “commercial confidentiality” when it has been proved to all that the information is freely available to any member of the public through the internet.

http://www.tynwald.org.im/business/opqp/opqp/2014-PP-0015.pdf#search="Pinewood" Order Paper.

http://www.tynwald.org.im/business/hansard/20002020/k140211.pdf

I refer to a posting which was made on the Manx Forums website at,http://www.manxforums.com/forums/index.php?/topic/53600-pinewoodmore-govt-propaganda/page-32

 

The information provided on the Forum has been independently verified as being correct.

 

It is absolutely appalling that the readership of the Manx Forums are better informed than Members of the House of Keys, due to the blatant misrepresentation of replies by the Treasury Minister that this information is being refused on the grounds that is commercially confidential when the truth is that this information is being denied to us and the Hon House is being deliberately mislead by our Treasury Minister.

 

If we are to have any respect from the general public in the institution of the House of Keys as part of a parliamentary democracy, then I hope that you as Speaker of the House will ask the Treasury Minister to make a statement on why he made such misleading replies to the Questioner and the House when the information is readily available on the Manx Forums but not to the Parliament of the Manx Nation?

 

Yours sincerely

 

Peter Karran MHK

Member for Onchan
Liberal Vannin Party

[asitis]

Having just read the two Hansards referred to above I can only say that the punch and judy politics would be extremely amusing were it not for the fact that huge swathes of public money is involved. It does leave a bad taste where those at the top table appear willing to pour scorn on others, rather than make a serious attempt to answer the legitimate concerns being put on behalf of I suspect a large number of the electorate. Those documents do nothing to enhance the reputation of our thousand year old parliament that is for sure !

Edited June 6, 2014 by asitis

[Boris Johnson]

Quick..... get a good hold of that crab before he gets out of the basket.................................

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh too late, life can be a bitch sometimes and instead of moaning about someone doing well for themselves why not concentrate on your own life and its direction?

[newsnight]

A brief reminder of some salient facts may be useful right now? It is accepted that right at the outset of the IOM Government’s involvement in film finance the way films were funded was on the basis of no risk short term loans against UK tax credits and a percentage of earnings out of USA distribution. Additionally, the IOM Treasury had a VAT advantage out of the films so financed with taxpayers money,

So what changed? What changed was that Ernst & Young’s consultants to the Manx Department of Trade and Industry came up with a plan to exploit the VAT capacity from ‘film making’ on the Isle of Man, specifically the Earnst & Young consultant with the ideas was Steve Christian.

At the time of the change the existing film studio on the Isle of Man wanted to expand to create a new studio facility and they asked the DTI to grant aid that. The Consultants, Steve Christian and Shelia Thomson (both employees of Earnst & Young at that time) had the contract through E&Y with the DTI to handle the application. That application was rejected under very odd circumstances fully described in the Public Accounts Committee investigation on Island Studios and related matters.

Shelia Thomson was asked why she had rejected the application from the existing studio owners, she said it was Steve Christian’s decision to do that.

Steve Christian was asked. Why did you reject the application? He said because the DTI didn’t like the applicant, and they didn’t have any experience of running studios. He was then asked. Why a studio in the North of the Island, was that something decided especially? He said no it wasn’t.

However, the question was not asked why would someone who had bought farmland with no planning permissions, and unlikely to get them anytime soon, buy it? Was the buyer a farmer? No, he was not. Did he intend to get into farming? No he did not. So why buy that land and importantly who did he buy it from. The answer to who did he buy it from can be found at the IOM Land Registry, the reason why he bought it is much more intriguing.

Suddenly, there was an application for a studio to be built in the North of the Island on farmland. The application was according to the PAC Report effectively written by Shelia Thomson and Steve Christian, and not only did they have the power to submit the application as written to the DTI they had the power to recommend approval of it too. The DTI according to the Public Accounts Committee rubber stamped the approval on the recommendation as received.

So what experience of running film studios had the applicant from the North of the Island actually have? None! None at all. No history, no experience, and regardless of that over seven hundred thousand pounds was dropped into the company making the application to build a studio from scratch and then run it too.

Then there was the question of the equipment that had been funded, was it new as the regulations demanded? No it was not, was there a inventory? No there was not. When the ‘equipment’ was the subject of the UK liquidation of the ‘provider’ of it, the Liquidator was unable to provide an inventory, the Auction House said to have sold it could not provide any information about it and had no records that could be produced.

The matter was referred to the Attorney General in the IOM and then? Nothing.

Meanwhile the PAC was told by the DTI that the basis for claiming all the many millions of pounds in VAT from the UK could not actually be verified, because, they didn’t check anything much if at all.

Next, all change in the way the film financing was to be undertaken. The studio in the North had films made in it, paid out of the film financing but they had nothing independently of IOM Films and or CinemaNX.

Many years later the directors of Island Studios would complain bitterly about the studio being unused and they felt that was because? None had been brought to it by Steve Christian / IOM Film/ CinemaNX said the directors in a story reported in the local press .

Now, we have CinemaNX Ltd with the £50 million and Minister Teare thinks each project didn’t usually have any outside partners? Who took all the risks now if the projects failed and all the money was lost? Well that would be me and you. So who actually owned the projects that had been financed to the tune of around £25 million pounds plus? Keep asking, because that question is yet to be answered.

Then we have the reasons why it all had to change, it was so that the IOM film ‘Industry’ wouldn’t be dependent on a few key people such as Steve Christian and Hillary Dugdale, that was one of the strongest points made in presentations to MHK's. The wheel turned and the same player is at the hub of it, only this time he is a private individual with a private company and he is the ‘sole provider’ to the IOM Government.

Is he an advisor or a fund manager, what is he a sole provider of? The PAC didn’t get a clear answer on that question and the Treasury had one idea, the Attorney General a completely different one, and at the end of it Pinewood appears out of the mists, a deal according to Alan Bell ‘brokered by Steve Christian.

Now we have questions about Pinewood shares in CinemaNX’s name, questions, such as how did it get them, and who did it sell them on to, but no answers on the grounds of ’commercial confidentiality’ and it is made clear in no uncertain terms that questions are to be discouraged.

There has been two attempts by the Public Accounts Committee on the Film Fund and related matters and at the end of those published reports there are still even more questions than answers.

Minister Teare wants to play the ’it’s all mixed up together routine’ and the shares in Pinewood and the ’slate’ of films are doing just great thanks for asking. But that won’t wash will it really Minister, and it won’t was because exactly like the last time when it was asked, what are the targets set or the return on investment expected by Treasury the answer was? ’We have set no targets and we have no expectations’.

Commercial confidentiality is a dance of the seven veils with the IOM Government, but I strongly suggest that when the last veil is on the floor the sight before the electorate’s eyes will not be a pretty one or that easily forgotten. The price of that particular ‘lap dance’ is one that is going to be paid for many years yet to come by the IOM taxpayers?

Frankly, what reputation do you possibly imagine the Tynwald has left? This ongoing fiasco with the film fund is but one of many the IOM Government has mired it and us in, and now the Council of Ministers and its tame MHK supporters would have us accept unquestioningly that, the job of Government is mud wrestling and that they are quite proud of the way they keep sliding out of the headlocks.

The MHK’s who have supported this multi-million pounds phantasmagoria using the public purse have a lot to answer for, and we, the electorate are damn well going to keep asking until we get the answers we have a lawful right to have. Keep on telling us that we have to tighten our belts and that there is no money for further education or other essentials and we will keep echoing Alf Cannan’s comments on this matter as stated in the Hansard on this site, until we are properly heard and we get at the truth of it all.

“400 Mr Cannan: Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. Listening to the responses, isn’t it time for a bit of honesty in the House at the moment, (Mrs Cannell and Mrs Beecroft: Hear, hear.) for the Treasury Minister to admit that this investment in films is entirely inappropriate for the current circumstances that we find ourselves in? Doesn’t he agree that the money would be far better spent investing in sport, tourism, 405 leisure, or even infrastructure, where we can seek direct returns (Mrs Cannell: Hear, hear.) for the people of this Island and we could have benefits that would be long-lasting, rather than just short term? (Mrs Cannell: Hear, hear.)”

http://www.tynwald.org.im/business/pp/Reports/2010-PP-0105.pdf

http://www.tynwald.org.im/business/pp/Reports/2006-PP-0135.pdf

http://www.iomtoday.co.im/what-s-on/manx-entertainment-news/film-studio-for-sale-1-3652145

[Slim]

A brief reminder

Well that went well..

 

The last paragraph is the key point for me. They've had a punt at films on the island and it may or may not have worked out or been entirely fairly managed. What's without doubt is that we need investment in our own industries, and I'm not seeing the benefit of investing in Pinewood having been in it for some time. That cash would be far better invested in growing local media.