So we've already reported on Ken "Whit" Whitman's three new ventures, really with a focus on Little Monster Entertainment LLC and Community Film Collaborative Inc. If you go to the latter, the big headline on the landing page (just above a donation link!) is:
Teaching Underprivileged Young Adults the Art of Filmmaking & Storytelling.
Now Kenny has already proven bad with film money (not an opinion, he literally posted this sentiment on Kickstarter) and it's obvious the line between the non/for profit enterprises is, at a minimum, muddled. There was this big time nagging at the back of this editors mind and when I saw Kenny's comment on an episode of Talking Crit LIVE!, I had a light-bulb moment. Here are a few of his comments, but it's the last one that just hit me.
So Kenny is doing low-budget films, presumably using high-end equipment he bought using money pilfered from the Knights of the Dinner Table Community, where he is paid by wannabe actors/film workers to "learn how to act and work on set". Ok first off, those are actually jobs that produce positive cash flow for performing, not negative cash flow. I cannot imagine showing up to a potential new career and being asked to pay for the privilege of working.
Now I've heard of that happening, and every time it was an actual scam.
But don't worry, if you're young enough you can work on the non-profit side of things and get paid $4,800 to $7,200 for six months of half-time work. Oh, and if you stick it through we'll give you another $134K (and change). That makes the hourly rate just under $300/hr.
Where do I sign up?!!!!!
I know I'm losing somebody here, but if you re-read Kenny's last comment he says participants in his program get $10-$15 an hour for 480 hours and then get free college. I just used the numbers for tuition and admin fees, but still......
That's a pretty sweet deal.....actually sounds waaaaaay too sweet. You know what usually sounds like too good of a deal? Yep, a scam.
You know what else is indicative of a scam? Mismatched information. Kenny claims it's a 480 internship and you get this free scholarship, but on Little Monsters the internship is "12 weeks full time, 24 weeks part time." 'Ol Whit is also saying he'll provide you that sweet, sweet four year ride, but again, what is being offered is if you "don't get hired after the Internship ends?" is "We will try to place you at another company that is better suited for your skill set. (or) We will work with you to apply for college, either at the Asbury University (who focus on filmmaking) located Nicholasville, Ky, OR into Center College if Filmmaking is not your thing. (or) We will help you find a job locally with you new skill set."
Did I mention this info is NOT on the non-profit site? So the program is being touted as a non-profit "thing", but really almost all of the information is on the for-profit company's website.
That doesn't look fishy at all.....
You know what else doesn't look fishy at all? That Ken "Whit" Whitman, according to his own "press release" is looking for "fifty plus young adults by the end of 2023" Now technically this is just about getting youth involved and the internship is not specifically mentioned, but it's another bit of confusing mismatch of data.
Opinion: This just doesn't add up and the simplest explanation is that Kenny is using a non-profit as a cover for skimming money from people through his for-profit company. He is dangling the idea of internships, extremally lucrative ones, at that, through the non-profit. This gets him donations from the community (his favorite scam technique demonstrated by his Kickstarters) AND workforce volunteers from a more naïve population ("young adults struggling to find their path in life") . He clearly is promoting that his program is going to provide college, but the documentation is more, "we'll help you apply for college", at best. Meanwhile this workforce, which will make him look good, can help bring in suckers actors willing to pay to be in short films that he is writing/directing/producing, most of which (so far) have not seen the light of day. So he gets cheap, possibly free labor by dangling a carrot and others to pay him for work that he should be paying for normally.
This is our opinion/prediction and we're sticking to it.
The "typo" that is "young adults are pay $10-$15 an hour". You interpreted "are pay" to mean "are paid". But what if it is intended to be "are paying"? Since this is billed as an "internship", that may actually be how much that they are paying per hour for the experience. This then fits in with the first comment that says, "New actors pay to learn..."
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