The National Enquirer (U.S. and UK editions) and sister publications Globe and National Examiner are being unloaded by A360 Media to a Jv of Vinco Ventures and Ted Farnsworth’s Icon Publishing. The exec was CEO of Helios & Matheson, a public company that acquired MoviePass in 2017 only see the ticketing service go belly-up three years later.
The Enquirer, a nearly century-old, often scandal-plagued tabloid, most recently achieved notoriety under former publisher David Pecker with so-called “catch and kill” tactics — paying for stories that were potentially embarrassing to former President Donald Trump and never running them. That included payments to Playboy model Karen McDougal, who claimed she had an affair with Trump. In 2019, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, in the midst of a divorce, accused the tabloid of attempting to strong arm and extort him with intimate photos and texts.
Terms of today’s deal weren’t disclosed but it’s reportedly worth just under 100 million.
The Enquirer, a nearly century-old, often scandal-plagued tabloid, most recently achieved notoriety under former publisher David Pecker with so-called “catch and kill” tactics — paying for stories that were potentially embarrassing to former President Donald Trump and never running them. That included payments to Playboy model Karen McDougal, who claimed she had an affair with Trump. In 2019, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, in the midst of a divorce, accused the tabloid of attempting to strong arm and extort him with intimate photos and texts.
Terms of today’s deal weren’t disclosed but it’s reportedly worth just under 100 million.
- 2/6/2023
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Former MoviePass CEOs Ted Farnsworth and Mitch Lowe and the ticketing app’s former parent company Helios & Matheson have been charged by the Department of Justice in a securities fraud case Friday, alleging that the executives “engaged in a scheme to defraud investors” and lied about MoviePass’ operations in order to inflate the parent company’s stock price and attract new investors.
Farnsworth and Lowe are each charged with one count of securities fraud and three counts of wire fraud. If convicted, they each face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each count.
Farnsworth additionally surrendered himself to authorities in Washington D.C. on Friday following the charges, IndieWire has learned.
According to court documents, the Department of Justice indictment says Farnsworth and Lowe falsely claimed that MoviePass’ 9.95 “unlimited” plan – in which new subscribers could see unlimited movies in theaters with no blackout dates for a flat monthly fee – was tested,...
Farnsworth and Lowe are each charged with one count of securities fraud and three counts of wire fraud. If convicted, they each face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each count.
Farnsworth additionally surrendered himself to authorities in Washington D.C. on Friday following the charges, IndieWire has learned.
According to court documents, the Department of Justice indictment says Farnsworth and Lowe falsely claimed that MoviePass’ 9.95 “unlimited” plan – in which new subscribers could see unlimited movies in theaters with no blackout dates for a flat monthly fee – was tested,...
- 11/4/2022
- by Brian Welk
- Indiewire
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has sued former top execs at MoviePass and its parent company, Helios + Matheson, for fraud.
A complaint filed this week with the U.S. District Court for New York’s southern district (read it here) centers on Ted Farnsworth and Mitch Lowe. They “intentionally and repeatedly disseminated to the public materially false or misleading statements concerning MoviePass and key aspects of MoviePass’s business model,” the suit says. The duo allegedly misled investors by suggesting the company could profit by offering all-you-can eat moviegoing for just 9.95 a month.
The digital movie ticketing firm sought to popularize fixed-price ticket buying, a tool widely used in many international markets, but ran afoul of major exhibitors and then its customers after deciding to offer an unsustainable monthly price. After slashing the monthly price from its previous levels of 40 to 50 a month, the company still had to fulfill customer orders for tickets.
A complaint filed this week with the U.S. District Court for New York’s southern district (read it here) centers on Ted Farnsworth and Mitch Lowe. They “intentionally and repeatedly disseminated to the public materially false or misleading statements concerning MoviePass and key aspects of MoviePass’s business model,” the suit says. The duo allegedly misled investors by suggesting the company could profit by offering all-you-can eat moviegoing for just 9.95 a month.
The digital movie ticketing firm sought to popularize fixed-price ticket buying, a tool widely used in many international markets, but ran afoul of major exhibitors and then its customers after deciding to offer an unsustainable monthly price. After slashing the monthly price from its previous levels of 40 to 50 a month, the company still had to fulfill customer orders for tickets.
- 9/27/2022
- by Dade Hayes
- Deadline Film + TV
MoviePass was founded on a lie, the Securities and Exchange Commission alleged in a complaint filed on Monday night.
The company introduced its 9.95-a-month, all-you-can-watch subscription plan in August 2017. According to the complaint, executives Theodore Farnsworth and Mitch Lowe knew that the offer was just a “marketing gimmick” and that the price was unsustainably low.
But in public, they claimed that they had done rigorous market testing and determined they could turn a profit. In fact, they had done no testing, the SEC said. Asked by Variety if the company would eventually have to raise its prices, Farnsworth said, “The answer is no.” Critics, he went on, “don’t understand our business model.”
Helios and Matheson Analytics, the parent company of MoviePass, would go bankrupt after burning through hundreds of millions of dollars. According to the SEC, Farnsworth and Lowe repeatedly lied to the public about the MoviePass business model and then,...
The company introduced its 9.95-a-month, all-you-can-watch subscription plan in August 2017. According to the complaint, executives Theodore Farnsworth and Mitch Lowe knew that the offer was just a “marketing gimmick” and that the price was unsustainably low.
But in public, they claimed that they had done rigorous market testing and determined they could turn a profit. In fact, they had done no testing, the SEC said. Asked by Variety if the company would eventually have to raise its prices, Farnsworth said, “The answer is no.” Critics, he went on, “don’t understand our business model.”
Helios and Matheson Analytics, the parent company of MoviePass, would go bankrupt after burning through hundreds of millions of dollars. According to the SEC, Farnsworth and Lowe repeatedly lied to the public about the MoviePass business model and then,...
- 9/27/2022
- by Gene Maddaus
- Variety Film + TV
The Securities and Exchange Commission filed suit against two former CEOs of MoviePass, charging them with misleading investors about the bankrupt company’s profit potential, data operations, relationships with studios and revenue sources.
The suit targets former MoviePass CEOs Mitch Lowe and Ted Farnsworth, former chairman and CEO of Helios and Matheson Analytics, which bought out MoviePass in 2017, for making multiple false statements in regulatory filings and media appearances that were collectively designed to convince investors that MoviePass could turn a profit after dropping its subscription rate, in part because it was using “big data”and artificial intelligence to monetize information from subscribers that it was not in fact collecting.
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The executives also “devised fraudulent tactics to prevent MoviePass’ heavy users from using the service and falsely and misleadingly informed the public that...
The suit targets former MoviePass CEOs Mitch Lowe and Ted Farnsworth, former chairman and CEO of Helios and Matheson Analytics, which bought out MoviePass in 2017, for making multiple false statements in regulatory filings and media appearances that were collectively designed to convince investors that MoviePass could turn a profit after dropping its subscription rate, in part because it was using “big data”and artificial intelligence to monetize information from subscribers that it was not in fact collecting.
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How This Year’s Oscar Contenders Will Determine the Health of the Post-Pandemic Box Office
The executives also “devised fraudulent tactics to prevent MoviePass’ heavy users from using the service and falsely and misleadingly informed the public that...
- 9/27/2022
- by Eileen AJ Connelly
- The Wrap
Click here to read the full article.
As MoviePass works toward a relaunch under new leadership, the SEC is taking action against three former execs for alleged federal securities law violations in connection with the previous iteration of the service.
The SEC on Monday filed a complaint against Ted Farnsworth, Mitch Lowe and Khalid Itum in New York federal court. Farnsworth was CEO of Helios and Matheson Analytics, which acquired MoviePass in 2017, Lowe was MoviePass’ CEO, and Itum was a business development exec for the service.
“From August 2017 to at least March 2019, Farnsworth and Lowe, the CEOs of Hmny and MoviePass, respectively, intentionally and repeatedly disseminated to the public materially false or misleading statements concerning MoviePass and key aspects of MoviePass’s business model,” states the complaint, which is embedded below.
The SEC alleges the execs lied about how MoviePass could become profitable and then, when faced with dubious finances,...
As MoviePass works toward a relaunch under new leadership, the SEC is taking action against three former execs for alleged federal securities law violations in connection with the previous iteration of the service.
The SEC on Monday filed a complaint against Ted Farnsworth, Mitch Lowe and Khalid Itum in New York federal court. Farnsworth was CEO of Helios and Matheson Analytics, which acquired MoviePass in 2017, Lowe was MoviePass’ CEO, and Itum was a business development exec for the service.
“From August 2017 to at least March 2019, Farnsworth and Lowe, the CEOs of Hmny and MoviePass, respectively, intentionally and repeatedly disseminated to the public materially false or misleading statements concerning MoviePass and key aspects of MoviePass’s business model,” states the complaint, which is embedded below.
The SEC alleges the execs lied about how MoviePass could become profitable and then, when faced with dubious finances,...
- 9/27/2022
- by Ashley Cullins
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The former MoviePass leadership is not getting a pass on fraud charges.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against former MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe and Ted Farnsworth, the former CEO of MoviePass’ parent company, Helios and Matheson Analytics (Hmny), for allegedly misleading investors under the 9.99 per month moviegoing subscription.
As reported by Insider, the SEC filing claimed Lowe and Farnsworth “devised fraudulent tactics” to hide information and “falsely and misleadingly” led the public to believe their site was unsuccessful in subscribers to save money.
“Faced with debilitating negative cash flows — rather than tell the public the truth — Farnsworth and Lowe devised fraudulent tactics to prevent MoviePass’s heavy users from using the service, and falsely and misleadingly informed the public that usage had declined naturally or due to measures the company had employed to combat subscribers’ purported violations of MoviePass’s terms and conditions of service,” the complaint stated.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against former MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe and Ted Farnsworth, the former CEO of MoviePass’ parent company, Helios and Matheson Analytics (Hmny), for allegedly misleading investors under the 9.99 per month moviegoing subscription.
As reported by Insider, the SEC filing claimed Lowe and Farnsworth “devised fraudulent tactics” to hide information and “falsely and misleadingly” led the public to believe their site was unsuccessful in subscribers to save money.
“Faced with debilitating negative cash flows — rather than tell the public the truth — Farnsworth and Lowe devised fraudulent tactics to prevent MoviePass’s heavy users from using the service, and falsely and misleadingly informed the public that usage had declined naturally or due to measures the company had employed to combat subscribers’ purported violations of MoviePass’s terms and conditions of service,” the complaint stated.
- 9/27/2022
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
By slashing prices, Mitch Lowe transformed MoviePass into a supernova.
The ticketing service, which had ambitions to become the Netflix of moviegoing, had languished for years until Lowe took the reins in 2017 as Helios and Matheson, an analytics firm, purchased a controlling stake. At the same time, Lowe announced that for a monthly fee of 9.95, users could now watch a movie-a-day in cinemas — less than the cost of a single ticket in major cities like New York and Los Angeles. It was an offer that was too good to refuse, pushing MoviePass to 2 million customers in roughly six months. But it was also a risky proposition, one that caused the company to burn through tens of millions of dollars and collapse in spectacular fashion just two years later.
“It truly was embarrassing and hurtful,” says Lowe. “I tried as hard as I could, but I should have tried harder. I should have been more thoughtful,...
The ticketing service, which had ambitions to become the Netflix of moviegoing, had languished for years until Lowe took the reins in 2017 as Helios and Matheson, an analytics firm, purchased a controlling stake. At the same time, Lowe announced that for a monthly fee of 9.95, users could now watch a movie-a-day in cinemas — less than the cost of a single ticket in major cities like New York and Los Angeles. It was an offer that was too good to refuse, pushing MoviePass to 2 million customers in roughly six months. But it was also a risky proposition, one that caused the company to burn through tens of millions of dollars and collapse in spectacular fashion just two years later.
“It truly was embarrassing and hurtful,” says Lowe. “I tried as hard as I could, but I should have tried harder. I should have been more thoughtful,...
- 9/14/2022
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
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