Post by sloride on Dec 22, 2008 6:38:09 GMT -5
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Bret Hart Press Release
Bret Hart will not be appearing in Bloodstained Memoirs.
In an attempt to highlight my own objectiveness to the situation at hand, I'll start off this press release stating that Bret Hart, in my opinion, is one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. I have no problem in saying that. I have no problem in stressing how influential I think Bret is to the profession of professional wrestling.
But here's an analogy.
Irrespective of personal taste, Amy Winehoue is generally considered an incredible musician. But in separating the person from the performer, an objective mind can freely state that said performer is a messed up person. I have never come across Amy Winehouse, so I'm not at liberty to state my findings of her. But I have met Bret Hart, the person…
This isn't an attempt to just bitch slap Bret Hart, although naturally I understand that's effectively going to be a side effect of this. I'd like to apologise to his fans also if I am about to pop any bubbles. I'm aware a lot of them will be disappointed with Bret as a person reading this, it's the sort of thing you read about where a die hard fan will turn straight off somebody when they realise a horrible aspect about their hero which isn't as nice as what is propagated by their camp for a well crafted public perception. But its not as if I am starting a fire, just merely throwing some wood onto an existing one.
Ironically, Bret Hart was due to be the first person recorded for this production (Before Jericho, circa 2006). Bret had agreed to be interviewed for the project back in late 2005 whilst here in the UK. I had planned to structure the interview around vintage British wrestling, its impact on Bret and Stampede wrestling. It was to be a unique spin fans would surly find interesting, as at that point its history had hardly been touched on (subsequently he did so in his book). However the meeting fell apart when the small British company bringing him in felt they were not ready for a professional film crew to be filming at their events. This prevented an interview from happening.
Back in 2006, I was again interested in interviewing Bret for production. I asked my good friend Joe Hitchen to give Bret a call for me and ask him if he would be interested. Joe called Bret, and Bret stated he would be interested in being filmed for production. Bret was living in Italy at this point, and I would be filming in Italy, Christmas of 2006. Unfortunately, Bret was in Canada at this point filming pantomime, an interview would not be possible. Dealing with Bret's management at this point was frustrating. As I said in a magazine interview once, it was like dealing with a ghost at the best of times. It was just flat out, not a professional operation.
To keep things wrestling related, I'll use the following example. In 2007 I started talking with The Rock's management in regards to filming with Rock. They couldn't have been more professional, but in truth, this is typical of all respected management groups. There are lighting quick responses whether the outcome is positive or negative to your wants. The same goes for Jericho, Rob Van Dam, Foley, Piper, Muta - everybody in Bloodstained Memoirs. All their management was a pleasure to deal with.
I don't know if Bret surrounds himself with a team of paid professionals or a bunch of his unpaid marks. I doubt I'll ever know. But I can state I have always found his "management" to be inept, and at a level of professionalism way below industry standard. And when I say industry, I mean the entertainment industry.
Forward wind to November of his year, on the 20th I contacted Marcy Englestein, Bret's consulting manager. If you read Bret's book, you would know they are best friends, and she helped him write the book. Bret states within the first few pages that he would have not been able to write the book without her. The reason I contacted her was to request an interview with Bret for the 22nd. It was short notice (but we have shot on shorter notice - the Mick Foley shoot being the perfect example - we managed to sort terms out within 24 hours. Again, this goes back to my earlier point of professionalism) and we batted Emails back and forth a bit, talking about terms etc.
Marcy stated that before any footage could possibly be used, she would have to get the answers to some questions, which I was happy to send within the hour. I answered all of her questions.
I wont go ahead and print the Emails word for word because there is too much personal information inside for both parties, that really shouldn't be shown here. But the main fruits of the matter was Marcy confirmed she would set the interview up for the 22nd. I had already gotten clearance from the Memorabilia facility (the convention Bret would be signing at) to film on the premises and publish the footage, and to clear music rights.
Marcy asked for a copy of the footage we film so Bret could view it upon returning to Canada. I had no problem with this. Pretty much all of the wrestlers in the film have seen their respective footage, and they all love it. Not one person has turned around and said they don't like it.
As a lot of you know, I had a tough year battling and defeating a bunch of scum bags in court, this shoot was to be my artistic relief. I was going to deliver a knock out and had it engaged in my mind that the Bret Hart scene would be one of the best scenes in Bloodstained Memoirs.
Marcy had requested a question list from me, and I had sent her one. The interview was to be a positive one designed to please his fans. There would be no boring talk about Montreal for the millionth time. No f***ing wrestling bashing or steroid talk. I'll leave that shit for the angry little amateurs to concern themselves with. My interview was to explore the artistic virtues of his career and the psychology behind his artistic decisions. I wasn't going to get personal with the interview. That wouldn't have been my place. I wasn't going to be like, "Don't you think you're a failure as a father, constantly cheating on your children's mother? A failure as a man?"
Marcy expressed to me that she understood the footage I was to send her (of the interview she said she would arrange) would be in unedited form, and that she would not release the footage or show it to anybody. In my last communication to her before the shoot, I stated she had "all of my trust".
I wont go into the specific details of the fiscal aspects of what goes into setting up a professional production crew and travelling half way across the country for a shoot, but as you can probably assume, it's a hell of a chunk of change. I run a professional operation, with ridiculously experienced ex BBC crew. Its not just a case of putting a consumer holiday camera on a tripod and pressing a record button. And as you know, Bloodstained Memoirs is self funded (through choice in order to keep artistic control and not get noted to death by a backer). Every penny you will see on the screen came out of my own pocket.
With Marcy's confirmation that she would set up an interview, the question list sent (without being flagged), the clearance from the facility to film on their premises, I was seemingly ready to go. I set up the crew, hired the kit, and off to Birmingham we went.
You may notice that Marcy didn't send a concrete confirmation as it were. But in the media industry, a lot is done on trust. It comes down to respect for who you are working with. When somebody tells you they will do something, and you enter into further communication about the particulars, its not common practice to question them whether it is done. You trust and respect that person enough to believe it would be done. That's the common practice. On the Bloodstained Memoirs production alone, I can think of five wrestlers whose interviews happened under the exact same circumstance.
I spent the night in Birmingham on the 21st.
When I arrived at the Birmingham NEC on the morning of the 22nd, I went to collect my press passes and sign the relevant paper work straight away. The first instance I knew something was up, was when one of the managers told me he was told Bret wasn't giving any interviews. Naturally I thought this was odd. But I didn't let it phase me.
Bret was in the green room at this point, and would be there for the duration of the next two hours leading up to the signing. The "green room" in the entertainment industry is generally a room in which an on screen talent can rest. I had no choice then to wait for Bret to come out and start the signing to speak to him. Not ideal, but you roll with the punches. That's the nature of documentary.
There was a massive queue waiting for Bret. I was surprised at the amount of young people waiting to see him. Low and behold, Bret was sitting at his signing table signing away. I remember thinking how good he looked for 51 years of age.
The facility management introduced me to a guy called Tony who I had never met before. Apparently he was a young mark paying for Bret whilst in the UK. To this day, I have no idea who this Tony was. But I do know, Tony wasn't a tiger. He was a short tubby guy with the ugly face of a f***ing mule. He was trying to look smart in cheap clothes, like the picture of a little boy dressed up by his Mum for a family wedding (if you know him, answers on a postcard!) But I can state he was noting but a mark with a credit card. In posing for a picture with Bret, he got all flustered not knowing what to do with his hands, before settling on the ol' finger point to the camera, just like the marks that had queued up before him.
I introduced myself to Bret during his signing and stated who I was, and that I was there for an interview which Marcy said she would orchestrate. Bret stated he knew nothing about it, that he would need to speak to Marcy. Fine I thought as I walked away. Marcy would surly sort everything out. Wouldn't she?
At this point, Tony approached me and told me that Bret wouldn't be doing any interviews. I told him that Marcy was to have set it up. That I had all the crew and gear with me, paid for. He said Marcy had rang him on the 20th and stated that there would be no interviews.
Now, at the time of writing, I don't know whether this phone call was ever made. Marcy refuses to answer any of the questions I have put her way - which I will get to in more detail later - but for arguments sake if she did make this call, she is on repugnant scum bag for not telling me beforehand, and liable for the whole incident. If true, I would even go as far as to call her a c***. And as Kevin Smith would say, not in the soppy British way of calling somebody a c***, but in the hardcore American way of meaning you dirty rotten c***!
If such call was not made, then the mark paying for Bret had an agenda in not wanting us to film, and although wouldn't have the power to stop anything, could certainly bull shit and shit stir like a coward to Bret. Now of course, Bret's decision would supersede everything, I'll get to that later…
I asked Tony if we would be able to start filming the signing for inclusion in the documentary and he said yes.
We started to film the signing. Unfortunately, Bret wasn't interested in talking to his fans who had queued up all day and paid a lot of money to meet him. He wasn't even interested in asking them what there names were. Typically, all he said to each fan was, "thanks for coming". He may as well of just said, "thanks for your money". When we filmed Mick Foley and Rob Van Dam at signings - as you will soon see for yourself with the release of Bloodstained Memoirs hopefully not too far away - both men were so friendly to the fans. Entering discourse with them, asking fans questions, making jokes etc etc. And that wasn't because the cameras were rolling, because they were doing the same thing when we were having breaks. Hell, I've filmed at a Mariah Carey signing before, the "Queen Diva", and she was capable of mustering more converse by a large margin.
Despite Bret's shortcomings, myself, the crew and the post production crew have enough experience to turn the footage into something great that the fans will appreciate.
After the filming, I went to an information kiosk and used one of the computers. I Emailed Marcy asking her to ring me ASAP. I told her that Bret said he knew nothing about the interview, and that I was being told that she had nixed the idea of an interview days prior. I just wanted to know what was going on?
Despite having a good reputation in the wrestling business for getting back to people quickly, Marcy never called me back, or sent an Email my way. Which leads me now to believe whilst all this was kicking off, she was sitting back ignoring things. Being away from the office can't be an excuse. What respected manager in this day and age doesn't have their Email forwarded to them on a mobile device?
I printed out all of the Emails between myself and Marcy, as well as a group of production stills in the hope that they would jog Bret's memory. I know Bret has seen them before, as a former manager forwarded them to Bret at my behest on one of the prior attempts to interview Bret where he agreed.
I showed Bret the Emails and he read over the essential points of converse. "I don't know what to tell ya…" he stated. He then looked at the stills. Looking at the stills, he showed interest, asking questions about them. Again, he stated he would speak to Marcy. Bret walked off at this point for a break in the "green room".
I had no idea whatsoever what was going on at this point. I kept on running back and forth to check my Emails in the hope that Marcy had replied. She hadn't.
Bret was due out for a final session of signings. I knew that once he left that session, he would be out of the arena in a heartbeat, and my only chance of interviewing him would be gone. I knew all I could do was ask him again.
Bret came back for a final session of signings. In a move I have always found classless, Bret was charging the fans to have the photo of Bret they had just paid for signed. As soon as Bret signed his last autograph, he put on his jacket to leave. I again told Bret that I had put a lot into the planning, and that I had paid for the kit and crew already. He knew Marcy had told me she would set up the interview. He knew we were legitimate.
In his response, Bret turned to me and coldly said, "Its not my problem". And walked off.
On my Mothers life that is a direct quote from that direct circumstance.
Now, I'm not here to insult your intelligence and patronise you by saying the good guy you watched on telly was the real person behind the character. Nor will I say this encounter is a justifiable enough experience to summarise that man as a person. I'm not even here to try and turn you against Bret Hart. I am here to say, on this day, I saw an asshole. Plain and simple.
In regards to the, "not my problem" line, well done Bret, yes you are grammatically correct and I have submitted you for a Mensa membership you cunning genius. It was indeed not your problem. It was my problem, one which was inflicted upon me by yourself and your shoddy management.
"At least we got the signing footage," I told myself.
When I got back to my hotel, I wrote Marcy a heartfelt Email, stressing how upset I was with the situation, on all levels. Personally and professionally, that night I was broken down and she knew it. Marcy was made aware of exactly how much money was spent (think enough to buy a nice little Mercedes). She knew how much effort went into setting up everything and how straining it was travelling 131 miles to get there. All this done on a trust she broke.
By the time I had sent this Email, Marcy had still not replied to my urgent Emails sent throughout the day. I thought that was bad. Any reasonable person would.
Marcy would not get back to me that night. She wouldn't even get back to me the day after. Weeks went by until she finally got back to me on the 8th December. The Email was void of any response whatsoever. It was just to confirm she was getting my Emails. This was simply f***ing classless, whatever way you want to look at it.
I sent further Emails from the 8th onwards politely asking for answers. I finally got a reply, void of a response on the 11th December.
In that Email, she tried to use the excuse that she had no time to write the one minute Email explanation because Bret was having knee surgery over this period. Last time I checked, the duties of a manager entail taking care of a clients business affairs if said client is incapacitated. However by this point, it was clear to see I wasn't dealing with professionals.
Maybe, "Cowboy" Bret Hart would have been a fitting gimmick after all…
I had told Marcy on November 22nd (date of shoot) that I planned on using the footage of Bret we shot in the special extras of the DVD. The reason for putting it in the extras was because if we put it in the main programme with all the other great talent, who generously gave up their time to contribute something special
On the 28th November I had announced on my website that we had shot with Bret and he would be appearing in the DVD. I could have easily f***ing wrote about what I thought of Bret there, and how much of a f***ing prick I found him to be. But I didn't. To the contrary I made him out to be a legend. I wouldn't want to needlessly pop the bubble of a lot of his fans who would gravitate to my press release. I'm not a petty man and didn't feel the need to take the shots. I told Marcy on the 22nd November that I wouldn't make the disgraceful matters of the day public as I didn't feel private exchanges should be taken into the public eye. But on December 10th I told her I was retracting that decision due to the simple fact it was no longer a private communication, it was just me talking to myself. I told Marcy flat out, due to the ridiculously unprofessional way she and Bret had handled things up to this point, if I do not hear from her, I would be going public with al the information.
Now, you may ask yourself why I went forward in stating Bret Hart was in the production before a formal release was signed. The answer is simple. Put youself in my shoes. If you set up shop for a big interview you are told is being set up for you, and you get delivered some scraps, a DVD extra is the smallest compensation. You wouldn't believe that anybody would be such a c***, under the circumstances, to try and take that away from you. Esspecialy when nobody had the common decency to get in touch with you in a week as to what the hell went down on the 22nd, after you even state your intentions to use the footage in such a capacity.
In the days that followed after issuing the press release on the 28th November, the news that Bret would be appearing in Bloodstained Memoirs spread across the internet, into the domain of public knowledge. Next in another bizarre move, somebody from Bret's camp posted a news story on the front page of Bret's official website stating that Bret had NOT been filmed for inclusion in the documentary.
Firstly that was just a lie, as Bret clearly was filmed by us for that specific purpose. Maybe not in the capacity we wanted, with a full interview, but with enough footage to put together a nice little scene.
Secondly, and most importantly, are you to f***ing tell me that Bret's camp are so petty and small time to publish that nonsense, but not have the common f***ing decency to give me any single answer as to why they f***ing screwed me? They try to hide behind the excuse of not having the time - which is f***ing inconsiderate and low anyway all things considered - but have the time to do this?
What is it like in Bret Hart world?
I simply went on my own site and put up a simple reply, stating I was annoyed at Marcy for putting the above up, and that to clear up any rumour, Bret WAS filmed for inclusion in the doc. I had also saved the screen shot of Bret's site, as I knew that my quick retort would expose them as idiots by the time the news site picked up on both sides of the evolving story, that they would edit, or take down what they wrote. Sure enough, by the next morning their site had erased their stupid remark. (Anybody looking for the screen shot, its over at my MySpace at www.myspace.com/sexandviolencemovie)
As time went on, there was still no reply from Marcy.
On the 11th December, Marcy sent me another redundant Email, void of any answers, clearly dodging issues. Now, here's how f***ing out of touch Marcy is. She is under the impression that I still want an interview with Bret. As if Bret was such a God, that he could f*** somebody over and leave that person still wanting more… She told me to "wait patiently" and the "answer might be yes". The answer might be yes? To what? A question that wasn't asked? There was a general tone of self worship. Here's a reality check. I'm honestly not too bothered at this point if Bret is in the flick or not and its embarrassing for Bret's camp to think I still want to interview the man. Once you line up the legends (who I couldn't be more thankful too) already in Bloodstained Memoirs, like Jericho, Foley, RVD, Piper, Muta etc, it starts to put things in perspective.
Everything written above is the absolute truth, and I swear this on my unborn child's life. If Bret or Marcy wish to respond and raise any point into question, I would like to see them back their retort up with facts.
(Edit: On the 20th December I sent this press release to Marcy before going public with it to give them the opportunity to flag anything they thought was untrue or unjust. Typically, there was no response. I had also made Marcy ware for quite some time before this that I planned on going ahead with this press release if there was to be no further communication from her.)
I confidently say this of course, because they wouldn't be able to, at least not without bull shitting the public, fabricating information or putting an inaccurate slant on events. Generally just some bull shit which can probably be answered by this very press release. Or of course they'll play the typical symphony card over something, trying to make people forget about the facts. That's how con artists work.
Bret Hart closed his excellent book by saying the "Hitman" character is dead. That its only kept alive in his mind. I still love that Hitman character, but Bret Hart the man - the person behind that character, in my estimation is a f***ing asshole. Plain and simple. Ironically, I think for more and more fans to believe in that Hitman character, they have to block out harsh truths that seemingly emerge all the time about Bret. The sad thing is, when Bret's gone, he will be remembered for his bitterness, arrogance and bad attitude, just as much as the brilliant work he did in the ring.
There is no bigger Bret Hart mark than Bret Hart. In the same closing of his book, he wrote about how he will always consider Shawn Michaels to be a phoney. Why? For things he did in his youth in a wrestling company? How petty and immature is that? Especially when you consider Shawn clearly moved on to better things a long, long time ago, personally and professionally. Shawn Michaels left Bret Hart behind. And what has Bret done in that time? He has let his legacy atrophy into a greater state of bitterness and disappointment year after year, pissing away his own reputation. Grow up and move on Bret, you're in your 50's…You walk around crying and moaning like you are the only person in the world to suffer grief. To be screwed. To have a bad day.
Just f*** off with it already!
What about the hundreds of thousand common f***ing truck drivers waking up 3am every morning to suffer chronic back pain driving across the country all day? I'm sure they don't have the luxury of going home to a mansion and reading fan mail. All the mothers scraping toilets for a living trying to make ends meet to provide for her family?
Or even me, Bret? Did you even stop for a single second to think about me having to go through the humiliation of the 22nd with my own Grandparents looking down at me from heaven. Having to tell my family the humiliating circumstances that you imposed on me. Then subsequently being ignored by your team because you are too f***ing wrapped up in Bret Hart world, where the f***ing moon and stars just revolve around you, even though you are clearly in the wrong.
"I escaped with my head up and my conscience clear." Who are you trying to kid but yourself, Bret?
Take from all of this what you will. Did I get screwed? Yes I did. But in contrast to Bret getting screwed, it wont turn me into a bitter old man, it wont piss on my career, and I wont dwell on it. In contrast I'll be taking the appropriate steps for retribution, and I'll put an end to things in a constructive manner.
Bret Hart no longer deserves a place in Bloodstained Memoirs, alongside such class acts as Chris Jericho, Rob Van Dam and Mick Foley. He isn't deserving to be mentioned in the same breathe as those people. As a wrestler, of course. But not as a person. The footage we shot of him will be vaulted and will probably never see the light of day. And to prove this isn't just smoke, Bret Hart can go public and state he wants the footage in the documentary if he wants to - it wont be going in. As for this carrot of an interview they are still trying to dangle in front of me - they can shove it up their ass holes. And Bret, I'll draw a little cartoon of that for you if you'd like?
Thanks for reading!
David Sinnott
P.S. Man, getting screwed by Bret Hart? That's like getting kidnapped by Natascha Kampusch…
Bret Hart Press Release
Bret Hart will not be appearing in Bloodstained Memoirs.
In an attempt to highlight my own objectiveness to the situation at hand, I'll start off this press release stating that Bret Hart, in my opinion, is one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. I have no problem in saying that. I have no problem in stressing how influential I think Bret is to the profession of professional wrestling.
But here's an analogy.
Irrespective of personal taste, Amy Winehoue is generally considered an incredible musician. But in separating the person from the performer, an objective mind can freely state that said performer is a messed up person. I have never come across Amy Winehouse, so I'm not at liberty to state my findings of her. But I have met Bret Hart, the person…
This isn't an attempt to just bitch slap Bret Hart, although naturally I understand that's effectively going to be a side effect of this. I'd like to apologise to his fans also if I am about to pop any bubbles. I'm aware a lot of them will be disappointed with Bret as a person reading this, it's the sort of thing you read about where a die hard fan will turn straight off somebody when they realise a horrible aspect about their hero which isn't as nice as what is propagated by their camp for a well crafted public perception. But its not as if I am starting a fire, just merely throwing some wood onto an existing one.
Ironically, Bret Hart was due to be the first person recorded for this production (Before Jericho, circa 2006). Bret had agreed to be interviewed for the project back in late 2005 whilst here in the UK. I had planned to structure the interview around vintage British wrestling, its impact on Bret and Stampede wrestling. It was to be a unique spin fans would surly find interesting, as at that point its history had hardly been touched on (subsequently he did so in his book). However the meeting fell apart when the small British company bringing him in felt they were not ready for a professional film crew to be filming at their events. This prevented an interview from happening.
Back in 2006, I was again interested in interviewing Bret for production. I asked my good friend Joe Hitchen to give Bret a call for me and ask him if he would be interested. Joe called Bret, and Bret stated he would be interested in being filmed for production. Bret was living in Italy at this point, and I would be filming in Italy, Christmas of 2006. Unfortunately, Bret was in Canada at this point filming pantomime, an interview would not be possible. Dealing with Bret's management at this point was frustrating. As I said in a magazine interview once, it was like dealing with a ghost at the best of times. It was just flat out, not a professional operation.
To keep things wrestling related, I'll use the following example. In 2007 I started talking with The Rock's management in regards to filming with Rock. They couldn't have been more professional, but in truth, this is typical of all respected management groups. There are lighting quick responses whether the outcome is positive or negative to your wants. The same goes for Jericho, Rob Van Dam, Foley, Piper, Muta - everybody in Bloodstained Memoirs. All their management was a pleasure to deal with.
I don't know if Bret surrounds himself with a team of paid professionals or a bunch of his unpaid marks. I doubt I'll ever know. But I can state I have always found his "management" to be inept, and at a level of professionalism way below industry standard. And when I say industry, I mean the entertainment industry.
Forward wind to November of his year, on the 20th I contacted Marcy Englestein, Bret's consulting manager. If you read Bret's book, you would know they are best friends, and she helped him write the book. Bret states within the first few pages that he would have not been able to write the book without her. The reason I contacted her was to request an interview with Bret for the 22nd. It was short notice (but we have shot on shorter notice - the Mick Foley shoot being the perfect example - we managed to sort terms out within 24 hours. Again, this goes back to my earlier point of professionalism) and we batted Emails back and forth a bit, talking about terms etc.
Marcy stated that before any footage could possibly be used, she would have to get the answers to some questions, which I was happy to send within the hour. I answered all of her questions.
I wont go ahead and print the Emails word for word because there is too much personal information inside for both parties, that really shouldn't be shown here. But the main fruits of the matter was Marcy confirmed she would set the interview up for the 22nd. I had already gotten clearance from the Memorabilia facility (the convention Bret would be signing at) to film on the premises and publish the footage, and to clear music rights.
Marcy asked for a copy of the footage we film so Bret could view it upon returning to Canada. I had no problem with this. Pretty much all of the wrestlers in the film have seen their respective footage, and they all love it. Not one person has turned around and said they don't like it.
As a lot of you know, I had a tough year battling and defeating a bunch of scum bags in court, this shoot was to be my artistic relief. I was going to deliver a knock out and had it engaged in my mind that the Bret Hart scene would be one of the best scenes in Bloodstained Memoirs.
Marcy had requested a question list from me, and I had sent her one. The interview was to be a positive one designed to please his fans. There would be no boring talk about Montreal for the millionth time. No f***ing wrestling bashing or steroid talk. I'll leave that shit for the angry little amateurs to concern themselves with. My interview was to explore the artistic virtues of his career and the psychology behind his artistic decisions. I wasn't going to get personal with the interview. That wouldn't have been my place. I wasn't going to be like, "Don't you think you're a failure as a father, constantly cheating on your children's mother? A failure as a man?"
Marcy expressed to me that she understood the footage I was to send her (of the interview she said she would arrange) would be in unedited form, and that she would not release the footage or show it to anybody. In my last communication to her before the shoot, I stated she had "all of my trust".
I wont go into the specific details of the fiscal aspects of what goes into setting up a professional production crew and travelling half way across the country for a shoot, but as you can probably assume, it's a hell of a chunk of change. I run a professional operation, with ridiculously experienced ex BBC crew. Its not just a case of putting a consumer holiday camera on a tripod and pressing a record button. And as you know, Bloodstained Memoirs is self funded (through choice in order to keep artistic control and not get noted to death by a backer). Every penny you will see on the screen came out of my own pocket.
With Marcy's confirmation that she would set up an interview, the question list sent (without being flagged), the clearance from the facility to film on their premises, I was seemingly ready to go. I set up the crew, hired the kit, and off to Birmingham we went.
You may notice that Marcy didn't send a concrete confirmation as it were. But in the media industry, a lot is done on trust. It comes down to respect for who you are working with. When somebody tells you they will do something, and you enter into further communication about the particulars, its not common practice to question them whether it is done. You trust and respect that person enough to believe it would be done. That's the common practice. On the Bloodstained Memoirs production alone, I can think of five wrestlers whose interviews happened under the exact same circumstance.
I spent the night in Birmingham on the 21st.
When I arrived at the Birmingham NEC on the morning of the 22nd, I went to collect my press passes and sign the relevant paper work straight away. The first instance I knew something was up, was when one of the managers told me he was told Bret wasn't giving any interviews. Naturally I thought this was odd. But I didn't let it phase me.
Bret was in the green room at this point, and would be there for the duration of the next two hours leading up to the signing. The "green room" in the entertainment industry is generally a room in which an on screen talent can rest. I had no choice then to wait for Bret to come out and start the signing to speak to him. Not ideal, but you roll with the punches. That's the nature of documentary.
There was a massive queue waiting for Bret. I was surprised at the amount of young people waiting to see him. Low and behold, Bret was sitting at his signing table signing away. I remember thinking how good he looked for 51 years of age.
The facility management introduced me to a guy called Tony who I had never met before. Apparently he was a young mark paying for Bret whilst in the UK. To this day, I have no idea who this Tony was. But I do know, Tony wasn't a tiger. He was a short tubby guy with the ugly face of a f***ing mule. He was trying to look smart in cheap clothes, like the picture of a little boy dressed up by his Mum for a family wedding (if you know him, answers on a postcard!) But I can state he was noting but a mark with a credit card. In posing for a picture with Bret, he got all flustered not knowing what to do with his hands, before settling on the ol' finger point to the camera, just like the marks that had queued up before him.
I introduced myself to Bret during his signing and stated who I was, and that I was there for an interview which Marcy said she would orchestrate. Bret stated he knew nothing about it, that he would need to speak to Marcy. Fine I thought as I walked away. Marcy would surly sort everything out. Wouldn't she?
At this point, Tony approached me and told me that Bret wouldn't be doing any interviews. I told him that Marcy was to have set it up. That I had all the crew and gear with me, paid for. He said Marcy had rang him on the 20th and stated that there would be no interviews.
Now, at the time of writing, I don't know whether this phone call was ever made. Marcy refuses to answer any of the questions I have put her way - which I will get to in more detail later - but for arguments sake if she did make this call, she is on repugnant scum bag for not telling me beforehand, and liable for the whole incident. If true, I would even go as far as to call her a c***. And as Kevin Smith would say, not in the soppy British way of calling somebody a c***, but in the hardcore American way of meaning you dirty rotten c***!
If such call was not made, then the mark paying for Bret had an agenda in not wanting us to film, and although wouldn't have the power to stop anything, could certainly bull shit and shit stir like a coward to Bret. Now of course, Bret's decision would supersede everything, I'll get to that later…
I asked Tony if we would be able to start filming the signing for inclusion in the documentary and he said yes.
We started to film the signing. Unfortunately, Bret wasn't interested in talking to his fans who had queued up all day and paid a lot of money to meet him. He wasn't even interested in asking them what there names were. Typically, all he said to each fan was, "thanks for coming". He may as well of just said, "thanks for your money". When we filmed Mick Foley and Rob Van Dam at signings - as you will soon see for yourself with the release of Bloodstained Memoirs hopefully not too far away - both men were so friendly to the fans. Entering discourse with them, asking fans questions, making jokes etc etc. And that wasn't because the cameras were rolling, because they were doing the same thing when we were having breaks. Hell, I've filmed at a Mariah Carey signing before, the "Queen Diva", and she was capable of mustering more converse by a large margin.
Despite Bret's shortcomings, myself, the crew and the post production crew have enough experience to turn the footage into something great that the fans will appreciate.
After the filming, I went to an information kiosk and used one of the computers. I Emailed Marcy asking her to ring me ASAP. I told her that Bret said he knew nothing about the interview, and that I was being told that she had nixed the idea of an interview days prior. I just wanted to know what was going on?
Despite having a good reputation in the wrestling business for getting back to people quickly, Marcy never called me back, or sent an Email my way. Which leads me now to believe whilst all this was kicking off, she was sitting back ignoring things. Being away from the office can't be an excuse. What respected manager in this day and age doesn't have their Email forwarded to them on a mobile device?
I printed out all of the Emails between myself and Marcy, as well as a group of production stills in the hope that they would jog Bret's memory. I know Bret has seen them before, as a former manager forwarded them to Bret at my behest on one of the prior attempts to interview Bret where he agreed.
I showed Bret the Emails and he read over the essential points of converse. "I don't know what to tell ya…" he stated. He then looked at the stills. Looking at the stills, he showed interest, asking questions about them. Again, he stated he would speak to Marcy. Bret walked off at this point for a break in the "green room".
I had no idea whatsoever what was going on at this point. I kept on running back and forth to check my Emails in the hope that Marcy had replied. She hadn't.
Bret was due out for a final session of signings. I knew that once he left that session, he would be out of the arena in a heartbeat, and my only chance of interviewing him would be gone. I knew all I could do was ask him again.
Bret came back for a final session of signings. In a move I have always found classless, Bret was charging the fans to have the photo of Bret they had just paid for signed. As soon as Bret signed his last autograph, he put on his jacket to leave. I again told Bret that I had put a lot into the planning, and that I had paid for the kit and crew already. He knew Marcy had told me she would set up the interview. He knew we were legitimate.
In his response, Bret turned to me and coldly said, "Its not my problem". And walked off.
On my Mothers life that is a direct quote from that direct circumstance.
Now, I'm not here to insult your intelligence and patronise you by saying the good guy you watched on telly was the real person behind the character. Nor will I say this encounter is a justifiable enough experience to summarise that man as a person. I'm not even here to try and turn you against Bret Hart. I am here to say, on this day, I saw an asshole. Plain and simple.
In regards to the, "not my problem" line, well done Bret, yes you are grammatically correct and I have submitted you for a Mensa membership you cunning genius. It was indeed not your problem. It was my problem, one which was inflicted upon me by yourself and your shoddy management.
"At least we got the signing footage," I told myself.
When I got back to my hotel, I wrote Marcy a heartfelt Email, stressing how upset I was with the situation, on all levels. Personally and professionally, that night I was broken down and she knew it. Marcy was made aware of exactly how much money was spent (think enough to buy a nice little Mercedes). She knew how much effort went into setting up everything and how straining it was travelling 131 miles to get there. All this done on a trust she broke.
By the time I had sent this Email, Marcy had still not replied to my urgent Emails sent throughout the day. I thought that was bad. Any reasonable person would.
Marcy would not get back to me that night. She wouldn't even get back to me the day after. Weeks went by until she finally got back to me on the 8th December. The Email was void of any response whatsoever. It was just to confirm she was getting my Emails. This was simply f***ing classless, whatever way you want to look at it.
I sent further Emails from the 8th onwards politely asking for answers. I finally got a reply, void of a response on the 11th December.
In that Email, she tried to use the excuse that she had no time to write the one minute Email explanation because Bret was having knee surgery over this period. Last time I checked, the duties of a manager entail taking care of a clients business affairs if said client is incapacitated. However by this point, it was clear to see I wasn't dealing with professionals.
Maybe, "Cowboy" Bret Hart would have been a fitting gimmick after all…
I had told Marcy on November 22nd (date of shoot) that I planned on using the footage of Bret we shot in the special extras of the DVD. The reason for putting it in the extras was because if we put it in the main programme with all the other great talent, who generously gave up their time to contribute something special
On the 28th November I had announced on my website that we had shot with Bret and he would be appearing in the DVD. I could have easily f***ing wrote about what I thought of Bret there, and how much of a f***ing prick I found him to be. But I didn't. To the contrary I made him out to be a legend. I wouldn't want to needlessly pop the bubble of a lot of his fans who would gravitate to my press release. I'm not a petty man and didn't feel the need to take the shots. I told Marcy on the 22nd November that I wouldn't make the disgraceful matters of the day public as I didn't feel private exchanges should be taken into the public eye. But on December 10th I told her I was retracting that decision due to the simple fact it was no longer a private communication, it was just me talking to myself. I told Marcy flat out, due to the ridiculously unprofessional way she and Bret had handled things up to this point, if I do not hear from her, I would be going public with al the information.
Now, you may ask yourself why I went forward in stating Bret Hart was in the production before a formal release was signed. The answer is simple. Put youself in my shoes. If you set up shop for a big interview you are told is being set up for you, and you get delivered some scraps, a DVD extra is the smallest compensation. You wouldn't believe that anybody would be such a c***, under the circumstances, to try and take that away from you. Esspecialy when nobody had the common decency to get in touch with you in a week as to what the hell went down on the 22nd, after you even state your intentions to use the footage in such a capacity.
In the days that followed after issuing the press release on the 28th November, the news that Bret would be appearing in Bloodstained Memoirs spread across the internet, into the domain of public knowledge. Next in another bizarre move, somebody from Bret's camp posted a news story on the front page of Bret's official website stating that Bret had NOT been filmed for inclusion in the documentary.
Firstly that was just a lie, as Bret clearly was filmed by us for that specific purpose. Maybe not in the capacity we wanted, with a full interview, but with enough footage to put together a nice little scene.
Secondly, and most importantly, are you to f***ing tell me that Bret's camp are so petty and small time to publish that nonsense, but not have the common f***ing decency to give me any single answer as to why they f***ing screwed me? They try to hide behind the excuse of not having the time - which is f***ing inconsiderate and low anyway all things considered - but have the time to do this?
What is it like in Bret Hart world?
I simply went on my own site and put up a simple reply, stating I was annoyed at Marcy for putting the above up, and that to clear up any rumour, Bret WAS filmed for inclusion in the doc. I had also saved the screen shot of Bret's site, as I knew that my quick retort would expose them as idiots by the time the news site picked up on both sides of the evolving story, that they would edit, or take down what they wrote. Sure enough, by the next morning their site had erased their stupid remark. (Anybody looking for the screen shot, its over at my MySpace at www.myspace.com/sexandviolencemovie)
As time went on, there was still no reply from Marcy.
On the 11th December, Marcy sent me another redundant Email, void of any answers, clearly dodging issues. Now, here's how f***ing out of touch Marcy is. She is under the impression that I still want an interview with Bret. As if Bret was such a God, that he could f*** somebody over and leave that person still wanting more… She told me to "wait patiently" and the "answer might be yes". The answer might be yes? To what? A question that wasn't asked? There was a general tone of self worship. Here's a reality check. I'm honestly not too bothered at this point if Bret is in the flick or not and its embarrassing for Bret's camp to think I still want to interview the man. Once you line up the legends (who I couldn't be more thankful too) already in Bloodstained Memoirs, like Jericho, Foley, RVD, Piper, Muta etc, it starts to put things in perspective.
Everything written above is the absolute truth, and I swear this on my unborn child's life. If Bret or Marcy wish to respond and raise any point into question, I would like to see them back their retort up with facts.
(Edit: On the 20th December I sent this press release to Marcy before going public with it to give them the opportunity to flag anything they thought was untrue or unjust. Typically, there was no response. I had also made Marcy ware for quite some time before this that I planned on going ahead with this press release if there was to be no further communication from her.)
I confidently say this of course, because they wouldn't be able to, at least not without bull shitting the public, fabricating information or putting an inaccurate slant on events. Generally just some bull shit which can probably be answered by this very press release. Or of course they'll play the typical symphony card over something, trying to make people forget about the facts. That's how con artists work.
Bret Hart closed his excellent book by saying the "Hitman" character is dead. That its only kept alive in his mind. I still love that Hitman character, but Bret Hart the man - the person behind that character, in my estimation is a f***ing asshole. Plain and simple. Ironically, I think for more and more fans to believe in that Hitman character, they have to block out harsh truths that seemingly emerge all the time about Bret. The sad thing is, when Bret's gone, he will be remembered for his bitterness, arrogance and bad attitude, just as much as the brilliant work he did in the ring.
There is no bigger Bret Hart mark than Bret Hart. In the same closing of his book, he wrote about how he will always consider Shawn Michaels to be a phoney. Why? For things he did in his youth in a wrestling company? How petty and immature is that? Especially when you consider Shawn clearly moved on to better things a long, long time ago, personally and professionally. Shawn Michaels left Bret Hart behind. And what has Bret done in that time? He has let his legacy atrophy into a greater state of bitterness and disappointment year after year, pissing away his own reputation. Grow up and move on Bret, you're in your 50's…You walk around crying and moaning like you are the only person in the world to suffer grief. To be screwed. To have a bad day.
Just f*** off with it already!
What about the hundreds of thousand common f***ing truck drivers waking up 3am every morning to suffer chronic back pain driving across the country all day? I'm sure they don't have the luxury of going home to a mansion and reading fan mail. All the mothers scraping toilets for a living trying to make ends meet to provide for her family?
Or even me, Bret? Did you even stop for a single second to think about me having to go through the humiliation of the 22nd with my own Grandparents looking down at me from heaven. Having to tell my family the humiliating circumstances that you imposed on me. Then subsequently being ignored by your team because you are too f***ing wrapped up in Bret Hart world, where the f***ing moon and stars just revolve around you, even though you are clearly in the wrong.
"I escaped with my head up and my conscience clear." Who are you trying to kid but yourself, Bret?
Take from all of this what you will. Did I get screwed? Yes I did. But in contrast to Bret getting screwed, it wont turn me into a bitter old man, it wont piss on my career, and I wont dwell on it. In contrast I'll be taking the appropriate steps for retribution, and I'll put an end to things in a constructive manner.
Bret Hart no longer deserves a place in Bloodstained Memoirs, alongside such class acts as Chris Jericho, Rob Van Dam and Mick Foley. He isn't deserving to be mentioned in the same breathe as those people. As a wrestler, of course. But not as a person. The footage we shot of him will be vaulted and will probably never see the light of day. And to prove this isn't just smoke, Bret Hart can go public and state he wants the footage in the documentary if he wants to - it wont be going in. As for this carrot of an interview they are still trying to dangle in front of me - they can shove it up their ass holes. And Bret, I'll draw a little cartoon of that for you if you'd like?
Thanks for reading!
David Sinnott
P.S. Man, getting screwed by Bret Hart? That's like getting kidnapped by Natascha Kampusch…
