Reality star is cut out of billionaire husband's will
MPTF Activists Promise Lawsuit, Protests
Anti-closure activists dig in after MPTF letter calling for "relocation" of remaining 80 residents; vow not to leave voluntarily.
Mary Stellar, pictured here with her son Richard, is a resident of the MPTF long-term care facility; in earlier years, she worked as an assistant to Cubby Broccoli, the James Bond producer. (Inset: Mary at a special screening of "A View to a Kill" on the MGM lot in 1985.) Andrew Gumbel
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Tension escalated at the Motion Picture & Television Fund Home on Tuesday after talks broke down between the attorneys for the home and families affected by the imminent closure of its long-term care facility.
After being released to TheWrap, a letter went out to the families at the home indicating that the talks had ended and that plans to close the facility must move ahead. (Full letter below.)
"We have tried to reach a mutually acceptable solution with the lawyers who are representing many of you in connection with the closure," the letter said. "We must move forward with phasing out the facility."
But the move further enraged families whose elderly parents are among the remaining 80 or so families that have yet to move.
They vowed to sue the home, and said they would not leave voluntarily.
Asked if he believed there would be a lawsuit, anti-closure activist Richard Stellar told TheWrap, "Absolutely. We don’t want one. We’re being pushed into a corner... At the end of the day a lawsuit will be very painful. But we’re prepared for this."
Late on Tuesday, the grass-roots coalition called Saving The Lives Of Our Own put out a news release protesting the MPTF letter, and saying they would not leave the facility of their own accord. (Release posted below.)
“When they carry me out of my home in a coffin, that's when I'll leave here,” said Larry Jennings, a 73-year-old resident and electrician, member of IATSE Local 40.
Melody Sherwood, whose mother, Kay Meyer, is a resident of the facility, said, "The more the MPTF tries to defend its indefensible position, the more public outrage is generated in support of the 80 frail, elderly residents who are being forced out of their homes. Families will not be fooled into ‘voluntarily’ relocating their loved ones."
But MPTF officials said they had tried to negotiate and now could do nothing further.
"We have done everything," Ken Scherer, CEO of the MPTF, told TheWrap. "We've done our research, and we feel they do not have legal case." (See full one-on-one with Ken Scherer.)
The rising tension raised the ugly prospect of a forced eviction by the MPTF of sick, elderly residents who could be required to leave the facility by Thanksgiving.
In January, the MPTF announced that it was closing the long-term care facility and hospital as a measure to stave off bankruptcy.
The non-profit organization, established by Mary Pickford and Charlie Chaplin 87 years ago, said at the time that it was losing $10 million a year and risked depleting its endowment within a few years if it did not stop the financial losses.
But the announcement came without warning, and has turned into what can only be considered a public relations nightmare for the MPTF.
An investigation done by TheWrap in February found that organization's most recent tax returns filed with the Internal Revenue Service in November 2008 show no $10 million losses, or any losses at all.
The fund’s assets -- described in one press release as “draining… at an alarming rate” -- actually increased in 2006 and 2007, the last year for which figures are available.
David Tillman, President and CEO of the MPTF, said those years represent a fiscal anomaly.
"2007 was an extraordinary year for us because of investment returns above our average," he told TheWrap.
Comments
Dave Gilbert Says
In addition to the heartless treatment of the present residents of the long ternm care facility, also at issue is the lost benefit to the thousands of contributors who will not have this wonderful facility for their use if they need it in the future. Come on MPTF board members. Wake up. Make the tough decisions that will benefit the members of your industry. Oust Tillman, et al. Rescind this decision before irreparable harm is done. Start using all this energy to look for a solution that won't cheat all the future beneficiaries. DO IT TODAY!!!
Nancy Biederman Says
Michael Speier wrote as his second paragraph, "After being released to TheWrap, a letter went out to the families at the home indicating that the talks had ended and that plans to close the facility must move ahead."
There you go - a textbook example of the disregard and lack of respect the organization shows for the very people it professes to care for with compassion and respect for the dignity of the whole person. MPTF released to TheWrap, to Nikki Finke, to the NYT, and to the trades, before the residents or their family members received the letter. The 'breaking news' was much ado and PR spin about nothing other than a show of force on campus. Some families read the letter in blogs without having received the scripted phone call. Some residents were 'served' the letter by MPTF staff and security while MPTF was busy spinning it up. Talking points were given to staff members who are obligated not to violate the MPTF code of conduct.
The disconnect between what is being told to the media, and perhaps to board members, and what is actually happening on the ground, is dramatic.
Somewhere between "Hell no, we won't go" and worry that the 'relocation program' will isolate them forever, residents struggle to maintain an even keel in a nightmare that is all too real. Meanwhile the MPTF continues its corporate PR campaign to defend the indefensible without recognizing this missive salvo is also backfiring in the courts of public and industry opinion.
aallen Says
If Dr. (?!) Tillman can't find a way to keep the MPTF Home open, then he isn't earning his annual $600,000 salary!
Frank R Says
If no money is available why can't the movie industry step in anf help. These are people who devoted their time and perhaps more over the years to make the movie business in the US the most profitable and well know inthe world.
What do they they gather to do put them on the streets after all these years.
Mr. Wishbone Says
I suggest you try visiting those 22 facilities Dr. Tillman. Then look them up on the Internet and check out how many deficiencies and complaints they have.
I wonder what the next move will be - euthanasia or stuffed french toast down at iHop? This is getting ludicrous. Find the money and keep the place open.
Bill SMITROVICH Says
What a shame.
Shame on the MPTF.
Since the beginning of this 'move' by the MPTF to shut down LTC and Hospital they have failed in their obligation to be forthright and truthful. Their tax returns don't match their claims. The manner in which the elders and their families informed? Shameful. What happened to common decency? Communication? Compassion? Responsibility? And, "taking care of our own"?
Their recent tax returns in November 2008 show no $10 million losses, or any losses at all. The fund’s assets actually increased in 2006 and 2007.
And then there's this from Jeffrey Katzenberg, “We give ourselves a failing grade. This has not been communicated well.”
Aren't we in the communication business? Isn't he? I would like to think we are ALL in the communication business. The 'failing grade' is far more than communication, it's also about compassion and responsibility.
"Communications" can be bad or good but in this case we needed the plain and truthful variety. The thousands of donors, who gave millions and millions of dollars, and the patients and recipients of this care deserve an accounting.
I am surprised those people, including myself, who supported the MPTF with their dollars haven't been more vocal? Where are the managers of the estates who are entrusted with donations? Where's are the people who gave their "industry earned" dollars to The Fund? What's the plan by the MPTF? Shouldn't we all know?
If the injunction by Giradi and Keese is successful and this case does go to court, perhaps the truth, the book keeping and the true heroes will emerge. My heroes, as the line goes in the movies, are all about "Truth Justice and The American Way". Is this the American way?
Well that's my two cents.
crystal Says
the fight has just begun
Michelle E. Says
What a schmuck you are Jeffrey Katzenberg!!! How do you & the MPTF Board CEO members sleep at night!!!! Shame on you!!! These feeble elderly people are living the remainder of theirs lives in fear of not having a home!!! What a travesty....shame on you!!!
Amy Says
Only a degenerate with no regard for human life would deliver this letter to the frail, frightened elderly at the Motion Picture Home. Didn't enough die so far from fear and transfer trauma? Tillman, or is it Eichman, in his rush to create a Motion Picture Fund Campus with no very sick or handicapped residents, is once again playing head games with these most vulnerable human beings. You have to believe he will be held accountable for his "cruelty" in a court of law as well as "hell" when he gets there. And you used to wonder how the holocaust happened.