SAP here…
When we posted our blog and video stating the reason we are no longer doing the Retarded Policeman (RP) series was because we had an agreement with MF (mediocrefilms) that was not honored, we were very pleased with all the positive response we got. However, after MF posted their response blog and video, I was shocked at how many people attacked Ponce, a guy who is incapable of the things he was accused of… is just sad. And even some of the violence threatened was quite surprising. Take this little gem posted on the mediocrefilms2 comment section from:
JakkHack
I agree with aldiboronti.
Why were all the RP (Retarded Policeman) videos removed? HOW were they removed…!?
I demand to know why the Perry bros. haven’t yet been waterboarded and brutally murdered by the angry mob of MediocreFilms supporters! (which I am one of)
We also had some pretty nasty comments left on our video about the situation. Bad things were said about us, bad things were said about MF. And the majority of the comments, once MF posted their blog, did nothing but insult both parties back and forth, so we disabled the comments on our video. Then we got slammed for disabling the comments. Again, it is sad that there are so many people who just wanted to argue, insult, and threaten violence, and how few of them paid attention to what was being said in both blogs. We didn’t change our blog at all, other than restating what we originally said, stressing that we had an agreement that wasn’t honored. That is the bottom line.
We can’t figure out why so many people are accusing us of being greedy and that we want more money and that was why we pulled out of RP. So, we want to fill in some of the blanks that might have led to this assumption.
We have NEVER asked for MORE money from MF. We have only asked for the percentage we were promised from the beginning.
Late in late 2007, when we first talked about doing the RP series, we made a deal with MF that we would split everything we made from RP, minus-costs, down the middle. This was before we ever shot one frame of RP.
Once the episodes took off, MF wrote us a few checks over the next year. As artists, we were thrilled. Something smart and edgy we were all making was also making a little money. Win-Win.
Cut to November of 2008 at the YouTube Live event. The lightbulb moment came after we started talking to some of the YouTube partners we met there. Partners who had around the same amount of subscribers as MF and had videos with about the same amount of views. When I heard how much they were making for these videos a red flag went up and I started getting a bad feeling in my gut.
The next few weeks, throughout most of December 2008, I researched like a madman trying to find some piece of info that would refute what I heard. But I found only confirmation that we were getting screwed. I had to talk to MF and give them a chance to explain. I had to wait because MF was spending most of December in Paris and various other destinations.
Finally, in January, we spoke. I asked point blank, How much money have the RP videos made? The response went something like this: I have no idea… I wouldn’t even know offhand.
This is the moment the giant red flag not only went up, it smacked me in the head. How could MF have no idea how much money RP was making? At this time, RP was around 90% of all of the MF channel’s views. Couldn’t he at least make a rough guess? From there it was a steady downhill ride that finally settled at the bottom of We-Totally-Got-Screwed Valley.
We tried since January of this year to figure out a way to keep the videos up, to not let on what was happening, and to try to work out some deal with MF so we weren’t permanent residents of We-Totally-Got-Screwed Valley. We tried to come somewhere in that same ballpark as our original split everything down the middle deal. After trying to find lawyers, finding lawyers, changing lawyers, and eventually meeting face to face with MF, we were ultimately insulted (not just financially) and decided to throw in the towel on this fight.
For the record, we want to be clear on a few things that we realize have been completely misunderstood by some of the folks out there:
We did not “GET GREEDY” as some people have accused us of doing. We had a deal to split everything made from the RP series down the middle. We were never given access to how much that actually was other than assuming it was double the money MF gave us. Over a year later when we got some rough numbers from fellow YouTube partners and confronted MF, that is the moment we realized there was some fuzzy math going on.
MF said in MF’s video that MF “happily shared a large percentage of the profits” with us and has paid us “thousands” of dollars. This is also FUZZY terminology. Let’s start with the word “thousands”… it means more than one thousand. So, pick any number of thousands you want to pick that’s more than one thousand and go with us on this little math journey. 2,000… 10,000… 50,000… any number of “thousands” you choose will work. Now, think long and hard about the claim that MF “… shared a LARGE percentage of the profits” with us.
Hmmmm... that's a little slice o' pie
To date, MF has paid us approximately 5% of the net profits made from the Retarded Policeman series. Start doing the math there. Take your chosen “thousands” and multiply it by 20. Subtract your chosen “thousands” from that total and you will see something that is hopefully as shocking and stomach churning as it was and has been for us.
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE! We also have Retarded Policeman t-shirts and DVDs out there. MF has paid us 0% of those profits. ZERO! Not one thin dime. Also, note, that I, SAP, designed ALL the T-shirts, stickers, buttons… all the RP merchandise. Ponce and I are also responsible for the photo shoot that the pics on the DVD covers and DVD face feature. We have been paid NOTHING for any and all Retarded Policeman merchandise that has been sold. All designs are original works by SAP and all of them feature the Ponceman’s smiling, wonderful face and charms.
0% of 100 is how much?
MF also stated in MF’s blog, “I have tried to be fair, reasonable and generous, but at the same time I cannot allow myself to be taken advantage of.”
Well, again I say, do the math. See how those words ring afterward. Fair, reasonable, generous… and taken advantage of.
Back to being accused of GREEDINESS, I would like to point something out on this issue. How is wanting what you were promised in any way shape or form being greedy? Also, if we were greedy, we would not be walking away from a series we gave our heart and souls to that continues to make money everyday. But that is exactly what we are doing. We would love to make more RP episodes, but we clearly cannot make them with the situation as it is now.
This is a tough, evil, snake-filled business and we know that sometimes we are gonna get screwed over. As far as RP goes, at least we can be proud of the work we did and the series we helped create. A series, despite what MF says, was inspired by and created for Josh the Ponceman Perry. Even though MF now claims that MF is the sole producer/creative force behind the show, we know the truth. We are not claiming to be the sole anything on this series. It was always a team effort between us and MF.
We would like to point out that there are some missing RP episodes on YouTube. Racial Profiling, Mime, Casual Friday, Nalts, and Underage Girls were pulled months ago. They were pulled by MF, not by us. Why? Because SAP has writing credit on them. SAP also has director credit on some of them. And also, we would like to point out that there are 3 RP episodes that SAP wrote, produced, directed, and edited entirely on his own. One of them is the Lesbians episode on the DVD that we have not received any profits from, one is the Underage Girls episode, and the other, Demon Child, will sadly never see the light of day. It stars our niece, Kaylyn, and our sister (her mother) will never allow MF to touch it as long as this situation remains unresolved. We would never allow it either. What sane, loving family member would? On 3 of the 4 SAP penned episodes, MF was not present in any capacity of the production other than approving at the scripts before they were shot. Those episodes were paid for, cast, shot, directed, produced and edited by SAP and Ponce. Odd that those are the ones that have been removed from YouTube, again, NOT BY US, but by MF.
Epilogue. We make our way in this world one day at a time. It is not easy. It is especially difficult to make ends meet in this business when you are a struggling actor, writer, artist… but we do it. Sometimes by the skin of our teeth, sometimes with the help of a loving family and a mother who is willing to max out her last credit card so we can have an air conditioning unit in our apartment. And we have to fight against stereotypes and ignorance the whole way. Point is, it’s hard enough just trying to get by without the nasty punch in the gut of realizing how many people out there are willing to take advantage of someone as trusting as Ponce. He has more love in him than anyone I’ve ever met which is a rare and beautiful thing in this world. We know the odds of “making it” in this business are very small. But we don’t stop, and we won’t stop. The sickening truth is that no matter how talented Ponce is, no matter how many times he proves a stereotype wrong, or shows his amazing charm and brilliance, there will always be people out there who will take advantage of his condition without hesitation and, even more sickening, without remorse. It happens more often than you can imagine. This does take the wind out of us occasionally, but it will never stop us.
Ponce has a magical gift and, cheesy as it sounds, I believe he can help make the world a better place with that gift. We have tons of letters from people who tell us how happy they are to have discovered our work. There are parents of children with Downs, people with their own disabilities, and people who tell us they would never have even taken the time to talk to a person with Down Syndrome had they not witnessed Ponce’s onscreen magic for themselves. Ponce gives people hope. Which gives us hope. So whenever we do get knocked down, taken for a ride, or just plain screwed over, we take a step back, take a deep breath, and hopefully, learn enough from the last smackdown to keep us on our feet when the next one comes along.
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