Why Steven Spielberg is suing Aussie music mogul Mark Spillane
Aussie entrepreneur Mark Spillane, who boasts of a 20-year track record of dealing with arena-filling rock stars, has been accused of leaving a multimillion-dollar trail of mess behind him.
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From Mount Panorama to Hollywood, Australian entertainment industry figure and two-time bankrupt Mark Spillane is accused of leaving a multimillion-dollar trail of financial devastation behind him.
The executive, who boasts of a 20-year track record of dealing with arena-filling rock stars, allegedly walked away from discussions to buy more than a third of Talentworks, the company set up by John Farnham’s manager, Glenn Wheatley and now managed by Wheatley’s wife, Gaynor.
In Hollywood, one of his companies is being sued by Steven Spielberg’s film production empire over allegations it failed to deliver US$15.5m ($A23.4m) in film financing while another is being sued over allegations it pocketed US$2.5m ($A3.8m) in money supposed to be invested in Sam Mendes hit 1917.
Back home, events he has been involved in include the cancelled Vanfest festival at Mount Panorama in 2022, which was derailed by mass flooding and has left bands unpaid, punters complaining they didn’t get a refund and founder Matt Clifton hundreds of thousands of dollars out of pocket.
He also squibbed a deal to buy Queensland’s Dunk Island for more than $20m in 2021 before the troubled getaway went on to be sold to Atlassian billionaire Mike Cannon-Brooks.
Bankruptcy documents Spillane filed when he declared himself bankrupt for a second time in September last year show he has been involved in at least 26 failed companies that together owe $11.8m.
The trail of financial devastation sparked an investigation by the corporate watchdog into Foralus Group, a hospitality business in which Spillane and Clifton were involved.
According to his biography on the website of film finance group Audient Capital, Spillane “produced various stadium and arena level events working directly with global multi-platinum iconic acts such as Aerosmith, Van Halen, Billy Joel, Jimmy Barnes, Live and more”.
Gaynor Wheatley said Spillane “just seemed to know everybody”.
“I wanted to take Talentworks to the next level and he was going to buy a 35 per cent stake for a good proportion (of money),” she said.
In 2021 he also organised intimate acoustic winery tour Chant Du Vin, featuring Mahalia Barnes, that insiders say was a “s. t show” and forced suppliers to chase their debts for months.
Steph Helm, the operator of Vintners Daughter winery in Canberra said it took several months and threats of legal action before they received outstanding payments for wine and staff.
“They promised the world but were completely unprofessional and we did all the running around, organising fire pits and covering the cost of the staff which they were going to reimburse us for,” she said.
“At least we weren’t out of pocket but it wasn’t the big money-spinner we were led to believe.”
Spillane did not answer detailed questions but said details of his bankruptcy were correct. He said he could not comment on Audient’s affairs because he was “an employee, not an owner”.
SPIELBERG LAWSUIT
In a lawsuit in California three-time Oscar winner Steven Spielberg accuses Spillane and others of making up “numerous and audacious” excuses for their failure to provide a third of the budget of flop horror film The Last Voyage of the Demeter.
Documents filed in the US Federal Court system show in August 2022 Audient, a Cayman Islands company whose executives includeSpillane, his wife Kristie and business partner RJ Bucaria, agreed to pour US$15.5m into the flick through an investment fundit runs.
But the company producing the film, Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment, alleges that Bucaria and Spillane strung it along fornine months, “repeatedly representing that payment was just about to be made when, in fact, it was not”.
Amblin alleges it has not received a cent of the promised millions and has asked the US court to enforce payment.
Audient has yet to file a defence.
TALENTWORKS
Spillane entered Gaynor Wheatley’s life as she sought to complete the soundtrack album to the John Farnham: Finding The Voice documentary, her labour of love in tribute to her late husband Glenn’s vision.
According to Wheatley, he supervised the mixing and mastering of the album which won the 2023 ARIA Award for Best OriginalSoundtrack last November.
Spillane then made overtures to buy a 35 per cent stake in Wheatley’s company to help her grow the business.
Wheatley said Spillane “talked the big talk”, and name-dropped artists and industry executives, but the investment never materialised.
“I waited and waited, it was stressing me out … I felt stupid and finally I just had to move on.
“I didn’t lose anything, except faith,” she said.
Wheatley said the Talentworks investment proposal “had nothing to do with John” and the Farnham family were not involved in any of the dealings.
VANFEST
What started as a mini-festival at a local pub in Forbes by Manly bar owner Matt Clifton grew to be a successful annual event headlined by a raft of A-list artists including Angus and Julia Stone and Rudimental.
Spillane proposed a new joint venture called the Foralus Group to Clifton in 2021 to create other entertainment ventures which would be funded by Audient. Website archives show Foralus listed Vanfest as one of its events.
Sources close to the company say Clifton believed Audient promised a substantial investment, but the money never came.
Vanfest’s attempted comeback in 2022 after Covid at its new Mount Panorama site in Bathurst was derailed by flooding.
The festival with Hilltop Hoods, Tash Sultana, Tones and I, Illy and others was finally cancelled in December last year owing artist fees and ticket refunds.
FORALUS
On paper, Clifton was the only director of Foralus, which provided management services to his venues.
But in a report to creditors, liquidator Michael Jones of Jones Partners alleged that Mark and Kristie Spillane were also “shadow directors” – people not formally appointed to the board but still exercising power and control over the company.
Foralus collapsed in June last year owing almost $1.6m to creditors, including at least $894,000 owed to Clifton, who had propped it up with his own money during the Covid pandemic.
Mr Jones said Clifton was counting on a rescue package from Audient, which company documents show promised to pay $210,000.
“He was of the belief that this magic money from the US was going to come through,” he said.
Clifton is believed to be close to launching legal action against Spillane.
CHANT DU VIN
The intimate acoustic winery tour organised by Spillane in 2021 during a break in Covid restrictions on gigs and featuring artists Mahalia Barnes and Sarah McLeod was a “s. t show” behind the scenes according to those who worked on it.
Fans had a great time but operators were forced to scramble to provide staff and food to make the event a success and spent months pursuing payment from Spillane.
Steph Helm, the operator of Vintners Daughter winery in Canberra said it took several months and threats of legal action to get paid.
“I have a little bit of a legal background so sent an email saying basically we would take (matters) further and Mark called me within five minutes and said he had transferred the money. That was for the wine and the staff but we were supposed to get a percentage of profits but he said they lost money on the event.”
1917
In a case filed with the LA Superior Court in 2021, New York-based company Hudson Private Corp claims in March 2020 it agreed to tip $US2.5m ($3.8m) into an Australian company Upsense Media Capital, founded by Spillane and R.J. Bucaria.
In return, Upsense was to pay Hudson a share of the profits from 1917, which was already in theatres and a hit, worth at least US$3.5m.
It claimed Upsense has received as much as $21m from the hit film – three times its initial $7m investment – but failed to pass anything on to it.
The case returns to court in LA on Tuesday for a preliminary hearing about evidence.
DUNK ISLAND
Upsense reportedly agreed to pay mining magnate Peter Bond between $20m and $25m for Dunk Island in June 2021 but failed to settle.
The island was sold to Atlassian techbro billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes and his wife Annie for $23.65m in 2022.
BANKRUPTCY
Official documents show Spillane declared himself bankrupt for the first time in February 2002 owing creditors $32,239.
Documents show he declared himself bankrupt again in September last year owing more than $10.4m, including $4.4m owed to the ATO. He had just $36 in the bank.
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