Sci-Fi Channel Admits Lying About Filmmaker Bio

[Sci-Fi]

From AP:

NEW YORK (AP) - The Sci Fi Channel admitted Friday that it lied last month in claiming it was at odds with filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan and was making an unauthorized biography about his "buried secret."

The hoax was part of a "guerilla marketing campaign" that went too far, network president Bonnie Hammer said.

The network announced in December that the reclusive Shyamalan, maker of "The Sixth Sense" and "Signs," had agreed to participate in a documentary about his life to run in connection with this summer's release of his new movie, "The Village."

Sci Fi said last month, however, that Shyamalan had soured on the documentary when the questions got too personal. Documentarians Nathaniel Kahn and Callum Greene pressed on and made a three-hour film, "The Buried Secret of M. Night Shyamalan," without his cooperation, the network said.

The Associated Press wrote about the documentary last month, and other media also ran accounts. In an interview, Greene described how Shyamalan's "cooperation dried up." A network spokesman told the AP that Sci Fi was confident it had legal grounds to air the film and would probably never work with Shyamalan again.

In a news release, Sci Fi said Shyamalan had attempted to shut down production of the "disturbing expose."

It was all a lie, and there is no buried secret, Hammer said Friday.

The documentary, scheduled to air Sunday, says a mysterious drowning of a child in a lake near Shyamalan's boyhood home in the Philadelphia area had profoundly affected his life and fueled his interest in the supernatural. That's not true either, Hammer said.

"We created a fictional special that was part-fact and part-fiction, and Night was part of the creation from the beginning," the network chief said.

Moviegoers walk away from Shyamalan's films not knowing what was real or not, and "we wanted to do the same thing in a special about his life," she said.

Sci Fi did not send a complete copy of the film to television critics, but sent a half-hour tape of highlights this week that, in some spots, hinted it might be a mockumentary.

Actor Adrien Brody, a star of "The Village," is interviewed in the documentary saying that he was sworn to secrecy about everything in the movie. Asked if he had short or long hair in the film, he refused to answer.

"Perhaps we might have taken the guerilla campaign one step too far," Hammer said. "We thought it would create controversy and it probably went one step too far."

Hammer said she had been in on the hoax from the beginning and took responsibility for duping the public. Sci Fi, which is available in some 83 million homes, has recently been taken over by corporate parent NBC Universal.

"This marketing strategy is not consistent with our policy at NBC," said Rebecca Marks, NBC entertainment spokeswoman. "We would never intend to offend the public or the press and value our relationship with both."

Greene, a producer of "Lost in Translation," shares an agent with Shyamalan.

[The 14th Colony]

Bonnie Hammer lied and decieved people? How unexpected and unusual. Not.

[thomas7g]

"This marketing strategy is not consistent with our policy at NBC," said Rebecca Marks, NBC entertainment spokeswoman. "We would never intend to offend the public or the press and value our relationship with both."

remember that name. She believes in not offending the public and she kicked Bonnie's arse.

[Gemini1999]

Originally Posted by thomas7g

remember that name. She believes in not offending the public and she kicked Bonnie's arse.

Maybe we should send letters or e-mails to Ms. Marks and tell her how offended and appalled we are that a cable exec would stoop to such lowly tactics to lure in viewers....

[Rowan]

Originally Posted by Gemini1999

Maybe we should send letters or e-mails to Ms. Marks and tell her how offended and appalled we are that a cable exec would stoop to such lowly tactics to lure in viewers....

you read my mind!

[Gemini1999]

Originally Posted by Rowan

you read my mind!

Rowan -

While you wrote that, I was working on finding out what we need to know... I found not only Rebecca Marks' e-mail address at NBC, but her phone number as well..... Look here:

Rebecca Marks, NBC Entertainment Publicity and Bravo, 818/840-3914 rebecca.marks@nbc.com

I think that will about do it!
________
Wendie 99

[Rowan]

Originally Posted by Gemini1999

Rowan -

While you wrote that, I was working on finding out what we need to know... I found not only Rebecca Marks' e-mail address at NBC, but her phone number as well..... Look here:

Rebecca Marks, NBC Entertainment Publicity and Bravo, 818/840-3914 rebecca.marks@nbc.com

I think that will about do it!

That's funny I've been hunting for her contact info too I only found her phone number though thanks Bryan! good work! lets strike while the iron is hot! lol!

[Gemini1999]

Originally Posted by Rowan

That's funny I've been hunting for her contact info too I only found her phone number though thanks Bryan! good work! lets strike while the iron is hot! lol!

Rowan -

Actually, it was very easy... All I did was type "rebecca marks" and "@NBC" in the google search engine and I got it straight away!
________
YAMAHA YZF-R1

[Darth Marley]

Do you guys really want to wreck a woman's career based on one bad decision???

[Rowan]

Originally Posted by Darth Marley

Do you guys really want to wreck a woman's career based on one bad decision???

are you genuinely concerned or are you being sarcastic? I can never tell with you Darth LOL!

[Darth Marley]

Did I leave out a [/sarcasm] tag?
Actually, I was hoping someone would list a range of decisions that they disagreed with concerning BH's career record.

Frankly, I do not think a "campaign" against her will be a totally sound idea. Maybe, but I think it will end up with a group of frragmented fans confusing a coherent message that someone else that understands and likes sf would be better for the job.

Instead, there will be different groups with diverse revenge motives crawling out to take a shot at her. Those that hate RDM's BSG, and her handling of that franchise have a motive. The Farscape fans have a motive. People that think they should keep David Hasslehoff off the air have a motive. Come to think of it, I have more than three reasons to want someone else to sit in that chair.

[Rowan]

Originally Posted by Darth Marley

Did I leave out a [/sarcasm] tag?
Actually, I was hoping someone would list a range of decisions that they disagreed with concerning BH's career record.

Frankly, I do not think a "campaign" against her will be a totally sound idea. Maybe, but I think it will end up with a group of frragmented fans confusing a coherent message that someone else that understands and likes sf would be better for the job.

Instead, there will be different groups with diverse revenge motives crawling out to take a shot at her. Those that hate RDM's BSG, and her handling of that franchise have a motive. The Farscape fans have a motive. People that think they should keep David Hasslehoff off the air have a motive.( LOL!) Come to think of it, I have more than three reasons to want someone else to sit in that chair.

And the Firefly fans have a motive, how about Angel fans?
In this case though she messed up in a very non Sci Fi way she did a major faux pas and got caught at it.
Many non Sci Fi people will be feeling p----- off!

[Darth Marley]

Uh, I thought Firefly was a Fox venture, and Angel was WB.
I also thought BH's previous gig was at Lifetime (or WPMS as we say around here), so I have no data on how she was involved in those cancelations, other than not picking them up for SFC.

But, for this year, we have this little scandal that I just put on par with thier silly little UFO's are real shows, and the failure of 5 Min to Midnight. Maybe it will help show that she has been coasting all this time, and has no helpful insights for the network.

[Rowan]

Originally Posted by Darth Marley

Uh, I thought Firefly was a Fox venture, and Angel was WB.

oops! just gettin' carried away

[braxiss]

Originally Posted by The 14th Colony

Bonnie Hammer lied and decieved people? How unexpected and unusual. Not.

[thomas7g]

I really think she is a incredibly talented marketing strategist. A bit lacking in morals and ethics. But she really knows how to do commercials. But as VP of programming she applies strategies she learned on 30 second commercials to halfhour-hour long shows and it really don't work. Its like in Star Trek II (geek alert) when Kahn is manuevery and attacking well...but shows the 2 dimensional thinking of a ground-based battlefield. Space has the extra third dimension. So all Kirk had to do was move up or down and wait for Bonnie...er Kahn to miss him.

Bonnie Hammer is like Kahn. She doesn't see the ramifications of the extra dimension, time. Going from 30 seconds to an hour requires different thinking she hasn't shown an adeptness over.

That and she doesn't really like SciFi. She wants horror. She wants weird and strange. And because she is programming head of a cable channel, we get mostly crap. Scare Tactics, John Edwards....



That's why she should go. NBC has the resources to do better.

*cries*
Dear lord people. Does anyone remember "Curse of the Blair Witch?"

I saw this coming a mile away.

If anyone cares, I've ranted to full plug on my site. I'd rather leave my full commentary to there, because I like not being kicked off this site. *lol*
http://www.vipertown.net

[thomas7g]

lol! You certainly had alot to say!

[Darth Marley]

Great rant Mike, but I think you are wrong about which half of the country are idiots.

I still think it would be funny if BH actually did lose her job over this.

[jeditemple]

I hope they fire Bonnie's sorry butt.

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by Mike Wright

*cries*
Dear lord people. Does anyone remember "Curse of the Blair Witch?"

I saw this coming a mile away.

I didn't get to see all of the show because I was watching stage 14 of the Tour but I enjoyed what I did see, much of it made me LOL. I kept thinking what good publicity this was not for just The Village but all of his films, I was even thinking about going back and watching the other films again to see the comparisons they were making. Why would they film getting their hands slapped by the executives for not staying on course? I couldn't believe that professionals would be spending all their time running around getting unauthorized stuff and ignoring their schedule, their career depends on doing the job right. If Night really didn't want it shown, someone of his stature and resourses in the film industry could get it pulled.
If people really did get upset by this they need to work on their Humor Sense, come on this is the channel that makes Scare Tactics.
We got our leg pulled :laugh: about it.

[bsg1fan1975]

Originally Posted by Rowan

you read my mind!

ditto here. Its not suprising that Bonnie Hammer lied to people. Look at her management of the BSG fiasco and her programming choices.

Well labeling a person as an idiot is always a relative term. Some people can be really smart, or really cool, and do something really stupid. And then we call them a dumbass. Or a person can have no inteligence what-so-ever, and once in his life do something really cool. All these shades of gray can get confusing... So in order to clarify things, I've opened up a new portion of my site called The People Critic.

http://www.vipertown.net

[Darth Marley]

The People Critic

Excellent idea. My remark was inspired by an obvious differences in political view inappropriate to express here.
Suffice to say that I think Ron Moore's next documentary should be Galactica411, and expose all the percieved faults in the RDM production. I think it would be hilarious.

Yeah we could have a scene where Ron is explaining how fans will more appreciate a female Starbuck, as he's hitting a line drive.... heheh

[Darth Marley]

I meant to type Michael Moore in that post, but I suppose either will serve.

[warhammerdriver]

In the immortal words of Judas Priest:

"Head(s) are gonna roll..."