A12 • JUNE 3, 2016• ST. LUCIE WEST/TRADITION • YOUR VOICE NEWS & VIEWS
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TEXTOR from page A1
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as “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” and “Tron:Legacy.” Textor and a group of investors spun off the Florida version to focus on creating digital human likenesses for stage and screen and to extend the work to include a Pixar-like animation arm. They sought and were awarded incentives from the state of Florida through funds that encourage big employers to relocate to Florida. Textor says all of those negotiations were on the up-and-up. “If we had done anything wrong, I and other members of the management team would be forced to pay something. I am required to pay nothing. The state is getting a distribution of the assets of the estate, not from me.” The court findings, written by mediator Bruce Greer, echo Textor’s assertion that his goal was never nefarious. “There has been no finding of fact that DDMG (Digital Domain Media group) directors or officers or any other party violated the law or otherwise misled investors, creditors or governmental agencies and entities.” Greer stated in his report. Textor says the findings prove to be more than just a victory. They’re validation that his vision was, and is, always a top priority. As part of the terms of the bankruptcy settlement, even Textor is awarded money to recoup losses from his investments. He retains the name “Tradition Studios”, as well as any related trademarks, curricula and lesson plans associated with the Digital Domain Institute (The school Textor also envisioned as part of the Florida project) and data tapes full of proprietary software he helped design. He also retains ownership of the screenplay for the feature film “A Thousand Cranes”, and the second largest payout awarded to anyone involved with the Florida project. “As further proof that we were not at fault in the closing of the company, the attorneys had to agree that $8.5 million of my personal mortgage would be paid down,” said Textor. Wyndcrest Holdings, an investment company owned by Textor, acquired the California visual effects company Digital Domain in 2006. Publicly, they became most notable for resurrecting slain rapper Tupac Shakur at 2012’s Coachella Music Festival. In July of 2009, the Florida arm of Wyndcrest announced plans for a digital production studio in Tradition. The move also included a partnership with Florida State University to build a film school in South Florida that would work closely with the new studio. By 2012, under Textor’s leadership, Digital Domain expanded into Florida as an East Coast digital effects studio
WWW.YOURVOICEWEEKLY.COM and school. Textor secured more than $130 million of government money to build the two landmark projects in Florida: The film and visual-effects school called the Digital Domain Institute and the state-of-the-art film studio Digital Domain in Port St. Lucie. An incentive payment went directly into the Florida budget with the approval of Governor Charlie Crist and Digital Domain received $20 million of state money from a fund normally used to lure outof-state businesses to Florida. The City of Port St. Lucie followed suit, with land and a brand-new studio building in exchange for 500 full-time jobs by 2014. In 2011, Textor and the management team worked to take the company public. The problems with the debt began when Florida-based Lydian Bank, one of Digital Domain’s backers, ran into financial troubles and sold its Digital Domain loan and its stock options in the special effects company. An investment group named Comvest Capital bought the loan and agreed to lend Digital Domain another $15 million. In addition, Digital Domain agreed to borrow $8 million to buy stock to hold for Comvest. Some interested investors began to back away from Digital Domain after the loan announcement, but Textor still had interested investors willing to put money into the company. But the stock started to fall. Digital Domain agreed to repay one lender, Tenor Capital, in stock and allowed Tenor Capital to short the stock — a way to profit when the stock price falls as opposed to the traditional profit when a company stock price grows. The belief was that Tenor Capital could short only a small amount, but an agreement allowed the company to short much more. Digital Domain believed several deals could have put cash into the company but were thwarted by Tenor Capital, which had significant weight as a chief lender. Digital Domain did not have enough cash on hand to meet Tenor’s loan terms and Tenor notified Digital Domain on Aug. 20 the company was in default, turning a $35 million dollar loan into a $51 million dollar loan that Digital Domain could not meet. The day the company announced it would close the studios, Textor resigned. Soon after, a lawsuit was filed claiming officials at Digital Domain Media Group misled investors and were participants in a Ponzi Scheme. The accusations, the court decided, were unfounded. In the report, mediator Bruce Greer points out that of all the lawsuits filed against John Textor and Digital Domain, only one proceeded to court. Iroquois
See TEXTOR page A19