“This is capitalism. A system of taking and giving… mostly taking.” —Michael Moore, as narrator in his documentary, Capitalism: a Love Story.
Some people hang around the activism scene long enough to see themselves become what they used to despise. And it appears beloved lefty documentary maker Michael Moore has entered this territory. As the Traverse City Record-Eagle reports:
Boston Light & Sound, Inc., a 13-year Film Fest partner, filed a lawsuit against the festival this month over a $159,055.72 balance the company claims Film Fest failed to pay in 2017.
According to the Record-Eagle, Boston Light & Sound’s Chapin Cutler told the paper “It became apparent the festival had overextended… The festival’s eyes were a bit bigger than their finances could handle, and we were the people left standing, holding an invoice.”
The festival’s founder and public representative? Michael Moore.
Moore, the Traverse City Ticker reports, suggests that Boston Light & Sound was fired for not fulfilling contractual obligations:
Meanwhile, noted film critic Leonard Maltin has spoken up to defend the firm, posting a video filmed by his daughter Jessie, saying that Michael Moore is slandering the firm.
I’m extremely uncomfortable doing something like this. I have no desire to fight or argue with anyone—but I must stand up for my dear friends at Boston Light and Sound. #MichaelMoore is slandering them—and I can’t stand idly by while that happens. pic.twitter.com/Skw1saBSiW
— Leonard Maltin (@leonardmaltin) September 9, 2018
Moore, despite his working-man persona, is no stranger to lawsuits, whether it’s for libel, slander, or defamation, cutting out his ex-wife from movie profits, or the ones he’s filed about being cut out of movie profits.
The film festival and Boston Light & Sound have been ordered into mediation before a possible jury trial, set for February 2019. Moore’s new television show, TV Nation, premieres in October.
