That's some incredibly creative accounting, probably bordering on fraud, depending on who you ask to investigate. I guess that is where you get the metric "we technically didn't lose money, so give us more, to make a movie."
Wonder how many investors were burned.
Yes, I'm sure it was illegal. Not sure if Corman was an active participant or the guys running the studio at that time. A lot of shadiness in that business. I was always amazed how movies could make a billion dollars and the studio accounts would claim they weren't profitable yet, so they could avoid paying the profit participants...
They're not profitable because we spent a BILLION and ONE DOLLARS.
Are movie stars just money laundering for other investors? Is it like "Art" and galleries which are often accused of the same?
So many potential scandals.
Someone should make a mo-... oh wait.