December 14th, 2011

Lights are bright in ‘Hollywood East’ but not these red and blue ones! First comes Plymouth Rock Studios (PRS) then Prosperity International and now Manager Michael Burgess is spending the next 15 years in jail!

Let’s start from the very beginning. It was in 2008 when we fell for Plymouth Rock Studios. It was love at first sight. And in like any new relationship, it started off hot and future promises were made.

The plan was to buy Waverly Oaks Golf Club and turn into a state of the art playground. With 14 sound stages, a 10-acre back lot and post-production bling. Can you blame us? Of course we said “Yes”. PRS had ‘Hollywood East’ on their side.

It was only a year later PRS proposed but weeks after the hype of the approved financing of $550 million from Prosperity International the deal was off. We were shocked. Plymouth Rock Studios cut Prosperity International when Burgess couldn’t provide a script that documented the loan. Burgess then cheated PRS of $3.5 million.

Three Novembers have passed since the breakup and Burgess has finally been busted for bilking Plymouth Rock Studios and more of $94 million with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. Supposedly Burgess initially faced five to six years in federal prison but received a 15 year sentence because he failed to show up to court for two sentencing hearings back in September. Way to scam the system Burgess.

Our relationship with Plymouth Rock Studios has been off and on again for years. PRS won’t give up.  “While we have been extremely quiet by design in not talking with anyone, the capital markets have thawed in many cases and we have seen better opportunities to get funding now than we have in a couple of years,” CEO Joseph DiLorenzo tells Hollywoodeastconnection.com exclusively. “We will continue to try and get financed but will not discuss the process until it hopefully happens”. DiLorenzo is the only one left on stage. And one thing we do know about the entertainment biz is there’s nothing like a come back story.

Its seems though a studio apartment looks brighter on the 242-acre golf course then a state of the art studio. Owner of the club Mark Ridder has appeared before the Planning Board to build houses on the lot.