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Poor GRIMES · Oct 20, 2017

"Harvey Weinstein, by the way, is not the only one who has used confidentiality settlements. That's why more of Hollywood's behavior hasn't been exposed. This is the tip of the iceberg," says producer Gabe Hoffman.

An Open Secret, a documentary about the sexual abuse of teenage boys at the hands of Hollywood big-wigs, generated plenty of publicity a few years ago, but no suitable offers for digital distribution.

Now, with new sexual allegations against Harvey Weinstein and others in the movie and TV industry coming practically daily, the producer of An Open Secret has posted his film online for the first time, free for the next nine days.

"It's so funny to keep seeing headlines about how Harvey's abuse was 'an open secret' in Hollywood, and that's the name of our film," said producer Gabe Hoffman.

Source: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ne...pen-secret-released-online-first-time-1048706

Vimeo link: https://vimeo.com/142444429 (Available until October 22)

The documentary has had difficulty finding an audience because no one is willing to distribute it, for obvious reasons. Good to know that the documentary is once again gaining traction in light of the recent Weinstein scandal. According to the producers of the film, sources refuse to post the link to the documentary themselves, which is indicative of something incredibly dark and troublesome being veiled in the industry.

jaypah · Oct 20, 2017

Is this the documentary where they talk about the kids that were supposed to be in a

video streaming production company

? If so it was on YouTube a while back and a GAFfer posted it. That docu was very depressing but it was very interesting.

Discotheque · Oct 20, 2017

Are names dropped in this documentary or is it all shrouded vaguely?

enzo_gt · Oct 20, 2017

An absolute must-watch, especially when (spoilers in a sense, because it's crazy the way it unfolds)

they catch that one guy admitting to abuse on the phone despite spending the rest of the time leading up to that being critical of it

.

And, goes without saying, but fuck Bryan Singer forever.

Poor GRIMES · Oct 20, 2017

Discotheque said:
Are names dropped in this documentary or is it all shrouded vaguely?

Im pretty sure Bryan Singer himself is in it. I think he filed a lawsuit against the producers, which he ended up losing.

LewieP · Oct 20, 2017

Pretty sure it's been on youtube for a while already.

It's a while since I saw this, I forget how much the case made in it is pinned on the allegations from (now seemingly discredited) Michael Egan.

It's tricky, when it comes to allegations like this, you want to take them seriously, especially given how well documented it is that people in positions of power often abuse that power, and then have the means to cover things up. But people still have the right to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty.

You have to balance believing victims stories with people deserving a fair trial in the court of public opinion (and indeed an actual court).

Certainly the balance of power is skewed more towards protecting powerful/rich/white/old/men, and it would be good to undo some of that, but it doesn't mean that people not falling in that group will always be telling the truth.

Edit: and just because an individual making allegations has been discredited does not mean their accusee is innocent, nor does a lawsuit being dropped mean there is no truth in the allegations.

Reeks · Oct 20, 2017

Discotheque said:
Are names dropped in this documentary or is it all shrouded vaguely?

Yes, names. It's insane. Been out for a year now.

jaypah · Oct 20, 2017

enzo_gt said:
An absolute must-watch, especially when (spoilers in a sense, because it's crazy the way it unfolds)

they catch that one guy admitting to abuse on the phone despite spending the rest of the time leading up to that being critical of it

.

And, goes without saying, but fuck Bryan Singer forever.

Ah, yes. This is the same documentary that I was talking about in my post. That shit was CRAZY. I had a lot more questions after watching and man was I depressed.

Poor GRIMES · Oct 20, 2017

LewieP said:
Pretty sure it's been on youtube for a while already.

It's a while since I saw this, I forget how much the case made in it is pinned on the allegations from (now seemingly discredited) Michael Egan.

It's tricky, when it comes to allegations like this, you want to take them seriously, especially given how well documented it is that people in positions of power often abuse that power, and then have the means to cover things up. But people still have the right to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty.

You have to balance believing victims stories with people deserving a fair trial in the court of public opinion (and indeed an actual court).

Certainly the balance of power is skewed more towards protecting powerful/rich/white/old/men, and it would be good to undo some of that, but it doesn't mean that people not falling in that group will always be telling the truth.

Edit: and just because an individual making allegations has been discredited does not mean their accusee is innocent, nor does a lawsuit being dropped mean there is no truth in the allegations.

Did Egan withdraw the claims himself or were the claims found to be unsubstantiated? After Elijah Wood withdrew his claims, probably to save his career, and after everything currently unveiling itself, then I'm not sure whether or not to believe they were strongarmed to withdraw their original allegations. Also, there are 4 other victims that are discussed in the documentary itself. I'm currently watching it right now and thought I'd share.

Tagg9 · Oct 20, 2017

I watched this a year or two back now. The content was horribly disturbing (particularly the details about how the executives groomed these poor kids and straight out sexually abused them) and extremely relevant to the ongoing abuse cases.

I will say that I didn't find it to be particularly well-edited for a documentary, so temper your expectations on the overall watchability of it (but of course that doesn't take away from the awful truth of it all).

LewieP · Oct 20, 2017

Poor GRIMES said:
Did Egan withdraw the claims himself or were the claims found to be unsubstantiated? After Elijah Wood withdrew his claims, probably to save his career, and after everything currently unveiling itself, then I'm not sure whether or not to believe they were strongarmed to withdraw their original allegations. Also, there are 4 other victims that are discussed in the documentary itself. I'm currently watching it right now and thought I'd share.

Egan's laywers withdrew the claims on his behalf because they were "fabricated", and Egan paid out seven figure sums to the three people he had accused, including Singer.

Egan has since been jailed for an unrelated case of investment fraud.

Yeah there's all sorts of possible explanations. Could be that Egan became aware of rumours about Singer and other's previous conduct, and saw a potential payday. Could be that the entire thing was fabricated. Could all be some kind of cover up. It's a bit of a mess.

TimeEffect · Oct 20, 2017

What exactly is it about boys that abusers love so much? See it in the Church too. Or are girls just as much victims

Alcoremortis · Oct 20, 2017

TimeEffect said:
What exactly is it about boys that abusers love so much? See it in the Church too. Or are girls just as much victims

I think its a combination of factors. Boys are less likely to recognize and report abuse because they havent been conditioned to be on the lookout for red flags like girls, which makes them more desirable targets for pedos.

And then theres access. Nobody thinks anything about a man hanging out with young boys, but would be suspicious if that same man were hanging out with little girls.

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