Cape Town – Lourensford Estate in Somerset West, which is owned by one of the wealthiest people in South Africa, billionaire Christo Wiese, claims French car manufacturer Renault is illegally flighting an advertisement by including his estate in its commercial.
Lourensford chief executive, Koos Jordaan and the estate’s security manager, Johan Cronje, told Weekend Argus the advertisement was being illegally aired worldwide, as the estate had not signed a release form, or been paid for allowing filming to take place.
Jordaan said the company often encountered crooks and it wasn’t worth hiring a private detective or taking legal action over R25 000 owed in location fees.
The Renault commercial, was shot in February and March last year by David Brenton and his business partner, Craig Fegen, from Gateway Film Services.
They have allegedly refused to pay Lourensford and 20 film-related companies for work on the international Renault commercial and other commercials.
Renault International said the company had every right to broadcast the Renault Duster commercial because they had paid for the advert in full.
Spokeswoman Lee-Ann Stanton said R3million had been paid to Gateway for the advertisement and it had been Brenton’s responsibility, as the line producer, to pay the South African crew.
“No money is due from Renault to anyone for the project,” she said.
“At best, it’s an invalid dispute between the producer and line producer. While these issues happen, it is unprecedented that the line producer (Gateway’s Brenton) tries to drag the agency and client into it, while they themselves have a bad reputation,” said Stanton.
“I’m a small company in South Africa and there is no way I can take on a company like Renault,” said Brenton. “If a billionaire is struggling with them, then what am I to do?”
The pair have allegedly defrauded companies of about R500 000 since 2007.
Since Weekend Argus published a story about this two weeks ago, five other alleged victims have come forward.
Two claimed they had been defrauded during the past few weeks after shooting a Vodashop advertisement in Cape Town for Gateway, while others said they had also been defrauded.
* Obvious Nyanda, owner of Eat Out Film and TV caterers, said Gateway owed him R30 000 for a commercial he catered for two weeks ago.
* Topco director Linsay Shuttleworth said she was owed R50 000 for taking part in the Vodashop advertisement this week.
* A foreign film company owned by Kitisha Gagliana was allegedly defrauded in 2012 when it paid a deposit for an Indian shoot for Forest Essentials.
* Lisa Mackay said Gateway owed R7 000 in petty cash for a December 2007 job involving Mountain Dew India.
* Jason Martin from Frogsquad said Gateway owed him R35 000 for the Renault advertisement.
Other alleged victims include Tank Crew Film Management, The Make-Up Issue, Greenage, Twenty Model Management, Peppadill caterers, Brenton Lockets film and production supplies, production designer Dimitri Repanis and eight companies Repanis had subcontracted.
In a scathing lawyer’s letter sent to Gateway in March by Bobby Amm, the SA Commercial Producers’ Association’s executive officer, he accused Gateway Films of extortion, fraud, misappropriation of funds, unlawful gains, clandestinely escalating the budget, coercive tactics, furnishing fabricated account statements, deliberate and intentional refusal to pay service providers and vendors, harassment, defamation, cheating and intimidation.
Working from a Greyton hideout
David Brenton and Craig Fegen said they had nothing to hide, but they have been hiding in Greyton.
Brenton said he was holed up in Greyton and could not leave his Oak Street home at all, not even to go to the supermarket next door, because the town’s residents “think I’m a crook”.
The alleged film industry fraudsters claimed their business had been ruined and were destitute after being evicted because they could not afford rent.
Yet, they are preparing for a film shoot in Morocco and filmed a Vodashop commercial in Cape Town two weeks ago.
Craig Fegen, walking in front on the right, at the Vodashop commercial shoot at the Prestwich Memorial in Buitengracht Street two weeks ago. Picture: Supplied
They don’t answer calls or respond to e-mails from the victims they allegedly scammed and have changed the name of their film company and e-mail addresses frequently.
They have two men who block access to Brenton and his home telling visitors he’s asleep, in a meeting or driving between Cape Town and Greyton.
Two of his victims in the Renault commercial went to Greyton to search for the duo, but failed.
Weekend Argus gained access by walking past one of the “guards” through the house and into the garden, where Brenton and Fegen were apparently planning the Moroccan shoot.
Caterer sells belongings to pay employees after client defaults
One of the gatekeepers, who introduced himself as a film production assistant named Angelo, said they were urgently preparing for the shoot and would be leaving soon.
Fegen had tears in his eyes throughout the interview with Weekend Argus, saying he, his partner and his five children had nowhere to go.
Weekend Argus saw two cars that his gatekeepers said belonged to Brenton in front of the house – a black Ford Ranger and silver BMW open-top sportscar.
The duo admitted they owed people money, but blamed Renault and various other companies for not paying them, so they could not pay crew.
Brenton said he had held on to three Renault Dusters at customs to use as leverage to get the company to pay, but after threats of jail, he had returned the vehicles.
Weekend Argus