San Diego Unseen: An Urban Portrait
John Wilkens' piece in The San Diego Union-Tribune over the weekend tells the remarkable, emotional and suspenseful tale of local filmmaker Glenn Palmedo-Smith's quest to document the stories behind the eight-day battle to defend "Outpost Harry" from the Chinese Communist Army near the end of the Korean War.
What it doesn't tell the reader is that the film, Hold At All Costs, almost ruined Smith financially and, in a federal court filing (pdf), he blames the film's producer, Bob Baker, a local car dealer and Outpost Harry veteran. On May 5, Smith slapped his producer with a lawsuit, alleging infringement of copyright, unfair competition, breach of contract and fraud and deceit.In the pleading, Smith tells how he "lived and breathed the film seven days a week," to the point where it plunged him into financial crisis. He traveled to China, South Korea, England, Greece and frequently to the East Coast, but these expenses resulted in his inability to pay rent and satisfy a state tax lien, and he had to file for bankruptcy. Smith says that Baker, through a foundation set up to fund the film, was supposed to pay him $15,000 per month to direct the film but began withholding payments in 2010 in a "cold and mean campaign aimed at using Mr. Smith's financial distress" to force him to sign over his rights in the film. Smith says he was promised as much as 25 percent of the profits.
Smith also complains Baker sold him a "lemon" of a used Mazda.
