Cannes: Hollywood paedophilia documentary is ‘the tip of the iceberg’

The makers of An Open Secret, a documentary about Hollywood paedophile rings, on the struggle to get their film seen

The producer of a documentary about Hollywood paedophile rings has had to personally bankroll the film’s release after no major American distribution company would touch it.

Gabe Hoffman, the executive producer of An Open Secret, told an audience at the Cannes Film Festival last night that he was self-financing the film’s release in 20 US cities as part of a “grassroots groundswell” against the industry’s reluctance to confront the issues addressed within the film.

The documentary, directed by Amy Berg, concerns a gang of paedophiles operating in Hollywood in the late Nineties, and alleges that a major child star was abused  by a friend of X-Men director Bryan Singer.

It also describes parties held at an Encino mansion owned by the former online video entrepreneur and convicted sex offender Marc Collins-Rector, where underage boys were plied with alcohol and drugs and ordered to sit naked in a hot tub with major film industry figures.

Hoffman, a former hedge fund manager, asked the audience to “judge for yourselves” why the film had not been picked up after its world premiere at the New York documentary festival DOC NYC last year.

“I chose to independently finance the distribution in at least 20 cities, based on demand from theatre owners and the public like yourselves,” he said. “So it’s a grassroots groundswell against the larger companies, who, for whatever reason, have chosen not to buy it.”

Hoffman also said that the film had been turned down by three major film festivals – Los Angeles, Toronto and London – after being initially accepted, with no specific reasons given for the change of heart.

“All three times, a few weeks later we were rejected, just as we were making plans to go,” he said. “Importantly, we were given no specific reason by anyone looking at this film, saying ‘Okay, this part or that part we have a problem with because of this event’.”

He also urged the world’s media to take up the issue with Singer. “We do not make any direct accusations against Mr. Singer, [but] what we do say is that there is clearly a not-casual relationship between Bryan Singer and a number of convicted felons. Frankly, I can’t speak for Mr. Singer, but there are questions that the media has not asked him, and I would hope that perhaps they would and should.”

Greg H. Sims, the chief executive of Vesuvio Entertainment, who are distributing the film with Rocky Mountain Pictures, added that he was satisfied the film painted an accurate picture of child abuse in Hollywood.

“The research by Amy Berg and [her production company] Disarming Films was incredibly extensive,” he said. “This is literally the tip of the iceberg that you see in the film. Amy and Disarming only used the highest journalistic standards.”