SeanPaulMurphyVille: CMD DISTRIBUTION SUCCESSFULLY SUED

Friday, May 25, 2018

CMD DISTRIBUTION SUCCESSFULLY SUED

Yours Truly with Byron Jones

CMD Distribution Inc is a film distribution company specializing in faith-based and family films founded by Byron M. Jones in Wake Forest, North Carolina. A recent check of IMDBpro lists them as the distributor of fifty-nine films, including one I wrote called Open My Eyes. While randomly googling Byron, a long time associate and employer, I was surprised to see the following statement on the webpage of Crystal Creek Media:

Statement about CMD Distribution Inc.

Mar 8, 2017

Crystal Creek Media worked with CMD Distribution to bring our film CREED OF GOLD to the market. Unfortunately our experience with this distribution company did not go well. After a number of contractual violations on the part of CMD Distribution and CMD’s unwillingness to remedy the violations, it became clear that litigation was the only option to resolve the situation. On January 3, 2017 Crystal Creek Media, LLC was awarded a judgment against CMD Distribution Inc. by the Superior Court of New Hanover County in the state of North Carolina.

We feel an obligation to share our experience in order to warn fellow producers and investors that CMD did not fulfill its contractual financial obligations. All this can be verified through the North Carolina VCAP system. While we were seeking to resolve our situation with this distributor, we heard from many other producers who were also financially defrauded by CMD Distribution. For those who have been defrauded by CMD Distribution we ask you to do two things. The first is to file a complaint with the NC Attorney General’s office (click here) and the second is to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau (click here).

****REVISED****

I have revised this blog since I first published it. Let me explain why.

When I read about this lawsuit against Crystal Creek Media, I was inclined to believe the worst. I had a long history with CMD owner Byron Jones. He knew him from the earliest days of Pure Flix Entertainment, a company he had co-founded. I felt I had a good relationship with him in the post Pure Flix period. We had discussed a number of projects, none of which, sadly, came to fruition.

Things soured after Byron asked me if I knew someone who could edit a book he was planning to publish. I recommended a friend of mine, who also edits my books. She did the editing, but never received the agreed upon payment for her work. When he stopped responding to her emails, I tried to intervene. However, Byron didn't respond to my emails either.

After the publication of the original blog, Byron reached out to me. He said he was unaware that my friend had not been paid. He asked me to put him in contact with her. I did and he subsequently paid her all the money she was owed.

But what about the other cases of people who claimed to have been cheated?

Byron recently explained to me what happened. Here's his story.

Byron claims CMD was the victim of a perfect storm of events totally outside his control. First, a little background. The two biggest retail outlets for faith-based films were LifeWay Books and Family Christian. From other distributors, I heard Family Christian didn't always purchase their merchandise upfront. Many independent Christian distributors got their films on Family Christian's shelves via consignment. Well, Family Christian suddenly upped and declared bankruptcy. The distributors all wanted their product back, which technically did not belong to Family Christian, but the bankruptcy judge declared them to be assets of the company. Therefore, everyone lost their products and received no one compensation. Byron says this decision cost CMD about $180,000. I believe him. I talked to other distributors who experienced the same thing.

Then came a much bigger blow. First, let me say I know little about the process of getting films into Walmart, but here's how Byron explained it to me. Smaller companies, like CMD, had to go through a larger distributor to get their films on the shelves of Walmart, which remains the Holy Grail of American retail. (This is similar to the way distributors have to go through larger aggregators nowadays to get their films on NetFlix.) Most smaller companies, like CMD, went through a company called Alchemy. When Alchemy declared bankruptcy in July of 2016, CMD lost a million plus dollars. (To make matters worse, at the time of the bankruptcy, CMD was preparing 35,000 disks of my film Open My Eyes for sale at Walmart.) CMD could not sustain that loss. Byron was forced to file for bankruptcy. He said he distributed all available money back to the producers. Then he released the films and even helped some of them find new distribution. I can vouch for the fact that he helped find new distribution for Open My Eyes.

There. I believe I have provided both sides of the story. I fully believe Crystal Creek Media did not get all of the money they were contractually obligated to receive. No doubt about it. However, Byron's story, which I find completely credible, explains why. It's just a sad series of events that damaged a lot of people.

I wish everyone well, and I want to publicly thank Byron for fulfilling his obligation to my friend.

Here's the trailer for Crystal Creek's film "Creed of Gold":