Right-wing superhero movie could generate US arrests

Production of the racist superhero movie “Rebels Run,” based on a comic book created by far-right blogger Theodore Beale (“Vox Day”), “lost” its $1 million in funding and led to the arrest of those involved in the scam. . Money raised through crowdfunding was diverted to a dubious investor and disappeared.

The film project began in 2019, when Peele’s followers began contributing to an upcoming movie based on the Confederate superhero he created for “Alternative Heroes” director Arcavan Comics. At the time, a trailer was produced showing the protagonist battling a global police force hunting down “free-thinking conservatives”.

In the video, the character Rebel wears a bustier inspired by the flag of the former Confederate States (which historically advocated the maintenance of slavery in America while fighting a “different kind of war”). The video also includes excerpts from an interview with writer Chuck Dixon, who worked on Batman comics, created Bane, and He has a few production credits to his name alongside producer Daniel McNicol.

Scooter Downey (from the documentary “Crossfire”), a frequent contributor to the far-right Fox News show “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” will direct the film. Thanks to Beale and Downey’s names attached to the project, the film raised more than $1 million in deposits from individual backers for its production.

That money was saved when the filmmakers tried to raise more money for the film’s budget. But three years later, the money evaporated, as did Peele’s hopes of making the film. “I don’t believe we’ll ever get our money back,” he said in a video posted to his fans.

Peele isn’t the first radical conservative to try to make a movie. In fact, few projects of a similar tone have gone further than his because there is a market for it. For example, commentator Ben Shapiro’s company has a streaming site that offers retro movies, including a thriller about a school shooting and a western starring “cancelled” actress Gina Carano. Earlier this year, Breitbart News published a critical biography of Hunter Biden, son of US President Joe Biden.

However, a breakdown of “Rebel’s Run” shows that this leap into film was not without risk.

Peele thought he could actually make the movie.

Dubbed the “Supreme Dark Lord of the Evil Legion of Doom” by his followers, or his “allies” as they describe themselves, the host has seen “fame” spreading his hate speech among audiences, often attributed to progressive influence. In video games and superhero and science fiction films.

Not coincidentally, these audiences have already funded several comic books with a similar tone and spearheaded hate campaigns against black artists starring in fictional productions.

Peele is a member of the GamerGate movement (a sexist campaign against cyber-harassment in the gaming community) and, in addition to racist statements, has previously described homosexuality as a “birth defect”.

Against this background, he will not get “traditional” investors to produce his film. So he turned to Ohana Capital Financial, a Utah-based financial institution. On November 5, 2020, he decided to transfer his $1 million capital there, hoping for higher interest rates.

However, Ohana Capital Financial was created by James Wolfgram, a self-proclaimed cryptocurrency millionaire who posted several photos of his sports cars to show off his wealth. But a federal indictment filed last month proved Wolfram’s wealth was a hoax. The photos of the cars are taken from other websites and their cryptocurrency mining business is also fake.

According to the indictment, Wolfram is heavily indebted to one of his firm’s other clients, which invested more than $4 million in September 2020 as part of a payment to a Chinese manufacturer of professional Covid-19 protective masks (highly valued at the time).

Wolfram allegedly disappeared with millions and used film money deposited by Peel to make the transaction. After some time, as Beal recounts in a video, he and his collaborators became suspicious and contacted the FBI, which prompted an investigation into the fraudster.

Ohana’s owner now faces four wire fraud charges in “Rebel’s Run” money and other aspects of his business. Over time, the film’s investors were able to recover some of their money through lawsuits, but all of these controversies forced Peele to drop his superhero movie.

He also claims, without any evidence, that the financial conspiracy is a conspiracy to damage his far-right fans. “I strongly suspect that this is all a targeted operation and is aimed at breaking down our society,” he said.

It is worth noting that Peele has not yet given up making films. He said he was working on a script for a film starring his friend, former anti-Semitic comedian Owen Benjamin. In this new project, Benjamin plays the head of NASA, who believes the moon landings were faked.

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