Snipes movie stares down court orders

THE producers of the zombie Western film ‘Gallowwalker’, currently being filmed in the Namib Desert, managed to sidestep High Court orders on Friday for thousands of dollars allegedly owed to two Windhoek-based companies.

Armed not with a six-shooter but with two court orders granted in the High Court in Windhoek, the Deputy Sheriff of Swakopmund on Friday rode into the set of the making of Gallowwalker to present the filmmakers with the latest financial challenge to confront their cash-strapped project. The two court orders authorised the Deputy Sheriff to seize assets worth a combined N$845 000 from the makers of ‘Gallowwalker’.Most of this money is alleged to be owed to Rennies Travel Namibia.Michael Gebauer, a producer of the movie, told The Namibian on Saturday that the Deputy Sheriff did show up with the Rennies court order.”He was very patient and gave us time to demonstrate that Rennies clearly had no claim for the money,” Gebauer claimed.Gebauer said they had been trying to reconcile the Rennies account for more than a month without success, as Rennies had never given them feedback.He said according to their records the company in fact owed the producers money, as they had paid it N$300 000 over the past week and a half.”The problem seemed to have arisen from record-keeping discrepancies,” said Gebauer.He added that they had given Rennies copies of cheques cashed as evidence that their record was clear.”They have now indicated they would work with us in future.”Two orders were granted against Gallowwalker Limited, the company that is making the film, in the High Court in Windhoek on Friday.The one order was granted to Rennies Travel Namibia, which informed Judge Elton Hoff that Gallowwalker Limited owed it a little over N$722 000.The second order was granted in favour of Windhoek Hire Sales & Services CC, which sold and rented equipment to the filmmakers and informed Judge Hoff that Gallowwalker Limited still owed it some N$123 000.In an affidavit filed with the court, Rennies Travel Namibia’s Managing Director, Heike Schultz, claimed the company had sold airline tickets and provided other travel-related services to the film project from July to November.Attached to her affidavit were various copies of e-mail messages that had been exchanged since early November between her and one Austin Shaw, who was apparently in charge of the filmmaker’s finances.These show that Rennies has been asking for its bill to be settled for the past month, and that Shaw had either pleaded to be given more time to find the money, or had promised to make partial payments, which Schultz claimed not to have received in the end.Schultz said that after Gallowwalker’s accounting staff had met with accounting personnel of Rennies on November 21, Rennies had provided the filmmakers with a full reconciled statement setting out how much Rennies was still owed and what that was for.That bill amounted to N$722 071,31 on November 30, Schultz claimed.By Wednesday, when she signed her statement, the account had still not been paid, she stated.Schultz added that she had been informed that ‘Gallowwalker’ would conclude filming on December 22.She charged that the company has “clearly shown its inability, alternatively its unwillingness to pay its debt” to Rennies.She added an accusation that the company appeared to be bankrupt: “Its trading is nothing short of trading under insolvent circumstances and may amount to reckless trading.”Producer Gebauer said the court orders did not disrupt filming at all.Shooting is at a critical stage, with only about another week to go before it wraps up.Gebauer claimed the court orders had nothing to do with the financial problems experienced in October, when service providers had not received payment for three weeks.The problem at the time arose from a financier, who withheld his funding in order to better his position when film studios showed interest in the movie.The issue was resolved when the other partners decided to boot the financier out.About N$45,6 million will have been spent in Namibia by the end of the film, and up to 250 people employed.* Maggi Barnard is a freelance journalist.The two court orders authorised the Deputy Sheriff to seize assets worth a combined N$845 000 from the makers of ‘Gallowwalker’.Most of this money is alleged to be owed to Rennies Travel Namibia.Michael Gebauer, a producer of the movie, told The Namibian on Saturday that the Deputy Sheriff did show up with the Rennies court order.”He was very patient and gave us time to demonstrate that Rennies clearly had no claim for the money,” Gebauer claimed.Gebauer said they had been trying to reconcile the Rennies account for more than a month without success, as Rennies had never given them feedback.He said according to their records the company in fact owed the producers money, as they had paid it N$300 000 over the past week and a half.”The problem seemed to have arisen from record-keeping discrepancies,” said Gebauer.He added that they had given Rennies copies of cheques cashed as evidence that their record was clear.”They have now indicated they would work with us in future.”Two orders were granted against Gallowwalker Limited, the company that is making the film, in the High Court in Windhoek on Friday.The one order was granted to Rennies Travel Namibia, which informed Judge Elton Hoff that Gallowwalker Limited owed it a little over N$722 000.The second order was granted in favour of Windhoek Hire Sales & Services CC, which sold and rented equipment to the filmmakers and informed Judge Hoff that Gallowwalker Limited still owed it some N$123 000.In an affidavit filed with the court, Rennies Travel Namibia’s Managing Director, Heike Schultz, claimed the company had sold airline tickets and provided other travel-related services to the film project from July to November.Attached to her affidavit were various copies of e-mail messages that had been exchanged since early November between her and one Austin Shaw, who was apparently in charge of the filmmaker’s finances.These show that Rennies has been asking for its bill to be settled for the past month, and that Shaw had either pleaded to be given more time to find the money, or had promised to make partial payments, which Schultz claimed not to have received in the end.Schultz said that after Gallowwalker’s accounting staff had met with accounting personnel of Rennies on November 21, Rennies had provided the filmmakers with a full reconciled statement setting out how much Rennies was still owed and what that was for.That bill amounted to N$722 071,31 on November 30, Schultz claimed.By Wednesday, when she signed her statement, the account had still not been paid, she stated.Schultz added that she had been informed that ‘Gallowwalker’ would conclude filming on December 22.She charged that the company has “clearly shown its inability, alternatively its unwillingness to pay its debt” to Rennies.She added an accusation that the company appeared to be bankrupt: “Its trading is nothing short of trading under insolvent circumstances and may amount to reckless trading.”Producer Gebauer said the court orders did not disrupt filming at all.Shooting is at a critical stage, with only about another week to go before it wraps up.Gebauer claimed the court orders had nothing to do with the financial problems experienced in October, when service providers had not received payment for three weeks.The problem at the time arose from a financier, who withheld his funding in order to better his position when film studios showed interest in the movie.The issue was resolved when the other partners decided to boot the financier out.About N$45,6 million will have been spent in Namibia by the end of the film, and up to 250 people employed.* Maggi Barnard is a freelance journalist.