BREAKING! Hollywood Payroll Company Axium Declares Emergency Bankruptcy, Studios May Be Out Big Bucks
Tips began flooding the Defamer mailbox just minutes ago that Axium International, a leading entertainment industry payroll agency that works with Warner Bros. among other studios, shut their doors overnight and have apparently declared bankruptcy. We called their Los Angeles, Burbank and New York offices in an attempt to get comment, and all three calls went straight to the company voicemail (urging us to "call back during regular office hours"). One of our sources told us that Axium "fired everyone without warning" earlier today and is holding onto over $100,000 in payroll money recently deposited from the DGA. An email chain describing the situation that was sent to the LA Producers Yahoo group follows after the jump.
Sent: Tuesday, January 08, 2008 1:36 PM
To: LAProducer@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [LAProducer] For those of you not on CoPros
Axium/Avalon closed this morning. Here are two emails that were on copros and since no one here is talking about it I thought maybe some of you might not know.
Hi, all.
I just spoke with Andre at Axium and it is true. They were told yesterday to remove their personal belongings and not do any more work. All the Axium offices worldwide (LA, NY, CHI, London, Mexico City, Canada) are shut down permanently, and the accounts have been frozen. It does not appear that the Axium employees are going to be
paid for their last week of work or any sort of severance, as it is indeed a bankruptcy.
---------------------------------
Hi, again.
Understandably, there is going to be some confusion over this for the next couple of days as the news filters out to the crewpeople who will be invariably calling you for these answers.
Andre has spoken with several of his clients at the accounting level of the production companies he deals with, and I imagine this is going on throughout the company as all of the paymasters ultimately have
solid relationships with their clients. At this point, you should talk to your company controller to see what action they have been told to make.
There are a few different scenarios but, rather than rumor-mongering, I suggest going through your company controller as they have probably heard from your paymaster already, or will within the next couple of hours.
More on this story as it happens.
6:51 AM on Wed Jan 9 2008
by Defamer Hollywood
View: AU Comments (1) | US Comments (34 comments)
Every production company needs to sue those fuckers.
You are all daft if you think the WGA strike had nothing to do with Axium closing its doors. Just how many TV and Film productions no longer had to make deposits to cover their payroll, as they had no payroll? Let's see how many other payroll firms will close their doors if this strike lasts much longer, not to mention dry cleaners, food service companies, rental houses, etc. Producers --- make the deal, you're killing us all.
nilesnile
This is terrible for the workers. I represent a company that can IMMEDIATELY help these workers, projects and companies that contracted with Axium. We can and will payroll these folks and do it all legal and above-board and handle guild funds. Let me know if I can help anyone.
bkcasey
I am a Canadian so I really don't know much about the IRS other than they seem about as popular as venereal warts. I understand the "privacy" issues, but should they not implement safeguards to protect the consumers when "allegedly" investigating serious violations? Sort of like the proverbial fox guarding the henhouse?
Had to rant! Have a great day, all.....
ITAgent
The men in charge of Axium - Ron Garber and John Visconti are very dishonest men. They have cheated productions, crew members and the home axium staff out of money due to them. They did not return deposits. AND also, they were not making guild contributions. How this was allowed to happen is just terrible.
AND the writer's strike had NOTHING to do with them closing their doors.
Garber & Visconti are sleezy and greedy! So I figure with this, will be go to jail like Enron did or not.
I heard that Visconti is in Italy. Can the IRS reach him there?
This is just something that most of us were waiting for. When the company was sold to Garber & Visconti, we knew that there was some shady going ons.. this just proves it! Also, how interesting they had $$ to give to Presidental campigns...
photosrus77
Conbon, Entertainment Partners is employee owned!
jcha
Good thing no one is working right now anyway.
blackheartededitor
Axium was being investigated by the IRS because there was a question on how much they were taking in as well as paying out. There were some missing deposits that no one could account for, taxes not filed correctly, returns that were incorrect, large salaries for people who apparently did nothing, large amounts of money spent on new buildings, etc. The CEO and CFO either were incompetent, negligent, criminal, or a combination of all three.
luckylife
Okay, waitaminute. Canada is a city?
mesousa
They were taking forever for payroll over a year ago Even then, we wondered if they were about to go belly up.
LisaB
Popsquire worries about the company employees. Depending on the size of the company shutting down, a business may be liable to its employees for failure to provide advance warning of a shutdown. I guess we'll have to wait and see what went down here.
Popsquire
Damn. Poor PAs.
aspiringexpatriate
@rednikki: If that's true, then they execs are already on a plane to the Caymans.
PandoraSpocks
Axium checks have been degrees of late as long as I've been at my current job, but I was starting to wonder why I hadn't been paid since December 14th.
Magnolia
@Conbon: Maybe I shouldn'ta had that second drink at lunch, eh?
DorothyMantooth
@epiclulz: Well he was out in front of that Castro being dead thing.
Conbon
@Conbon: Weird. I always knew Perez Hilton had to come from some alterna-dimension, and maybe the funky time-stamping just proves it. I mean, how fucked up is it if Perez Hilton manages a scoop on legitimate news?
epiclulz
@epiclulz: I'm looking at other Perez timestamps, and his latest seems to either be coming from the future or the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. So, who knows!
@DorothyMantooth: Oh dear.
Conbon
@epiclulz: FIRST!
Uncle Grambo
@DorothyMantooth: (Also, I pun like a champ!!)
DorothyMantooth
@Conbon: Well. He probably gave you money after that, so it all worked out in the end, right?
DorothyMantooth
Actually, I think Perez Hilton broke the story first. Yes. I know. Perez Hilton. [perezhilton.com] (his post is time stamped at 5.04pm today, but I think that's eastern time).
epiclulz
@DorothyMantooth: That's what Grandpa always said! I don't remember what happened next.
Conbon
@Conbon: Awww! You make up for it with your way awesome adorableness, though!
DorothyMantooth
@DorothyMantooth: Yeah! (I actually didn't know what "void a check" meant the first time I was told to. I'm...not intelligent)
Conbon
@Conbon: Ooooh! Was this after you had to waste one of your checks by writing VOID on it? Bastards!
(Seriously, though. Why do they need that? Does anyone know? I could give them my routing number. I can't even find my damn checks!)
DorothyMantooth
Stand by for someone blaming the WGA.
thehmsbeagle
I believe Axium required everyone to have a month's payroll deposited with them at any given time. If they've gone Chapter 7 (that's the rumor), then a lot of production companies will be out a lot of money. For the organizations working on a shoestring, this could make things very tough.
rednikki
TIP: Invest in Paychex now.
Then marry me.
Cutting Makes You Sexy
@DorothyMantooth: I call them "the assholes who swore up and down for a year that direct deposit wasn't an option, when it clearly was."
Conbon
Didn't RoboCop already take them down?
metroville
I have nothing of value to add to this story, so I'll just say: rather than paymasters, I prefer to talk to my stubkeepers.
DorothyMantooth
Quick, Everybody call your lawyer. Oh wait, they owe him money too...
PandoraSpocks
So does that mean that my Harem of producers and PAs are going to no longer be able to buy me food for a few weeks? Because I would really be upset by that.
Cutting Makes You Sexy
Is Entertainment Partners publicly traded? Because they are about to have a very good year.
Conbon