Pity the clueless. Or not.

Seems that one of the clueless, good ol’ Michelle McKee (the admittedly
skills-free ‘editor’ at ICB) is all pissy once again because as she
continues her Twitter blatherings about best-selling true crime author Diane
Fanning, Bloodlines author Kathryn Casey, internet radio show host Levi Page
and frequent cable TV talk show guest Pat Brown, she is once again whining
because somebody noticed my column aptly naming McKee Moron of the Week,
because frankly, the evidence is overwhelming.

Funny thing about it all now is, as Michelle lashes out at people for
allegedly doing her wrong, for not fact-checking, and for harassing her, she
doesn’t see the irony in the fact that, when given the opportunity to
exhibit a shred of journalistic integrity, she stoutly refused, making site
owner Corey Mitchell complicit in the failure. Not only did McKee never
check her facts regarding my film, The Bunker, she somehow thinks that
positive comments made about Hart Fisher prior to him being booted from the
project somehow justify her leaving up false claims about his role in the
picture, even *despite* Fisher himself having announced months ago that he
has *nothing* to do with the movie.

Got that? Even on his blog, Hart Fisher proclaimed he has *nothing* to do
with the film, The Bunker. Nothing. Nada. Zilch.

But, when sent a polite e-mail asking her to trim the line containing false
info about my flick, McKee responded with a childish and petulant rant,
maintaining that she would not correct the wrong information. She then
threatened that it would be considered harassment (she must love to feel
harassed, she thinks it happens so much), if I contacted anybody else. Like,
perhaps, the site owner, Corey Mitchell, who I’d exchanged e-mails with in
the past, as he’d belonged to some true crime groups I run.

Well…okay. Fine. She informed Corey by copying him on her refusal to fix
the incorrect claims, so I figured, if this is the way the top two at ICB
run their site, the whole thing’s probably riddled with other stuff nobody’s
bothered to fact-check, and thus is a joke. Lotta people may visit, but a
lotta people visit The Onion, too, and not everybody who first stumbles upon
the fine writing over there knows it’s a gag at first glimpse, either.

So, a simple reprise of how things went down. Hart Fisher was not only once
a friend, but the best man at my wedding. We had a relationship for 17 years
in which we worked together a lot. However, I’d gotten so sick of Hart’s
massive fuck ups on my film, and the unimagineable delays, that Sight Unseen
Pictures, LLC, not only hired another editor, we cut the film without a
single one of Hart’s crappy edits making the final cut. Not a one. The film
was recut from the ground up, the continuity errors were fixed, new music
was laid in, none of the bands Hart initially supplied were retained, and
the wraparound was stripped off, along with the sub-par film look, which he
hadn’t fixed after 18 months. The rough cut that was supposed to take 4
weeks? Five scenes cut in four years, and cut so poorly, they were useless.
Mistakes removed not once, but twice? Yep, he reintroduced footage that had
been cut, apologizing for it later on, albeit lying about how using the
original script was the reason for the reintroduction. Truth of the matter
was, that footage had been cut completely-meaning it had been removed from
my master-cut drive, so the only way it could have reappeared was for Fisher
to go back to the raw footage, and re-insert it. Things like this pissed me
off. Not fixing the film look pissed me off. But then, after Hart had been
told to drop *everything* he was trying to weasel his way into regarding the
film in October of 2008, he proudly proclaimed that he turned down an offer
for The Bunker which he fielded behind my back. Yes, you read that right. He
‘laughed away’ a distributor, despite having been told in mid-October to
stop *everything* –particularly showing off the shitty cut of the film he
wanted to use for the pilot episode of American Horrors. Again, you read
that right. Hart liked the film so much, he wanted to use it for the pilot
of his European TV series. Only, I wasn’t about to put the name Alan Smithee
in the credits as director, which was what his cutting of my flick would
have demanded. So I yanked it. Just like I yanked the editorial duties when
Liz Smith was hired by the film’s production company to edit the film from
scratch. I wasn’t going to let my film get turned into trash because he
wanted to put his stamp on it. So, since Hart had refused to respond to any
e-mail since October, when he was told to send me back my drives (which he
never did) and stop showing the film to anybody else, I hit him with a C&D.
(This is a cease and desist letter, and you can see it here:

http://www.joemonks.com/cdletter.html

Now, most of you probably know what a C&D is, and what the term cease and
desist means. That puts you miles ahead of Michelle McKee, who confuses C&D
with lawsuit for some reason. Guess this might explain why, despite all her
claims about having some dirt on the authors mentioned above, nobody’s been
willing to take her case.

So, there you have it. Way back when, Hart Fisher was a friend of mine, and
was supposed to cut The Bunker. Of note is, when we first began shooting,
Hart wasn’t even considered for the editorial gig. Sight Unseen Pictures had
agreed to terms with an editor from Miami named Vince who I’d met with a few
times before we began shooting. Unfortunately, Vince, who’d cut
documentaries for The Weather Channel and had impressive creds, moved before
we completed principal photography to take a primo job up in New Jersey,
which dropped the rough cut into Hart’s lap. When thirteen months had passed
with only four scenes cut, Hart’s wife was diagnosed with cancer. So,
another year passed before I finally couldn’t continue to wait, and Sight
Unseen Pictures hired a new editor.

Five scenes that were entirely recut does *not* a film editor make.
Unfortunately, Michelle McKee doesn’t understand that, so she still
maintains that Hart was the editor and executive producer on The Bunker.
Neither claim is true. In fact, Hart was even offered the footage he worked
on, and didn’t take it. Yup. Hart was offered the wraparound, which he could
have put on any of his TV show episodes because it utilized the actress *he*
wanted for the series figurehead, but nope, he didn’t want it.

Subsequent to the C&D letter, several videos began to disappear off Hart’s
various web sites. Unwillingly, however. Despite my attorney’s efforts, Hart
wouldn’t take them down himself, so complaints for copyright violation were
submitted by Sight Unseen Pictures to YouTube and MySpace. This resulted not
only in the trailer and other videos of mine coming down, but two of Hart’s
director’s reels, which disingenuously represented my footage as his own.
Eventually these, too, were removed.

So…did I once say nice things about Hart Fisher? Absolutely. Until the guy
sniffed money with the Euro deal (picking my film as his pilot despite never
sending me a contract or terms for broadcast), after which he became a
scumbag who publicly stated he turned down an offer from a distributor for
my film, which he never told me about. Despite being told in October not to
do anything about The Bunker, Hart openly claimed to have *two* films to
sell-one of them being mine. The C&D letter makes it pretty clear, Hart had
*zero* right to do this. If he turned down an offer, he misrepresented
himself as having the power to do so, which only Sight Unseen Pictures, LLC
has. So, just like claiming he edited The Bunker, taking credit for somebody
else’s work, it appears that he was looking to take credit for having
somebody else’s *job* in seeking out offers for a film he does not have
copyright to. You know what it is when somebody tries to sell copyrighted
work that doesn’t belong to them? Well…*you* probably do. But true crimer
Michelle McKee doesn’t. Just like she doesn’t know that every day she and
Corey Mitchell leave up information they know to be untrue about my work and
the work of the real producers and editors on The Bunker, the more she
damages her (threadbare is an overstatement) credibility, as well as that of
the site. She can try to hide behind her piece being written a few weeks
before the C&D letter was made public, but, given that *all* retractions are
made only *after* what’s incorrect is pointed out, that’s kinda hollow, ain’t
it? Bottom line is, the facts are incorrect. She has been made aware of
this, and she has made Corey aware. She simply doesn’t want to fix it,
thinking that because I only found out about the error after the fact, that
there’s no reason to do anything. I happen to think if you mis-credit
somebody, you should fix it. (Ever see how long it takes IMDB to fix a
credit, long after a director’s been fired or backed out of a project or a
new team takes over screenwriting duties?) But then, I back up what I claim,
and have integrity. Michelle McKee? How’s this for a laugher:

I don’t claim to be able to edit. I manage the blog.

(from her Twitter page.)

Oh? Hmnnn…scroll down and you find…

� Name Michelle_McKee
� Location Gig Harbor, WA
� Bio I’m the editor of In Cold Blog and I write for National
Lampoon on occasion.

Don’t claim to be able to edit…I’m the editor of ICB… What a conundrum,
eh? Pray tell, how does one who can’t claim to be able to edit label herself
the editor of ICB? And she says Pat Brown is a fraud???

You know the balloon boy story, went down a couple weeks ago? Well,
initially, the Sheriff came out and said he did not believe the incident was
staged. He even said, early on, that there was no evidence of a hoax. Well,
how do you think he would look right now if he was telling people, in
November, seeing as how the cat is out of the bag and it was a hoax, that
there was still no evidence? What if he stood out in front of the cameras
and reporters and told you, “This was not a hoax,” despite knowing that just
the opposite was true? Would the fact that he wanted to use old info be
enough for him to remain credible? Would it be, even after it had been
pointed out to him?

Methinks he’d look like Michelle McKee and Corey Mitchell, who knowingly
allow info that’s been pointed out to them as incorrect to remain up on ICB
(which should stand for InCorrect Blog), simply because they want to go on
old info (which, even then, wasn’t entirely correct). There’s no question, I
have said a lot of nice things about Hart Fisher in the past. However, that
doesn’t equate to him being either editor, or executive producer, of my
film. Why Michelle McKee and Corey Mitchell think this is the case is
absurd. Saying nice things means somebody ought to get credit for work
others did??? Huh? Are you kidding? Hell, I say nice things about Wally Lind
in the acknowledgements to my novel…does that mean Wally co-wrote the
thing? Of course not. As I’ve mentioned, you can check Hart’s blog from back
around February and see where he openly states he has nothing to do with The
Bunker. Unfortunately, since the summertime, Michelle McKee and Corey
Mitchell, for whatever reason (maybe because it looks good for one of their
contribs to have more impressive creds than cutting Otto Bauer porno
movies?) want people to read info they know is wrong and accept it as truth.
It isn’t like this is a news article, whose integrity should be preserved as
it originally appeared. This is an introduction, touting somebody as
something they are not. This is biographical information, nothing more.

Does that kinda make you wonder what else on that ‘true’ crime blog might
not be true? It certainly should. I mean, they’ve got some really good guys
over there. But…if the owner and editor aren’t willing to make a
correction, and the editor’s own work detailing a contributor’s bio is
knowingly incorrect, and they’re unwilling to update it…why should you
trust anything you read by any contributor? There’s certainly no standards
where Michelle is concerned (remember, she doesn’t claim to be able to
edit), so why expect anybody else to self-impose any?

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**UPDATE**

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Unlike Michelle McKee and Corey Mitchell (editor and founder of ICB, respectively), I’m not averse to fixing information I know to be factually incorrect. Call it having integrity as a writer, call it a preference for having the facts straight, or even just a desire to be right. Despite McKee’s claims on her twitter account (in a posting which has since been deleted) that nobody would ever update a piece after two weeks had passed despite the inaccuracy being brought to the writer/publisher’s attention, McKee *did* recently update an introduction on the ICB web site, removing information she and Mitchell knew to be factually incorrect back in June. While the cause & effect of this sudden reversal are contentious, the fact is, McKee finally caved and took information she knew to be untrue off the site. That deserves to be recognized.

Yet, while McKee finally removed the info on ICB which she failed to fact-check originally, (along with a number of her tweets regarding me on her twitter account), she instead decided to launch a campaign of libel against me, to the tune of posting publicly that I write child pornography. Once again, it would appear that Ms. McKee’s (admittedly) nonexistent editorial and woeful fact-checking skills have come into play. While Ms. McKee correctly cites that I’ve written freelance pieces for the magazine Babyface, it certainly hasn’t been for the past ten years, as that magazine ceased publication in 2000. And, while I’ve freelanced for several men’s magazines over the past decade, none of my work has ever included, as she claims (see below) underage girls.

I eagerly await Ms. McKee’s proof supporting her allegations. If she requires, I’ll even supply her with the names of the magazines, publishers, and editors in question, so she can research to her heart’s content. Since I’ve worked for publishers which have been in business for decades, these well-known and long-established fixtures in the adult industry will be happy to inform her to what lengths they will go in order to ensure that no underage models are used, and how the editorial staff reviews all articles and fiction to prevent even a reference—non-sexual or otherwise—to underage girls. As she will undoubtedly discover (should she bother), the standard practice at companies publishing this material (and I’ve worked as an editor in the industry so I know first-hand), the rule of thumb is, “No girl ever existed before her 18th birthday.” This went for all mags, be it CHERI or High Society or 18eighteen or Leg Sex. By approaching any woman with the idea she never existed until she was of age, you couldn’t get into trouble.

Unfortunately, Ms. McKee didn’t bother to look into this before making the following claims about me, on Nov. 6th, via twitter:

1: @Levi_Page
@KathrynCasey
Joe Monks’ specialty is underage girl porno & U to try 2 make @Corey_Mitchell & I look bad using HIS words? LMAO!
16 minutes ago from web
in reply to Levi_Page

and a short time later:

2: @josephmonks
Don’t get so cocky, douchebag. Just because the ones 2 you R gone doesn’t mean I removed info about the underage porn U write
about 5 hours ago from web

For somebody who comes across as obsessive regarding perceived lies told about her on the internet, McKee not only took five months to correct simple factual inaccuracies about an ICB contributor’s bio info, but has compounded the lies by claiming I write porno fiction featuring underage girls. And, this is the ‘editor’ of a true-crime blog? This person, whose credibility is nonexistent, oversees and manages a site people are supposed to be able to visit to read true crime stories, articles and blogs?

Mitchell should be embarrassed, visitors to the site should take into consideration who is running the show, and McKee should be viewed as much in the context of her conduct as for how she runs the site. For somebody who should be well-informed on criminal matters, to accuse me of criminal behavior with no proof (and to do so publicly) because she’s made so uncomfortable by anybody challenging her inaccuracies, is simply unconscionable. I’ve asked this before, but it’s never been so relevant as today:

If this is Michelle McKee’s idea of fact-checking, what might be up on ICB that’s equally questionable? She couldn’t accept a polite request to fix incorrect info she posted back in June, replying with a vile rant instead. Now, she claims I have engaged in something illegal without any basis in fact. Knowing this…why would anybody believe anything she’s associated with as editor/manager meets even the lowest of standards for accuracy?

I can’t see any reason to, but decide for yourself.
–Joe Monks
Nov. 7, 2009

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Follow the goings-on as I shop my latest film script, Visions of Sarah, make
more movies, lament the state of the NY Giants and more at:

http://www.twitter.com/josephmonks

And, follow the production company that’s the home of the world’s first
blind feature film director at:

http://www.twitter.com/sightunseenpics

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Currently listening to: Pet Sematary by The Ramones