Mr. Varab, a tad older than when I knew him at Disney ...
Cruising the highways and biways of the worldwide web, I plowed across this small journalistic piece.
Jeffrey Varab is an animator and director who started at Disney, did years with Don Bluth, used to work for Disney Feature Animation Florida, left there and worked on films such as “Eight Crazy Nights.” ... He set up an outfit, with backers, called Genesis, which animated a movie about a WWII vintage Willys Jeep named “Tugger,” “The Jeep 4 x 4 Who Wanted to Fly.” ....
Varab was arrested this week, charged wtih fraud in Osceola County. ...
Jeff came to Disney in the seventies, a young guy with stylish long hair, tight jeans, and a well-trimmed beard. (Mouse House artists of that time could tell you stories, lots of stories.)
After a few years, Jeff left the studio abruptly, moving on, leaving his Porsche in the Disney parking lot. I ran into him a few times after that. He told me how he was directing a feature about Vikings in northern Europe, then working for Disney again. He was always colorful and a little mysterious, a young man in a hurry.
But not so young anymore. And (apparently) no longer quite so footloose and fancy free. At least now I know his location, and what he's about these days.
Good luck to you, Jeff. You've had an amazing and interesting run up until now. We'll see where it goes from here.
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60 comments:
Wow. And I thought I was a mystery.....
Well there goes fraud as another legitimate alternative to working in the industry.
At least they get health benefits in jail. ;)
What goes around comes around.
would love to hear some of those mouse house stories! like, why he left a PORSCHE in the parking lot. a pinto i could understand, but...
Gee, with a name like "Genesis", do you think he was using the religious angle to get investments from little old ladies?
Not saying that he was doing this... but it is a common technique of scam artists... feigning religion as a substitute for trustworthyness.
"We're going to make animated films that glorify JEEEESUS! Make sure you make that check out to "Cash." Can't produce movies without the CHECKY!"
If you look like a used car salesman you probably are a used car salesman.
If you actually look at the charges, they are mostly "sale of an unregistered security". Or a variation of that. As someone who has gone out to get financing for projects, it is not that difficult to break these laws. Many people do it unknowingly. Especially in film financing. I see it all the time.
Of course I don't know the specifics of this case. I'm just sayin that getting slapped with the sale of an unregistered security is pretty easy to accomplish accidentally.
For instance. Did you know that if you say you are looking/asking for funding for a film project over the internet (email, website, forum, etc). You are breaking the law?
He tried to get me (a student at the time) to work on his project in Florida for almost no money. Then it turns out a lot of people on Tugger didn't get paid after working on it for some time.
Karma sucks...
Wow, this is amazing. Having worked with Jeffery in the past and being burned its nice to see some justice.
The list of those that have been wronged by this guy is lengthy. Justice sounds like it is being served.
Mr. Banks:
While I appreciate your optimism and willingness to give the benefit of the doubt, believe me these charges are no accident. And if they are, it is amazing that he was arrested on false charges when there are SO MANY real ones out there. I (and about 30 other guys) worked under this man for about 2 years and witnessed him put his own name "Based on an ORIGINAL STORY by Jeffrey J. Varab" on stories that were not only circulating on the internet for years, but in one case had already been made into a short film!!! When called out on it, he would compare himself to John Musker and Walt Disney and say that they too made films based on published works. Only difference was that Disney and Musker say something like "based upon Snow White by The Brothers Grimm" or "Based on the Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen." The difference is clear and he is smart enough to know that, especially having worked on so many animated films. I have seen him interview artists, send them on their way after looking at their portfolio, then present a slew of character designs that were near exactly what the artist (whom he did NOT pay or hire) had in their portfolio. I have heard him take credit for writing screenplays that he most certainly did not write (especially given that he cannot spell or type with any ease). I have seen him steal the plot from a Twilight Zone episode and claim it to be his own. For our company, he would use the sound library he had lifted from his past company, Genesis, for sound effects for the show. He also used a bug design that he had made for a contracted Genesis show as the main character in our shows. When our company was sued, he had to go back, redesign and retro-fit a new (hideous bug) to replace the stolen bug (which he didn't entirely do because he kept the stolen rig and stolen eyes). His reason to us? "I don't like that design anymore." Really? We're going to spend thousands to retrofit new bugs over the old ones on finished shows because you don't like it? Liar liar pants on fire. This guy fired a skilled and well-liked worker for refusing to steal a proprietary stereo rig from our parent company. I have seen him fire an employee, tell the staff it was for a personal reason, then tell the parent company it was due to "incompetence." This "incompetent" had a job at a major efx company within a month or two by the way. If you go to his website where he sells his "Drawing with Jeffrey" dvds you will see that he uses a pencil character. That character was designed by him, but at his previous studio and so it is not owned by him. I know it is not owned by him because it was used in one of our shorts. But there he goes, too lazy to make a finished drawing of something else so he steals the intellectual property of his previous studio. Can any of you ex-mouse house folks use Mickey as the icon for your website, put him on DVDs that you put out as if he is your property? On his blog, he has his "first RUFF edit of The Defenders" which is a new ABC pilot. It seems as though he is trying to make it seem like he directed one of the episodes? On the reel it says "Director: Jeffrey." Shady.
Mistake? No. This guy gets by on his past experience by name-dropping "Steven Spielberg" and "George Lucas". When he says that, despite his shady background people who are desperate to make movies give him the benefit of the doubt. The only thing that Varab is better at than drawing/animation is lying. The man has a silver tongue and he is a slippery snake-oil salesman. He gets by on people's good graces. When people want to tell others, he threatens them with libel lawsuits or badmouths them. Because this community is such a small one, people keep their mouths shut, not wanting to come off as bashing a possible innocent or burning any bridges should they cross paths again. It's one thing to have a bad experience here and there or to work with someone and not be liked or dismissed under false pretenses. Things happen. But if you look at the path of destruction in this guy's wake, there is no mistaking that he is a dishonest criminal. The only thing all of his failed business and personal relationships have in common is Jeffrey J. Varab. The things I said above happened in less than 2 years and there are MANY MANY more shady things I have seen first-hand. There are even more things that I have heard from DUIs, to stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from a church group in Denmark to a rumor that he stole the story idea for "Brother Bear" from Steven Spielberg himself. Lord knows that at our studio he claimed to have come up with "Brother Bear" many many times. For those things, I have no proof and did not experience them. But it enrages me, Mr. Banks, that after all this time, after all these poor artists/investors and other folks have been screwed by this guy only to see him not only walk away scott-free, but then turn around and badmouth the people he has screwed, that people still want to say "maybe it was a mistake?" It's not a mistake. The world is a better place with this fool behind bars.
Charged with fraud? Did he ever work for the union?
It sounds like he's been percolating criminal charges for some time. It must be really hard living life that way and hoping it wont come back on you. Well, "hoping" seems to imply that he has a concious. "Betting" seems to be more the word. But why live life that way. He really hasn't produced anything. So he is a failure. People chosen to be animators are not often failures.
The system is just too iron clad in chosing people of good character. So a bad one got in. What a waste of talent. Probably couldnt hack it minding his own business and place in the industry. Had to be a bigshot. What a middle-aged loser.....
Gee, with a name like "Genesis", do you think he was using the religious angle to get investments from little old ladies?
What, in Florida?....NAHHH. ;)
Sounds like 'HEY BUD' had the misfortunate of working with this guy.
"The system is just too iron clad in chosing people of good character."
What? Nice fantasy. Animation is filled with people like this.
'Animation is filled with people like this.'
Animation is. Animators aren't. Some may be rude and alpha-dog-like, but generally, animators are well-balanced individuals. And those are the ones chosen to animate. Of course, as long as their well-balancedness led them to do the work required to become animators. As for other departments, well, thats where the line between well-balanced and whacked out lies. Whoo hoo! Kiddin'!
And let's be honest:
Who, except extremely naive old ladies who invest in "faith media" would think that even the TITLE "Tugger: the Jeep who Wanted to Fly" was destined for anything but the bad-CGI Wal-Mart bin?
Just try that line around real animation buffs, and to put it politely, they'd think you were kidding. (And in this case, they wouldn't be far off.)
I worked at Disney Burbank when Jeff was there in the '70s.
I heard allegations about J.V. going into offices and taking artwork. The joke was that he'd come into the studio with an empty shoulder bag in the morning, leave with it full at night. There was a story artist at the time who did gag drawings about it.
So stories about Jeff's light-fingeredness is not new. He was in his early twenties while at Disney Burbank.
I worked in I&P at Disney in the early 80s and Jeff had a few of the inkers and painters "freelancing" gallery cels for him. He would come in with the drawings and return a few days later to collect the finished cels. Didn't think much of it at the time, since I wasn't involved. But now I realize he was having them produce counterfeits/bootlegs of classic Disney characters. Since this was way before eBay, I wonder where he was selling them. What a piece of work!
The joke was that he'd come into the studio with an empty shoulder bag in the morning, leave with it full at night.
So stories about Jeff's light-fingeredness is not new. He was in his early twenties while at Disney Burbank.
(sigh)...Why are the Burbank art thieves always named Jeff? :)
"Charged with fraud? Did he ever work for the union?"
No, but he probably worked in the bush "administration."
^Um, last anonymous, shut the hell up. Bush hasn't been president for the last two years. Move on. And maybe you should also stop tracking Obama's plunging approval numbers. Apparently you aren't dealing with them well.
Why are the Burbank art thieves always named Jeff?
Hey ...
I had the 'privilege' of working for this man in Florida. It was a difficult experience, but I learned a lot from the other people I worked with and went on to better things. In the end it was kind of a right of passage.
Afterward I would tell coworkers stories of the crazy things that went on while working with him and was surprised to find how many other people who had not only had heard of him before, but also had ridiculous stories about his schemes and conduct from their time working with him.
I've heard he has stolen stories and designs, used other peoples credit cards to buy things and never deliver on his promise to pay them back, flat out lied to people to get them to invest in his latest production scheme, and mistreated the people under him to make him feel like a powerful man. The last thing I can say for certain, it was his way or the highway during my tenure in his employ for sure.
It seems like the man has left a trail of people in his wake with stories about this guys unbelievable shadiness and horrible behavior throughout the industry.
He talks a good game and touts his '30 years of animation experience' every chance he gets. After working with him for awhile you start to see that it's just all talk to make him feel like he's some big shot.
Its nice to see that his house of cards finally came crashing down, I can only hope that this will prevent him from conning more naive people out of their money and more young artists out of their time and hard work.
Varab was arrested this week, charged wtih fraud in Osceola County.
His first day in court is Aug. 18, according to court documents.
"Um, last anonymous, shut the hell up. Bush hasn't been president for the last two years. "
No. He had 8 years to ruin this country. And he did it in 2. The other 6 were just to ruin it further. Worst "president" in history.
Now people are complaining that our President Obama hasn't yet "fixed" the mess bush left us in. WAHH!
At least he CARES about America and the Constitution. Unlike bush.
That is correct. Raising the largest amount of taxes on Americans by starting an uneccessary war on Iraq is his legacy.
That and letting terrorists attack America in the first place.
Dear Bush vs. Obama guys,
Can't you go on some political forum and debate your armchair politics? Instead of focusing on what divides us, let's focus on what unites us: That Jeffrey Varab is a criminal and the more war stories and info that are shared about him will serve to steer ignorant investors and gullible newbies from his path. People searching his name will find this and it could save them lots of trouble and heartache. So please, enough Olberman vs. Hannity and on with "When I worked with Jeffrey, I saw him (insert criminal act here.)" Thanks!
the german producer gerhard hahn was apparently ripped off by him as well.
i'm afraid that mr.varab's crimes sound all too familiar. seems to be some pretty common tactics used by former-big-studio almost-somebodies starting up studios and paying artists and animators with nothing but empty promises and iou's. glad to see not everyone gets away with it.
sounds like he learned a lot from good ol' don bluth.
now will they PLEASE arrest john k, before he screws anyone else out of money?
I key assisted for him on Magi Lune,the character he animated on 'Fern Gully' 19 years ago..
And it wasn't easy-- as he wasn't around much. Once when I'd waited for him almost all day for a scene approval, it turned out he'd been Porsche shopping. Not long after that, if I recall correctly he suddenly disappeared to Europe before the end of production ..No idea what that was about, but it was all quite mysterious.. He was, to put it mildly, persona non grata from then on.
anon: When has John K ever screwed anyone out of money?
above anon: the most recent cases were on the adult cartoon party ren and stimpys. at least five satellite studios were stiffed out of money cos john k was blowing the money in preproduction and personal needs. bob jaques' carbunkle cartoons was stiffed north of 100 grand, though a sizable portion of that money was repaid years later. ask bob on his blog if you don't believe me. all of the other studios have gone unpaid, the korean studio big star stiffed 80 grand.
Ditto. That, to me is the worst crime Varab committed. He never did it to me, but others have. To hell with the plagiarism, design and intellectual property theft. When you steal somebody's labor, you not only steal their time, you steal their life. You take time they could have spent with their families, gaining new skills, working on personal projects, or doing paying work. It's time they will never get back. All to feed someone's run away ego and delusions of grandeur. Lock the door and throw away the key!
I worked with Jeff in the past, and I'm very glad I did. As far as I'm concerned he's a friend, and I wish him good luck with whatever the future holds.
Paul
Jeffrey is a friend of mine and has been nothing but fair with me for years. I hope he gets through this alright so he can continue on in his legacy of working on quality films for the masses. One hiccup in a career of 30 years isn't so bad. Like the man said earlier, it's really not hard to accidentally break this type of law, if he did it at all.
After knowing him many years and working with him I know this is no hiccup but the tip of the iceburg. As long as I've known him it's been a fundamental misuse of resources and trust. I've witnessed deplorable acts that aren't listed in these charges. Also there's first degree felonies listed, so however easy it may be to break these rules they still are very serious! They have victims behind them with destroyed college funds and foreclosed homes. Don't make the charges sound victimless. It's easy to pull a trigger too.
I've noticed some people defending him and that's not unexpected. I remember being hired and getting communications from x employees telling me to run. I defended him (sorry Scott) saying things like "that's not the guy I know". They would tell me stories about things he had done in the past much like you can read on these blogs and some that you don't (which are far worse). I feel the people with the infomation are too good natured to divulge it like gossip and attach it to their good name hence the anonimity. I consider myself a good judge of character but I was completely caught off guard by the routine nature of it all. One might have said he was working the system to make deals but another might say he lied his butt off to keep things together. I denied the warning signs in my mind and tried to look past the obvious. I wanted the project to come through so all the debts could be repaid. It felt more like a finish line towards the end of Tugger. If we could just get there everything would be ok. Well it didn't turn out that way. I watched 3 internal cfo's walk and 2 of them warned me about Jeff. I guess this fraud was what they saw as well but they mentioned more.
All I can say is that I understand the doubters because I was one. Now I feel like a victim and I wished I listened to the people warning me.
(I'm anonymous because I feel it's best to keep my name/career as far from the word "fraud" as possible but I couldn't let someone say breaking laws is easy/explainable and not respond. This was no "accident" by Jeff!)
He knew exactly what he was getting away with for years. Hopefully he will turn his life around.
I propose, that just for a moment, as artists, you put yourself into the shoes of Jeffrey and this whole scenario. He had his entire life savings invested in this film. He was actively working hard to secure deals that would provide the additional funding needed to complete the project. He had a whole team of artists that wanted to see the project completed as bad as he did. At the time, I'm sure the artists looked up to him as their leader (despite the current feelings)
So, if I've read this correctly, it sounds like the charge against Jeffrey is that he went overboard with his sales pitch while trying to get different companies to get on board at the same time. They're charging him with playing one company/investor against another. I have to tell you guys, this type of thing happens all the time. For those of you that have never had to close a deal, I can tell you, while this isn't the way it should be done, many times you are trying to bring multiple investors/companies together to share the risk. Nobody wants to be the first one "into the pool".
All I'm saying is that it's a lot harder to keep a big project rolling than people think, and while I don't condone stretching the truth. I know of many people over the years that have done it that are not being criminally charged for it. Hell, in LA, it's par for the course. (*If that is what happened. I'm not convinced at all since the same charges were dropped the first time around.) If Jeffrey had been able to get the pieces to fit, and get those deals tied down, Genesis might be a thriving studio of artists with full time positions instead of a bad memory filled with remorse and regret. If people want to get really introspective, they might also say that, had the movie been stronger both story-wise and visually, those deals might have been closed and the movie could have made a profit. You can't put the failure of a film all on one man's shoulder's. It takes an entire team to produce an animated feature. If the movie had sold and made a profit, the investors and talent would have received the payments that were coming to them.
I also have to say, it keeps cracking me up how many people are saying... "I worked for this guy for years, he was terrible." Just where was your ethical center when you worked that long for someone you didn't respect? I had a real boss once that was morally bankrupt and I quit as soon as I could. Sure, you can chalk it up to... "I needed the experience." or "I was young and naive." or, "I really enjoyed the rest of the studio." But guess what, that will only take you so far. It certainly doesn't justify staying in that environment you guys are describing for two full years... or even one year for that matter. If you knew all of these so-called facts were really going on, and you chose to willingly participate in working on productions that were based on stolen content of any kind, than you are just as guilty as anyone else. Stop throwing stones. You were living in the same glass house and didn't have the courage to walk away. But to be fair, maybe you were just chasing your dream to aggressively... just like Jeffrey was.
You'll never understand unless you were there so all the debating is moot. Let the court decide his fate in the end.
Btw Your response was entertaining supposition.
Matt D. , you're dreaming. The guy has been scamming people for years. Stop trying to whitewash it. The only mystery to those who know him is how he has stayed out of jail all these years.
Even with a warrant and people coming out of the woodwork talking about how crooked Jeffrey has behaved, he still has people who give him the benefit of the doubt, its amazing, and its clearly how he's been able to get away with his behavior for so very long.
I sincerely hope this ends here, and that Jeffrey can finally pay for those he's wronged.
But who knows, he'll probably just hop a flight to New Zealand or somewhere and start the cycle anew, the man is as slippery as oil on ice.
Perhaps the problem is, is that he is an uneducated independant with not enough of the right help. Bluth was similar in sweet-talking his victims...I mean, victims....and is not talented enough to keep up the front. He did, however, produce the movie, as it is on IMDb. Whatever it takes, as the saying goes, but how people feel about it in its wake is not important to investors. Also, another thing I noticed on the credits, is that very few people actually made the movie. So he didn't have a full fledged-studio up and running, as far as feature-production goes. As I am coming to see, as others have pointed out, is that it is easy to do something wrong and not know it. In the eyes of the Feds, ignorance is not an excuse. It is a person not educated enough on enough areas to be doing it all himself. Thats why Bluth films fail. They just seem better by the look of them and his experience of what a "Disney" film should look like. But in his wake, are left people wondering why he isn't hearing what is sensible.
For all the ranting against Varab, let his day in court speak for itself, because there are people speaking in his behalf, and he did produce a cartoon. (At least it appears that way). But we probably wouldn't like each other despite all that anyway.
I used to work with Jeff on the Danish animated feature film, Valhalla. It was my first job in animation - have done animation ever since.
There were many newbies like me, but most of them worked for free to get into the business and to learn.
I demanded a salary and I got it from day one, so I was happy enough! ;-)
We did learn a lot about animation from Jeff, I am glad we did. He meant quite a lot for the development for the Danish animation industry.
So in fact, I and many others have a lot to be thankful for regarding Jeff.
Later I made some touch up on animation he did for Don Bluth (A Troll in Central Park) - but in reality I did the animation, his material was very, very "sketchy". I didn´t really mind since I also did my own animation on the film and would be credited for it.
I later heard about some "irregularities" on Jeffrey´s part. It was hard for me to believe, but the more stories you heard, the more you HAD to believe them.
I am very sorry things have turned out this way for him. I am very sorry for his family.
I liked him.
Matt,
You have been shown proof. On the other blog you posted on somebody showed a phony LinkedIn account created by Jeffrey using his elementary school-aged son's name saying that he graduated Cornell in 1984 and is currently a producer at 20th Century Fox. What kind of person does that? Defrauds minors? Do you have kids? Would you do something like that? You've been shown that you are selling DVDs that have stolen character designs on the cover/website. You call telling Fox that Jeep has signed on to buy hundreds of thousands of DVDs when they have not "stretching the truth?" "Par for the course?" Sorry, that is FRAUD. You have a twisted sense of ethics my friend.
And then you have the audacity to laugh that people continued to work with him despite his shady dealings. Well for one, you have been shown/told plenty of shady stuff. Arrested for 13 counts of fraud not shady enough for you? And yet you still work with him. And FYI, many of the people working under him at 3dh were working with upper management to get his ass fired so that the person who was DOING ILLEGAL THINGS would get fired and the people who WERE NOT would get to stay. So many documents and files were sent to company president Tom Burdett and chief scientist Caroll Lastinger in hopes of firing him. Before anything could come of it, the investor pulled funding and the studio shut down. If Jeffrey would have done his job, we would have had enough things completed to release and might have generated some income for the studio, but he f-ed up distribution/kept changing things/came up with stupid meaningless projects that took us off of finishing shows for months/redesigned finished shows and re-did them because he was sued for stealing characters, etc. So we weren't sitting idle while he pulled all this crap. We were trying to get him thrown out so we could work without a criminal boss instead of 30 guys looking for jobs. But on planet Matt, lying and cheating is "par for the course." If you see someone committing crimes, you should just leave and let them get away with it because there is "so much on their shoulders." Why not blame a rape victim for dressing too provocatively? Or a mugging victim for being in the wrong part of town? We gave the guy the benefit of the doubt, like you, and it turned out he was a crook at every turn. We tried to stop him, but because of people like you getting googly eyed at his resume/drawing ability and 3dh's inept management, nothing happened. Hopefully these charges will stick so that more people don't encounter him. I also hope you re-evaluate how you look at business dealings. Believe it or not, it IS possible to make deals without lying. Unless you can't make deals without lying... Care to take that bait Matt?
If you want to call it "bait", I'll take it. I have had no problem backing up my statements. I've said from the very beginning that I can only make my assessments based on my work history with Jeffrey, and in that respect I have no problems. If anything, the one thing I have seen during the time I've known Jeffrey is that other creatives and studios try to capitalize off of Jeffrey's talent and leave him hanging in the wind. I'll say again, that if Jeffrey had benefited so much from all of these claims, then why isn't he driving around in a luxury car living the high-life instead of working his butt off like the rest of you to stay in an industry that is highly competitive and full of risk? If Jeffrey is guilty of anything I would say that it is being too trusting of people when they give their word that a contract is good or that they are behind him. I've told him this myself. In this industry that kind of trust can hurt both you, and the people working beneath you.
Additionally, I never “laughed” at anyone. I said that I felt it was wrong to knowingly work with someone you know is actively breaking the law. You all stated you had “eyewitness accounts” and “firsthand knowledge”. If this is the case then why wasn't this addressed five years ago? Sounds like old news to me. Even more so, since the original charges were dismissed. I live in the present and am not going to make my business decisions on allegations and here say. If Jeffrey is found guilty of the charges against him, then he and I will have to revisit our relationship on the series. But in my book a man is still innocent until proven guilty. I also feel a person can change based on lessons they've learned from past mistakes. If in fact Jeffrey did do anything wrong five years ago, the man I know today has not acted the same way toward me. Yes, he is a little more focused on the artwork than paperwork, but that is why I handle the contracts.
And now you want to bash the drawing series I'm doing with him? I can assure you that all of the characters we are teaching people to draw on the DVD's are originals. I made a special point of emphasizing that with Jeffrey and even provided some of the concept art myself. In respect to the pencil logo, Jeffrey has been using that stubby pencil logo for a long time. Just because he had it used in one of the programs he was being paid to produce for another company doesn't mean it wasn't his original creative property first. In addition, if you look at the covers of my DVD, the pencil character for our series has arms, is longer, and has a different face. To say I can not use a "pencil" character for a drawing instruction DVD is ridiculous, even more so because the program is not animated. That's like saying an artist could never draw another mouse as part of a future program because the artist had previously drawn a mouse for another company. As an artist, you should understand this as well as anyone. Your argument on this point is weak. My character on the front of the DVD is significantly different.
Another point that I find interesting is that you keep bashing Jeffrey for trying to steal the concept of Tugger from this guy named Woody. From what I've read in a previous article from Roger Moore, the original concept for the script was from a man named George Parsons. Do you not find it wrong that this guy is attaching his name to someone else's concept? I don't know Woody, and I have no ill will toward him. He appears to be a talented artist in his own right, but I find this massive condemnation for plagiarism a bit selective. (cont'd)
(cont'd) In respect to the “Ethan James” thing on LinkedIn. I don't know what to even make of that. It looks like a page that was started but was never completed. I don't know how you can even claim to tie this to Jeffrey. It doesn't show, art, contact info, or anything else. It's a big nothing and was a waste of my time to even look at. Jeffrey has his own page that he uses that is filled with info about himself. This was just juvenile to even bring into the conversation.
And if you think that I am going to respect your argument that you and your co-workers tried to get your boss fired as a valid excuse for staying. I don't. If anything, you should be careful to even say such a thing because you will never get hired again. It is definitely possible to make deals without lying. I'm just curious how many deals you've ever had to tie down personally. In the entertainment industry there are books, DVD's, seminars, and more all made to teach people how to “pitch.” Part of the pitch is getting people excited, and I'm sure there are more people out there than Jeffrey (allegedly) who may have gone a bit overboard. If there was all of this hardcopy evidence of shady deals, I haven't seen page one. Again, I cannot dispute what you guys say you saw and know firsthand. But if all of this so called “evidence” were out there, the case wouldn't have been tossed out the first time around.
As for me, I've grown tired of this argument. I feel confident I've stated my case plainly and from this point on, I will wait to see what the courts decide. I believe Jeffrey will be exonerated, and that he will be more careful about who he hires and partners with, and how he ties down his paperwork. If anything, I think this will be a valuable learning experience for him.
I'd like to close by saying that I do wish all of you artists who are out there working hard, trying to make creative content in this tough market the best of luck. I do hope to see future work from all of you on the big screen someday.
" Just because he had it used in one of the programs he was being paid to produce for another company doesn't mean it wasn't his original creative property first."
If you create something for a studio it's never your creative property.
"From what I've read in a previous article from Roger Moore, the original concept for the script was from a man named George Parsons. Do you not find it wrong that this guy is attaching his name to someone else's concept? I don't know Woody, and I have no ill will toward him. He appears to be a talented artist in his own right, but I find this massive condemnation for plagiarism a bit selective."
I think the only commonality Woody's version had with parson's was something wanted to fly... I read both and they are about as far apart as you could ever imagine. So just put that plagiarism charge right back in your pocket.
Look I can understand why you're being defensive, especially with all those trying to poke holes at what you say. Yet we too feel a strong resentment about the arguments you make toward us from Jeff's perspective.
I would bet all the backpay I'm owed from Jeff that you can't find a single person from Genesis, 3dh, Bluth, Valhalla, or Disney that would take his side like you are...
Best of luck, I think you'll need it.
This Matt guy is so desperate. It's pathetic. He is trying his best to sound like he is a big shot, but if you take five seconds to look around the net, you can see that his "company" is probably run out of Starbucks or something. What CEO authors his own DVDs and has to post questions on forums to learn how to do the text? Or writes their own (poorly worded) press releases? At least Jeffrey, when he had a title like Supervising Animator or Creative Director or what-have you ACTUALLY oversaw people. Sounds like Matt likes to call himself Captain, but he's the only guy in the rowboat. Then he goes off and tries to pass himself off as a seasoned professional.
Newsflash boy: Most of the people on this post either have done or are currently doing what you only dream about doing with Jeffrey Varab as your meal ticket. This is a very small community and while you go on and on defending Jeffrey, you disrespect other artists and come off as condescending and pompous. I worked with Jeffrey years ago, never really had any bad blood, but heard enough from trusted friends and good people to know to keep my distance. I now work for a major studio and this blog post has been talked about quite a bit over the water cooler. You are not making any friends as a result. Instead of telling people that they should be careful about trying to fire their boss (who it seems they had good reason to), you might want to be careful. As the saying goes..."birds of a feather flock together." You are not talking to a bunch of kids as you sometimes sound like you think you are. Some of these posts are written by seasoned professionals in the industry you want to consider yourself a part of. I know that if your name came across my desk, I would pass simply by reading how you stubbornly dismiss people who feel they have been wronged. Jeffrey has made a lot of enemies in this industry...which is probably why he is working with a small time guy like you. And when you decide to try to move onward and upward, well, I doubt his recommendation will get you very far at my studio or any other. I'm not saying that you have to believe what they are saying, but Jeffrey is a big boy and doesn't need Matt Dragovits. He's already been there and done that. Matt Dragovits needs him.
He owes me, and probably everyone else in the business, a significant amount of money.
Can someone PLEASE shoop "haters gonna hate" on that picture of Jeff with the jeep?
Dear "anonymous" *Glad you have the courage to insult me while once again refusing to take ownership of your voice. I'm flattered that you've taken so much time to look into my background. You must have alot of time on your hands. A few quick points...
1. You will never find me being embarrassed to ask for technical tips on blogs or forums for DVD authoring, 3D, or anything else for that matter. I am a firm believer in lifelong learning and have no problem with it. You will find countless forum postings for a multitude of digital content creation questions I've posted over the past ten years. I'd be more embarrassed if I didn't seek out tips from other professionals. It's what we do in this industry. What are you living under a rock?
2. I have never tried to be condescending or pompous to anyone on this blog. You are reading something that is not there. If anything, I have stated plainly that my relationship for the past two years with Jeffrey simply does not reflect the description I've seen put forth on this blog and that I have personally seen no "hard evidence" of his wrongdoing. Of course since I've been working with him for two years and now I hear all this news come out I want to get to the bottom of it. As of right now though, I've still seen no hard proof of Jeffrey's guilt. I've stated I will wait for the truth to come out in court. It sounds like some of you guys don't like him as a boss, but that is not a crime. If you had a legal case against him I would assume you had proof of wrongdoing, and if that were so, he would already be in jail. I've stated this in detail, multiple times. I'm not going to repeat all of it again.
3. Several of the people on this blog have been very respectful to me and my opinions and for that I thank them. To you, "Mr. Anonymous" who I imagine is the same guy posting over and over and over again, I bid you farewell. Life is too short to argue with you. I have been happy and successful in my career up to this point. I have produced hundreds of hours of content (technical and medical) for broadcast. I have traveled the US shooting with crews everywhere from OR's, to Blackhawks, to Aircraft Carriers. I don't need to justify myself to you. True, I am seeking to eventually transition from corporate production into entertainment production, but if you are an example of the type of person I would have to deal with maybe I should second guess that decision. However, I suspect you are an anomaly. Many of the artists I have worked with in my life have been open-minded and respectful and I would bet that 99% of them in the animation industry are the same.
I honestly regret checking this blog today because your commentary does nothing to improve the quality of my life or my positive outlook on it. You sound like a bitter, bored, artist who, if you were a "captain" like you continue to call me, would be out there creating content instead of taking time out of your day to research me. It's just pathetic and I have no more time for it. I have real work to be done. I do hope to one day work with the creatives within the animation industry and if someone is going to "blacklist" me for asking for evidence of wrongdoing to support one's claims, than I guess I will be blacklisted. I refuse to let my character be diminished to meet someone else's expectations.
Dear Mr. "Anonymous"
I have done nothing but post my firsthand experiences with Jeffrey. I have clearly stated that from the beginning. Many on this forum have shown respect to me for my opinions while warning me to be careful. I have stated that if Jeffrey acted this way in the past, that he has not acted this way with me.
I find it beyond humorous that you have taken the time to research me on the web. Yes, I post questions on forums to learn more about programs. I have done this countless times over the past ten years and will not apologize for my pursuit of knowledge. You are a fool if you don't utilize forums to advance your understanding of programs. What are you living under a rock?
I have never talked down or belittled anyone. (except you right now, but you have it coming) I am proud of my career and have had a great time for the past ten years doing shoots for national pharmaceuticals and cutting edge military tech developers. I have flown in Blackhawks, shot footage in OR's, landed on Aircraft Carriers and more. My footage has been broadcast on major networks. However, I almost feel foolish for justifying myself to you. To be honest with you, none of my accomplishments have any impact on my working relationship with Jeffrey. He and I are working to put together creative projects that are entertainment-based in nature. After ten years of working on corporate projects I enjoyed the notion of working on something more story-based and character driven.
I seriously doubt that I have to worry about being blacklisted unless every other artist I come across is as bitter as you and consumed by things that happened several years ago. Obviously you have nothing better to do than waste your days away on blogs, researching the backgrounds of anyone who might defend Jeffrey Varab. In my eyes, you are the one who is acting pathetic and I'm certain your peers see this.
Let me clearly state that I don't need Jeffrey. My career has been rewarding on its own. But, I will continue on in my friendship with Jeffrey. If he is guilty of the things some of you say, I feel he has learned from his mistakes and where those choices have led him. As a Christian, I believe God can challenge a man and make him focus on his misdeeds so that he can become better than he has been. The Jeffrey I know has been humble and hard-working. He has been willing to share his knowledge without asking for something in return. He is my friend. I will not back down from your insults or your pettiness. So knock yourself out. Waste more time researching my background in the hopes of somehow belittling me. It is you who comes across as petty. In the end, I feel that those in the animation industry who have strength of character will at least respect the strength of my resolve even if their firsthand experiences with Jeffrey do not mirror my own.
In closing, I request that you grow a set and start posting your real name instead of hiding behind “Anonymous”. Since you are obviously such a big-time animator whose vast experience and connections are so far beyond my own, what do you have to fear? However, I suspect that if you were posting your name all along, that 90% of these negative posts would be yours.
I thought that some of you might enjoy reading the following article that was posted on AWN. Some of you may value the information, others may challenge it, but in the end, I think it is worth the read for the insight it provides.
http://www.awn.com/news/people/tugger-director-responds-fraud-charges/page/3,1
And you might find this guy interesting!
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Saeed_al-Sahhaf?wasRedirected=true
Hey Matt Dragovitz. Varab pled GUILTY. Every defensive thing you have ever said about him now has no credibility. Sucks, don't it?
The guys obviously crooked, but, FYI, public gloating is not very flattering either.
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