Michael Russell Group Michael Russell - Steve Lacascio - Michael Russell Group Misrepresented - Disrepectful - No Remorse Internet

Below is an excerpt from the agreement that Michael Russell provided to my company.    The only thing in the agreement that was completed was the bold underlined, which most of the content for these materrials were provided by me.

NOT one article to our knowledge has ever been published in any of the numerouse magazines, newspapers or trade publications as listed by Michaek Russell.  I have not been invited, let alone appeared on one TV Show, one Radio program and I have only been interviewed once at a trade show that I paid for and Russel & Lacascio attended with me, which was an Exhibit Publication that happened to be at the Expo doing random interviews. 

Until now,  I have sat back letting my attorney's take care of this issue, but, I received word that Michael Russell has sent e-mails and phone calls to his clients reporting that my company misrepresented the ownership of the Earth Rangers and that we had also misrepresented that we had millions of dollars available in grants.  I in fact copyrighted the Earth Ranger characters which are registered with the US Library fo Congress.  I later found out that a Canadian Company had registered a "Trade Name" on Earth Rangers. 

I had my lawyers inform the Canadian company that I would re-name my characters as a professional curtosy to them.  It was never an issue.  As for the millions of dollars in grants, the government does give out hundreds of millions of dollar a years in educational grants.  HOWEVER, I have a board member that has worked with NASA in grants for over 30 years, I would NOT pay Michael Russell to participate in getting my company grants.  This is rediculous.  

In closing, please read the agreement the Michael Russell prepared and signed with my company, HEREIN RESTS THE TRUTH !

My company paid Michael Russell some $116,066.31 over five months based on their representations to fulfill the written agreement below. 

In addition to NOT fulfilling the agreement, they led me and my associates Clay Blehm and Alan Jackson and others to beleive that they had deals working with Michael Eisner of Vuguru and Kristen Jones, With the producer and the financers of "Iron Cross",  with the CEO of Disney and other big names.  We were told that there were millions of dollars in possible deals working for us.  So, we kept funding Michael Russell becaue we trusted them.   

In the end we even had our lawyer write a special contract as per Steve Lacascio's request to accomodate his closing two big deals.   However, Michael Russell refused to sign the new contract after it was given to them by my lawyers, until I signed a release of all liability for their alledged damages and losses.  There was NO way this was happening and it was suggested by my lawyers that the deal that they claimed to have had and their willingness to enter into this new contract was ONLY a plot to try and get us to sign off on action against them. 

Bottom Line:  I am sorry to even take the time to write this blog.  This is NOT an offense, its a defense that I am putting the facts out "Public" these facst are 100% and will uphold in any court.  We paid them for services and we didn't get what we were promised for our $116,066.31.  There is pending action against Michael Rusell at this time to recover our losses.  

_____________ BELOW IS THE MICHEAL RUSSELL AGREEMENT _____

Agreement of March 18, 2010 from Michael Russell.

MRG is excited by the prospect of working with you to publicize, market and expand the global revenue for your groundbreaking product line & cast of characters Globee, the Magic Planets and the Earth Rangers.  There is huge potential for corporate synergies and business development in a number of markets including television and motion pictures, home video, toys and games, merchandising, books and publications.

I am a big believer that there are no accidents in life and I believe my 30+ years in the entertainment industry have provided me with the contacts and acumen to be the ideal individual to lead this campaign.  From ten years based at the Disney Studio in Burbank (the company that pioneered multi-platform worldwide campaigns to promote products and characters designed to appeal to children and their parents) to working closely with Barney creator Sheryl Leach on the 1998 movie Barneys Great Adventure, I have numerous previous clients in which my endeavors have provided me with a wealth of experience to catapult Magic Planets Inc. to a lucrative new level of success.

Coincidentally, your story mirrors that of Sheryl Leachs.  She was former teacher who conceived of the Barney character since her toddler son was enchanted with dinosaurs.  Leach brought together a team who created a series of home videos, Barney and the Backyard Gang.  The videos were sold directly to the public.  A few years later, she teamed with a production company to create a television show about the characters.  The following year, the series began airing on Public Broadcasting Service and an empire began to materialize.

Your nine years of development will serve as a central foundation for a strategic campaign to publicize your company and accomplishments.  We can work quickly on an intensive four-month initial campaign to develop your products and characters on a fast track.  Following are the activities that will be focal points for both the Los Angeles and New York offices of the Michael Russell Group:

Marketing Materials

The first months priorities are to create and finalize your companys publicity and marketing materials with special thought given to documenting your achievements in a manner to attract media as well as major corporate investors and/or partners.  We will prepare a backgrounder about Magic Planets Inc.  We will interview you before preparing your biography and work with you to identify and create the marketing art depicting key characters and product lines.  We will also finalize a key set of photography that can be provided to media outlets in conjunction with their articles positioning Magic Planets as an entrepreneurial success story.  As discussed at our recent meeting, one key shot will be you standing before a large array of the merchandise and promotional items thus far developed.  This is the photo we envision in PEOPLE Magazine and/or USA Today.  We will also prepare fact sheets with fascinating factoids about the characters and products that can be included in journalists coverage.

Press Releases

As part of our publicity campaign to stimulate trade and consumer awareness, we will write and distribute a multitude of press releases on newsworthy developments geared to print and online media outlets.

Media Messages

We will present you with key media messages that you will have in front of you for phone interviews.  These messages will be succinct sound bites that will effectively communicate Magic Planets accomplishments and provide us with materials that will permit us to schedule introductory business meetings to grow the brands.

Media Outlets

We will put together a list of key outlets and contacts who will receive press releases and communications.  Some of the outlets will include: (partial list)

Newspapers/Syndicates

Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Daily News

LA Business Journal

LA Weekly

New York Times

USA Today

Wall Street Journal

Associated Press

Downtown News

Reuters

Trades

Variety

Hollywood Reporter

Screen International

Animation

AdAge

Adweek

Creativity

Magazines

Entertainment Weekly

Us

Entrepreneur

Parade

Scholastic Classroom Magazines

Family Circle

Parents

Fast Company

Newsweek

Time

Business Week

Blogs

LAT The Envelope

The Wrap

Huffington Report

E! Online

MSN

Big Hollywood

The Big Picture

Cinematical

Comics2film

LAist

LA Observed

Kidsnet

Zap2it

Television

National Morning Shows

Entertainment Tonight/The Insider

Access Hollywood

Extra

Associated Press

Fox News

E! Entertainment

TV Guide Channel

CNN s****.>