Simon Phillips and Paul Tanter Simon McPhillips Producer Director Once Upon a Time at Christmas Napanee Ontario Simon Phillips Paul Tanter Scam Artists Unprofessional Film Feature Movie Ottawa Napanee Ontario

I worked with Paul Tanter and Simon Phillips last year on a film called "Once Upon a Time at Christmas". I knew almost immediately that something was off. The production office if you can even call it that was in disarray and it was disorganized right from the get go. 

I shrugged it off but noticed on a film crew page that someone had asked if anyone was working with Simon Phillips on a feature film. Apparently, he had hired an entire crew and a night or two before shooting, he had informed them that the film wasn't happening anyone. What really happened was, he hired a brand new crew at lower rates.

I got to work on the film and there was a multitude of things wrong with the production. Lack of food and their craft table consisted of chips and diet coke. We were fed one meal a day despite working 12-13 hour days. 

After we wrapped, I worried if I would be paid. The entire production was so amateur and unprofessional. People would show up late to set, including the directors (Simon, mostly) and they didn't seem to care about things like continuity. It was a sh* show. 

Of course, they tried to avoid paying me even though my invoice stated "45 days". They gave me a million and one excuses including one about someone passing away. Finally, after several diplomatic emails, I demanded my payment. Their excuse was, they didn't have the money. It was being transferred and they didn't have anything to pay out. 

I took months to be paid and I had to continuously followup and threaten legal action before finally recieving payment. Numerous cast and crew members also reported shady behaviour and attempts to avoid paying up. 

NEVER EVER make the mistake of working for these con artists. To be honest, I have no idea who would fund their low budget, horribly written films.