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Cataluna film in
funding dispute

By Gary T. Kubota
Star-Bulletin

WAILUKU -- Former TV news anchor Lee Cataluna and Ovid Pictures LLC are in a dispute with a Maui financial backer about the alleged lack of payment of more than $1.1 million to produce a film.

Ovid Pictures alleges Shirley Bennett of Wailea failed to adhere to a schedule for financing the film "Ho'olawe: Give and Take" and forced the cancellation of production earlier this year.

A special proceeding is scheduled tomorrow before Maui Circuit Judge Joseph Cardoza to determine if the court should force Bennett into arbitration.

Ovid, including partners Jack E. Past, Cataluna and her husband Michael Wurth, wants former Maui Circuit Judge E. John McConnell to arbitrate the dispute.

Ovid alleges the agreement called for arbitration to resolve conflicts.

Ovid charged it should have received a total of $952,000 from Bennett by April 1 but has received only $284,900.

Star-Bulletin file
Funding for Lee Cataluna's film
project is under dispute.

"She failed and refused to make further payment," according to the court filing by Ovid on June 15.

Bennett signed the agreement on Jan. 3 to provide about $1.4 million in financing for Ho'olawe, in return for repayment of her contribution from the film's proceeds and a portion of the film's net profit, the filing said.

Ovid alleges the cancellation of the film caused significant damage.

Cataluna's Ho'olawe screenplay, a comedy set in Hawaii, won honorable mention honors at the Monterey Film Festival earlier this year.

It's a story about Maui's toughest repo man who loses his edge in a slumping Hawaii economy and has difficulty taking possessions from his "brothers and sisters."

The repo man hires a young man with anger-management problems to help his business.

Ovid conducted auditions for the film at the Outrigger Prince Kuhio Hotel ballroom last year, hiring a number of local residents as actors.

Wurst said the company is using high-definition video equipment and has completed 17 of 23 days of shooting.

Ovid planned to release Ho'olawe at film festivals.

Bennett was unavailable for comment.