Former Baywatch star and Hollywood legend David Hasselhoff is reportedly owed money by Stripe Studios.
Creditors of a New Zealand screen production company - including a major bank, a financing firm and two American TV stars - are owed more than $20 million and a receiver claims its investigations have uncovered “irregularities” in the company’s finances.
The receiver says these alleged “irregularities” have been referred to “relevant authorities” - this follows the New Zealand Film Commission referring its own concerns to the Serious Fraud Office last year.
Auckland-based Stripe Studios was placed in receivership in March, along with 10 related companies, most of which had been established as “special purpose vehicles” for individual series and productions.
For example, Stripe Studios (Hoff) Ltd was a “special purpose vehicle” for a show called Hoff the Beaten Track, a New Zealand travel series featuring former Baywatch and Knight Rider star David Hasselhoff and Kiwi actor and comedian Rhys Darby.
Stripe Studios (Comedy) Ltd was a “special purpose vehicle” for a show called Iliza Shlesinger: This Tastes Funny, a similar New Zealand travel comedy series featuring Netflix comedian and actress Iliza Shlesinger.
The shows have been filmed, but have been held up in post-production following Stripe’s financial issues and they now face an uncertain future.
The receivers’ first report, by BDO receivers Rees Logan and Andrew McKay, reveals Stripe creditors are owed a total of $20.855m from the 11 companies.
Kiwibank is listed as a creditor that is owed $8.658m from seven of the special purpose vehicles.
Fulcrum Media Finance is listed as a creditor owed $3.67m, from three others, including the two special purpose companies set up for the Hasselhoff and Shlesinger series.
Hasselhoff is also reportedly owed money while Shlesinger, who successfully sought to have Stripe Studios (Comedy) Ltd liquidated in March, is owed more than $600,000 for her film work in New Zealand.
According to an earlier liquidator’s report, Stripe managing director Alex Breingan said a funding agreement U-turn by the New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC) was to blame for the liquidation - but the NZFC has said it “rejects that it is responsible in any way for the financial circumstances” of the company.
The new receiver’s report has revealed more background, including NZFC concerns over Stripe and alleged “irregularities” involving screen production grant (SPG) applications - the grant, administered by the NZFC, is now called the screen production rebate and is a taxpayer subsidy for qualifying screen projects.
“Prior to the appointment of receivers, NZFC had identified irregularities in relation to the provisional certificates of the SPG, granted to certain [special purpose vehicles],” says the receivers’ report.
“As a result, they sought further information and paused all current SPG provisional and final applications pending further satisfactory information being provided.”
The receivers said that Stripe’s Breingan had advised them “that ongoing funding of the wider Stripe Studios companies required the SPG to be paid out on shows that had been completed”.
“It appears the companies ran out of cash and were unable to continue trading. We understand the companies ceased trading around mid-December 2023.”
The receivers said they had met Breingan and stakeholders including funders, investors, distributors, accountants, auditors and lawyers to understand the background of each of the “special purpose vehicles”.
They had also undertaken “a preliminary investigation into the affairs of each of the companies leading up to the receiverships”.
“This investigation has identified a number of irregularities across the companies and as a result, the receivers have reported these irregularities to the relevant authorities in accordance with their duty to report serious problems under section 60 of the Insolvency Practitioners Regulation Act 2019.
“As this is a sensitive matter and we do not wish to prejudice any potential outcome, the receivers are unable to provide any further comment on the matter at this time.”
The receiver also said it had held discussions with the NZFC regarding each of the applications for the screen rebates and the alleged irregularities. “Discussions with NZFC are continuing.”
The Film Commission said in November it had referred an Auckland film studio company to the Serious Fraud Office over concerns about the reliability of information in regards to the screen production rebate.
A Serious Fraud Office spokesman said this week: “The SFO has no further comment beyond our previous statement confirming we received the complaint from the New Zealand Film Commission.”
In a statement this week, the Film Commission said it had been cautious about making any comment in regards to Stripe because of confidentiality obligations involving screen production rebate applications.
“However, given the information already in the public domain, the [receivers’] report, and the public interest in the Stripe Studios receivership matter, NZFC can confirm that nine of the 11 Stripe entities now in receivership had applied to the NZFC for provisional certificates. The remaining two entities are holding companies.
“Seven provisional certificates were granted by the NZFC. Provisional certificates include the wording, ‘Please note that this is a provisional certificate only and you must apply for a final certificate in order to qualify for a New Zealand grant’.”
An NZFC spokeswoman said only productions that were issued the SPG final certificate qualified for and received SPG funds.
“After a grant or rebate is made, NZFC publishes this information on its website. The NZFC has not received applications for final certificates from any of the Stripe entities in receivership.
“Of note in the [receivers’] report is the discovery of irregularities, which the receiver has reported to the appropriate authorities.”
The receivers say assets secured were largely the unfinished shows and the expected screen production grants were to be received by the companies on the completion of each production.
“Given we are in the process of working with interested parties on a path forward... we have omitted the value of specific assets, as we believe that their inclusion would materially prejudice the exercise of our functions and in particular, our duty to obtain the best price reasonably recoverable.”
Alex Breingan has not returned various messages or requests for comment over the past several weeks.
A Kiwibank spokeswoman said: “A receiver has been appointed to various companies under the ‘Stripe’ banner. With the receivership in place and the receivers having recently completed their first report we don’t have any further comment to make at this time.”
Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor and has a small shareholding in NZME.
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