Some of you may have noticed that there is an online rant written against me that dates back to 2014.
I was the second video editor hired by a blogger who was a novice at professional videography and editing. The job was a sizzle video for "The Unseen Africa", and was done remotely. I edited not one, but three different videos, and went above and beyond the call of duty, performing a host of additional work, such as producing, researching the best equipment for his needs, working with music composer David Hamilton, etc… The job turned into film school while we talked to each other almost daily via Skype and email. I also helped him write a Kickstarter campaign that raised over $24.000 for a pilot he had also asked me to edit (video #3), with $10,000 of these funds to be used for additional editing.
However as soon as he raised the money, Tapon hired another editor. Many months later, I noticed that he had published an online rant against me, but when I contacted him, he emailed me back asking for $5000 to take it down. I then contacted the third editor, who replied that he had just moved to Los Angeles to work in Hollywood film industry, and that he ended up working a month without pay for Tapon. He added that there was nothing wrong with my work.
The case finally went to court in Inglewood and Tapon lost. Honorable Judge Brown declared that I do not owe Tapon any money.
However the statute of limitation for defamation (one year in CA) had expired by then, and it was too late to have the rant legally removed. I wrote to Tapon asking him to take the rant down but never heard from him again.
I simply do not understand the need for an amateur to try to ruin someone else’s reputation online.