Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Lawsuit Against HBO: How Hollywood Cheats Its Creatives
Fri, 27 Dec 2024
A Hollywood writer and producer has sued HBO after he claims that the network stole his concepts.Jack Piuggi, who owns Flipp Productions claimed that after stealing his concepts, HBO eventually went on to produce two shows for the network called Fake Famous (HBO) and FBoy Island (HBO Max). To book this guest, contact Cricket Public Relations: [email protected], 212-363-0654 Jacks Website https://www.jackpiuggi.com Follow me on all socials! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/insidetruecrime/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mattcoxtruecrime Do you want to be a guest? Send me an email here: [email protected] Do you want a custom "con man" painting to shown up at your doorstep every month? Subscribe to my Patreon: https: //www.patreon.com/insidetruecrime Do you want a custom painting done by me? Check out my Etsy Store: https://www.etsy.com/shop/coxpopart Listen to my True Crime Podcasts anywhere: https://anchor.fm/mattcox Check out my true crime books! Shark in the Housing Pool: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0851KBYCF Bent: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BV4GC7TM It's Insanity: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08KFYXKK8 Devil Exposed: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TH1WT5G Devil Exposed (The Abridgment): https://www.amazon.com/dp/1070682438 The Program: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0858W4G3K Bailout: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bailout-matthew-cox/1142275402 Dude, Where's My Hand-Grenade?: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BXNFHBDF/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1678623676&sr=1-1 Checkout my disturbingly twisted satiric novel! Stranger Danger: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BSWQP3WX If you would like to support me directly, I accept donations here: Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/MattCox69 Cashapp: $coxcon69
Chapter 1: What led to Jack Pugey's lawsuit against HBO?
My attorney goes, stop everything you're doing. Whoever you're working with isn't who they say they are. They're HBO and they're ripping you off. So you pop up the trailer for this thing. The first opening line is, do you want to be famous?
Right.
And then it cuts to an American Idol style casting audition, casting for influencers. I'm like, holy shit. All these guys signed an NDA. I'm going to be rich. So I'm like, I think this guy just commit malpractice. So I was like, holy shit. Like even these, even these attorneys are actors, you know, I'm like, everybody's an actor. Holy crap. My family, friends, JLo's music producer.
And he wants me to come over and hang out. Next thing I know, his friends are putting my stuff on HBO. You know, like, like, I don't know how else to put it, but like, I didn't think they were out to get me. I thought this guy, I looked up to him.
Hey, this is Matt Cox, and I'm going to be interviewing Jack Pugey. And he has a really interesting story about corruption and theft in Hollywood, which I know you guys are saying, stop it. That's not true. I agree that large corporations wouldn't possibly take advantage of anyone, but he insists it's true. So we're here to hear his story and I appreciate it.
And if you like the video, do me a favor and hit the subscribe button, hit the bell so you get notified of videos just like this. Leave me a comment, do all the things that you know you're supposed to do. And I appreciate it. So check out the interview. I typically don't hit them up for a subscription at the beginning, but I really need the numbers.
Yeah. Trust me. I know how it works. So listen, and I appreciate everybody that's stopping to listen and take the time to hear today too, because you know, that's all I'm trying to do is create awareness around this. And it's the sort of story that everybody has heard a million times.
And I mean, you know, they made, there's a movie about that jokes about it called big fat liar, where this like kid gets his homework stolen by a moot by Paul Giamatti. And all of a sudden it turns into like the biggest flick of the season.
Right.
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Chapter 2: How did Jack first realize his concepts were stolen?
business in the game you know i thought it had to be there was no way nothing more evil than you know working for the dollar but um it turns out that hollywood is a bigger and dirtier cesspool yeah oh i say all the time i'm like i'd rather whenever i talk to these guys i'm like honestly i would rather deal with criminals yeah well they are that's where they all go right i mean
I keep telling everybody I'm going to get killed over this thing.
I was going to say, listen, at least in prison, if things go bad, somebody could get stabbed or beat up or whatever. But these people, they're in ivory towers, and they've got tons of lawyers and security, and you're just not going to get to them. Nope. Even if you had money and had your own set of lawyers, it's like, yeah, I'll outlast you.
Well, that's the best part about it is that my lawyer, the premise here is that I pitched these two shows and they're on HBO now.
Hold on. Sorry. I just realized why I'm lagging. Hold on a second. Sorry.
Bro, listen.
And I tried to tell the guy that called me, your assistant, I tried to tell him it's like not a professional operation. Don't expect too much. So-
Yeah.
He had me all upset.
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Chapter 3: What are the challenges creatives face in Hollywood?
And that happens, in my opinion, that happens across the board. I'll give you an example from me real quick. And this is a small example because I have a large one.
Everybody's got this story.
Huh?
Everybody's got this story. This is why it's so recognizable.
Yeah, I'm working with production companies right now who told me, do not pitch device. They told me, don't pitch device. Because they've had, they personally, the guy I'm dealing with has had, I think one, he now says there's two stories They went to them, pitched them two stories. Both times they said, we're not interested. A year later, both series were made by Vice.
And the thing is, he doesn't want to do anything about it. Well, I don't want to be one of those guys that's known to sue. Right.
Exactly. Because that's the whole that's what they try and scare you into is don't sue us because then you're not a part of the gang anymore.
Right. Yeah. Fuck that. So exactly. Right. In my case, I'll tell you what happened with me real quick. This is just my vice story. And I got a bunch of them. So my vice story is I was contacted by a producer, female producer. She said, hey, we'd like to talk to this person, John Boziak, which is a guy, a credit card counterfeiter that I wrote a story about.
He was in his teens doing carding and it evolved into counterfeiting. So they had read the story on my Web site. And I said, I've already optioned his life rights. We're working with a production company. And I said, what are you looking for? She said, we're looking for teens. We're doing a program called I Was a Teen Felon. And I said, OK, and that's a big, big one on vice.
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Chapter 4: What is the significance of intellectual property in entertainment?
Kind of like American Idol. Exactly.
That's literally how I pitched it. It was American Idol, but my friends didn't know what they were doing on the panel.
Right.
They thought they were voting for the hottest girls. Then what I was going to do was...
exploit them for kind of like every time like i talked to a girl and then like had them come and like take the girl away sort of thing and that was going to be like the endless the endless play okay so i that's like that's like a really bad bad explanation of the whole thing but it's like it's my shortest synopsis i can give you so i so i call up these guys that that cory set me up with
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Chapter 5: How did Jack's background influence his career?
Guys, I got an idea for a reality show. Sign this NDA. Get it back to me. Let's talk. I'm ready to go. I'll fund the whole thing myself. You know, I was going to spend every dollar I had on this thing. I was like, I will fund this because I knew the only thing I knew from Corey is you got to own all the rights. You got to own all the rights. You got to own all the rights.
You got to own all the rights. He drilled into me. So. And his example was always Beyonce. Beyonce owned 80% of her own publishing. Nobody could figure out how. So I was like, if I pay for the whole show, I own all the rights. So that was what I thought. I didn't know anything. But I figured I'd own most of them until time rolled around.
Or they take the idea and go get the funding from somebody else to cut you out.
No. No. So now that's what happens, right? So I called these guys up. I'm like, I want to own all the, you know, I want to shoot the full pilot. Corey said, shoot the full pilot. I'm shooting the full pilot. No, no, we only want to shoot a sizzle. Like I hear you, but Corey said, I guarantee myself on a network if I shoot the pilot. I did get on the network with the whole pilot.
It just wasn't mine. you know, it was mine. They just took it. So, so now, you know, two weeks, these guys are like, all right, fine, fine. Cause I wasn't being malleable and, you know, unbeknown to me, I wasn't being malleable. I just thought I was calling them and contracting them to do a job and I was going to run the job. You know, that was, that was my simple.
You felt like they were a work for hire.
Yeah. That was how, that was how I understood it to be. You know, the whole thing was work for, I didn't know any better, but yeah, I thought it was work for hire. So these guys come, these guys tell me they're gonna come back to me by the end of the week and I hear nothing. Then like a week and a half goes by and now I'm like, all right, let me double check, see what's going on.
Oh yeah, hey Jack, sorry, huge project got thrown into our laps. So these guys are famous for making mockumentaries in the end, they tell me. But all they do is tease me with the whole thing along the way, which is where it gets nuts. So they go, we want you to work. Here's the next tease. Ready?
We're not going to be able to do it, but we want you to work with a producer partner of ours, Jeff Cobelli. His production company is called Good For You. But when you go to his production company and you're in his studio, all over the studio, he's got the letters GFY.
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Chapter 6: What strategies did Jack use in pitching his reality show?
He was a partner with Warner.
Right.
Warner's the parent company to HBO. Yeah.
Yeah, they're the worst.
So now I know. So, so now I'm saying to myself, all right, like, and, and, and Corey gave me all these little ins and outs, like, listen, everybody talks to each other in this business through their attorneys. So I reached out to them first. I was like, Hey guys, you know, I really appreciate like that. You guys thought I was good enough to be on HBO.
That's like, you know, people work their whole careers and can't make it on HBO. So I was like, thank you. I was like, is there any way I can... Basically, I asked, can I have credit for my work? I'll keep writing for free. I just want... Think about the credit I would have, having credits at 25, having produced something on HBO. That's... I'm the next Spielberg.
Yeah, you're trying to salvage getting fucked over.
Right.
I get it, yeah.
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Chapter 7: How did Jack uncover the truth about Fake Famous?
No, I, I do. Because now they turn around, they make $50 million and you're not even, and people are like, yeah, but it's so obvious. Yes, but don't you understand? He's not in a position to do anything about it. The most he can do is scream and holler. And most other people in the business will tell him, yo, you don't want to do that because you'll have other ideas. You can get in.
Yeah. That's what everybody tells you. Oh, don't do that. Don't do that. It's like, well, you know what? You can't cancel me. I'm already canceled.
Yeah.
Right.
The only thing I can do is use it as a springboard.
Listen, that's what I've done every time. Every time I get an opportunity to talk about it, I'm going to talk about it. At the very least, I want you to know you're not stealing from me.
Yeah. You're not stealing from me with no repercussion.
Right. Look, I just, yeah, exactly. You just want to be treated fairly. Like, look, what the smart thing would be to do is say, hey, utilize me.
Dude, I've said all I said was put my name on my shit.
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Chapter 8: What lessons can creatives learn from Jack's experience?
It's like, you know, the guy goes, yeah, they didn't even have the idea. Oh, yeah, you can make the show in three days and make it look like it took place over the year. Oh, yeah, we had enough time to edit that to make that documentary. I showcased the lawyer committing malpractice. That's when like they all like perked up on the edge of their seat.
They're like, we can make some money with this kid. But same thing, like you said, if you're not going to pay us, not going to pay us thirty five grand.
We can't wait five years to get a settlement.
And they wanted, and they were like, we're going to, we want to do this tight and quick. We want to go after the attorney for committing malpractice. And then, and then, you know, we'll back into your credit like that. I'm like, dude, I want to go after the law firm too. Cause you know, I have my own issues with the law firm, but like, I got to get credit, man.
If I don't get credit, then I don't have a career. So I just kept on the horse. And I and I when I finally was at the point a year and a half in of like, I can't do this anymore. I started calling PR firms. I was like, I got to just build a reputation for myself. The first PR firm I call. He goes, well, have you hired a lawyer? Man, I just spent like I just called 110 of them.
He goes, no, you just didn't call the right ones. Call this guy. I call him. He's like, yeah, I'll take it. And that was it. Like from then on, I've been putting it together for like the last eight months. And, you know, tomorrow's launch day.
OK, what do you mean? What's happening tomorrow? Tomorrow is when we drop the suit. File a lawsuit.
Yeah.
With a complaint.
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