The Tribune

The Bahamas International Film Festival’s (BIFF) founder yesterday said she was left “embarrassed”, and felt “taken for a ride”, after Jamie Dingman failed to deliver on his promised acquisition of the organisation.

Leslie Vanderpool confirmed to Tribune Business that Mr Dingman had spent 18 months attempting to purchase BIFF, but the deal ultimately fell through because he “did not commit” his signature and the necessary funds.

She added that she had to hurriedly return to the Bahamas from California in 2014, when the deal fell apart, and rebuild BIFF, having given “guarantees” and formed partnerships with companies and individuals on the basis that Mr Dingman’s purchase was going ahead.

“For a year-and-a-half we were negotiating the opportunity of him providing a major investment into the Festival, and acquiring it so that it could be bigger and better,” Ms Vanderpool told Tribune Business of their talks.

“The deal fell through because he just could not commit. It was very tumultuous on his part. He kept demanding things on his end that we couldn’t commit to until he signed the contract and delivered the funds. I felt he took me for a ride.”

Mr Dingman’s bid to acquire BIFF, which has never been revealed before, was exposed by documents filed last month with the New York federal courts by two of his former associates.

The documents show Mr Dingman’s entrepreneurial ambitions extended well beyond the Nassau hospitality/restaurant empire that ultimately collapsed, leaving in its wake a host of aggrieved Bahamian vendors, employees and legal complaints.

They were filed by Ryan Giunta and Erik Gordon, a former employee and investor/partner, respectively, in Mr Dingman’s Out West Hospitality business, which then-included the iconic Traveller’s Restaurant in western New Providence and several other brands.

A March 27, 2014, e-mail sent by Mr Dingman to his personal assistant, Vicki Inskeep-Brown, reveals that he and Mr Gordon are to keep $100,000 from the proceeds of various wire transfers to help purchase BIFF.

“Erik and I have partnered up in the Bahamas in a 50/50 partnership,” Mr Dingman wrote. “As you are aware, as of today I have invested $1.3 million.

“With the math you have provided me, after Erik wires the $800,000 deposit for the hotel, and we keep $100,000 to close the Bahamas Film Festival, we will be close to even as partners.”

Mr Dingman’s e-mail refers to Out West Hospitality experiencing exchange control issues, referring to “problems we have been having wiring funds out of the Bahamas due to the Central Bank”.

He later returns to BIFF, saying: “This still leaves Erik short of my total investment, but we do not need these funds until we take over the hotel and, potentially, the Bahamas Film Festival.”

The identity of the hotel targeted for purchase is not disclosed, but the e-mail shows that Mr Dingman, son of world-renowned entrepreneur and Lyford Cay resident, Michael, was moving at a frenetic pace to build himself a Bahamas-based business empire.

A permanent resident of the Bahamas himself, the New York court case documents suggest that Mr Dingman opted for ‘helter skelter’ expansion, moving on to another Out West Hospitality restaurant brand before properly bedding in previous acquisitions and ventures.

Ms Vanderpool, meanwhile, said she had been left “embarrassed” after BIFF was unable to deliver on pledges made on the basis of Mr Dingman’s impending takeover.

“It caused me embarrassment because I was promising people and companies things, and guaranteeing them through Jamie, and Jamie was saying he was acquiring the Festival,” Ms Vanderpool told Tribune Business.

“I was making partnerships based on that [happening], and I was embarrassed by it not coming through. I was producing in California, and had to come home and put the Festival back in order.”

Describing the failed negotiations with Mr Dingman as “a shame”, Ms Vanderpool added: “He brought a lot of people in on the conversation, and they were very aggressive to the point that I didn’t want them involved because of the way they did business.

“Thank God it wasn’t taken over by his group. Fortunately, I didn’t lose a lot of other companies involved. It was a huge disappointment; a year-and-a-half of negotiations and personally being disappointed. I was very surprised that it came from someone of his stature and family.”

BIFF has become a major fixture in the Bahamian cultural calendar, with its 13th instalment set for December 5-11, 2016.

Its website markets BIFF as “a non-profit organisation” that aims to provide Bahamians with access to diverse films from around the world, enhancing this nation’s cultural and educational experiences, and opening up the TV and movie industries.

BIFF touted the $20 million “public relations value” created by the Festival, which it says has attracted more than one million global film enthusiasts to the showing of over 1,000 films.

Among the celebrities that have attended past Festivals are Johnny Depp, Nicolas Cage, Laurence Fishburne, Chaz Ebert, Debra Messing, Danny Glover, Heather Graham, Alan Arkin, Sir Sean Connery, Roger Corman, Daryl Hannah, Sophie Okonedo, Anna Faris, Naomie Harris, Zoe Kravitz, Lenny Kravitz, Sydney Tamiia Poitier, Roger Guenveur Smith and Lee Daniels.