U.S. Producers Reveal Docu Film, Bio Book on Megaupload Founder
Kim Dotcom, the controversial figure behind the shuttered Megaupload, is set to hog the limelight a little more with the planned release of his biography and a documentary that reportedly will explore his colourful life and the events leading to his arrest earlier this year.
Donovan Leitch and Alex Mardikian told the American online publication The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday that works on a documentary detailing Mr Dotcom's high-profile exploits is presently underway.
In fact, Mr Leitch said, he has been in New Zealand and has completed about 60 hours of interview sessions with Mr Dotcom, who recently gained back his liberty after posting a bail before the New Zealand court authorities.
The Megaupload founder, however, is limited on his movements by an electronic monitor attached to him, as ordered by the court, and is fighting off the extradition case launched by the U.S. government, which accuses him of willingly participating in a large-scale piracy that led to about $500 million of losses for American film and music producers and software companies.
The millions he had amassed in years of operating his international online file-sharing firm have been frozen by authorities, temporarily tempering Mr Dotcom's high-rolling lifestyle that was punctuated by his luxury cars, yachts, numerous girls and the sprawling Auckland mansion.
In that same mansion, reportedly worth some $30 million, arresting officers found Mr Dotcom holed up in a hidden vault as they swoop down on his residence to serve a warrant of arrest.
But the upcoming documentary, according to Mr Mardikian, will not only touch on the controversies courted by Mr Dotcom as he made his way to huge holdings that mostly were realised on the considerable success of Megaupload to lure millions around the world in employing the site as their online storage and file-exchanging portal.
The Megaupload documentary, Mr Mardikian said, will also highlight testimonies made by colleagues of Mr Dotcom namely Mathias Ortmann, Bram van der Kolk and Finn Batato, who were all facing charges with their boss.
"Kim is part of the story, but we want to tell the whole story," the film co-producers disclosed while adding that they're looking to convince Marc Levin, an Emmy Award-winning film producer and director, to take charge in guiding the whole direction of the Dotcom documentary.
The film will be supplemented by a separate biography book release that will be authored by Neil Strauss, who gained prominence while writing music articles for The New York Times, according to Mr Mardikian.
Initial works on the book have already commenced, with Mr Strauss joining the documentary producers in 2011 when they interviewed Mt Dotcom.
Mr Strauss had previously worked on the biographies of rock icon Marilyn Manson and porn star Jenna Jameson, making him an exact fit, according to Mr Leitch, in completing the book.
Mr Dotcom and his cohorts, who also face additional charges of racketeering and money laundering along with the extradition and copyright infringement cases, are set to return before a New Zealand court on August 2012.