An explosive documentary debuting at a New York film festival on Friday is set to name a list of men who have allegedly sexually abused minors in Hollywood.
An Open Secret, a documentary by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Amy Berg, will screen at the DOC NYC festival on November 14, the Hollywood Reporter revealed.
It features interviews with men who say they were sexually abused or exploited by Hollywood agents or movie bigwigs when they were children.
Among the men named are managers Marty Weiss, Michael Harrah and Bob Villard - Leonardo DiCaprio's former agent - and internet company owners Marc Collins-Rector and Chad Shackley.
Collins-Rector and Shackley hit headlines earlier this year after former child model Micheal Egan III sensationally accused X-Men director Bryan Singer of abusing him at pool parties held by the duo.
MailOnline revealed in April that Egan was working with Berg on the then-unnamed documentary.
Egan ultimately dropped his suits against Singer and three others, TV exec Garth Ancier, former Disney exec David Neuman and producer Gary Goddard, after it emerged that some of his statements had been inconsistent.
An attorney for Bryan Singer also hit out at Berg, questioning why Egan's allegations were included, calling the decision to use someone with 'no credibility at all' 'disappointing and pathetic'.
Despite this, Berg, who worked on the documentary for two years, said that she believes Egan is a credible, valid part of her film.
'The question is, if you are an adult at one of these parties where so much is going on out in the open, what is your responsibility?' she told Hollywood Reporter, adding that his story was not unique.
Egan's account is 'only one aspect of the story. It's a much greater issue. When you meet the victims and see how prevalent this problem is, it's difficult to ignore.'
Lawsuit: Egan, pictured left as a boy, accused X-Men director Bryan Singer, right, of abuse but later dropped the lawsuits after it emerged he had given inconsistent stories. Singer has always denied the abuse
Her film looks at, in part, internet company Digital Entertainment Network, which was led by Collins-Rector and Chad Shackley, who held the alcohol-fueled parties attended by teen boys.
Rector-Collins was jailed in 2004 after pleading guilty to transporting minors across state lines to have sex with them. He was last believed to be in the Dominican Republic and renounced his American citizenship in 2011.
The film also looks at Marty Weiss, who pleaded no contest in 2012 to two counts of committing lewd acts on a child after he was charged with molesting a young performer he represented.
Named: The film also looks at accusations that Marc Collins-Rector, an internet company owner, pictured, hosted pool parties for men and young boys
Named: The film also looks at accusations that Marc Collins-Rector, an internet company owner, pictured, hosted pool parties for men and young boys
His alleged victim told police in 2011 that he had sex with Weiss 30 to 40 times and the abuse ended when he turned 15 years old.
Weiss is seen in Berg's film attending family meetings with one of his victims and is heard on tape admitting to molesting the child, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The film also names Bob Villard, who represented Leonardo DiCaprio when he was a boy, who pleaded no contest to a felony charge in 2005 after he allegedly sold lewd pictures of boys on eBay.
Michael Harrah, a talent manager, is also accused in the film of having young boys stay with him in his home and of attempting to take at least one of them to bed.
In response, Harrah told The Hollywood Reporter: 'It's hard to respond to anything that is so nebulous.'
In a clip of the movie previously shared with Elle, one former child actor talks about the abuse he suffered at the hands of one of the men.
Berg explains that the clip 'depicts a former actor whose childhood dreams were destroyed by one man and covered up by the film industry... At 11 years old, he was forced to abandon his dreams and suffer the trauma of being abused.'
The alleged victim describes how the man would take him back to his house and tell him to take off his clothes so he could look at him. The man would also abuse the boy in his home movie theater.
'My memories are of me just sitting in there and being scared,' the now-adult victim recounted. 'We would sit in there and we would watch something, and then he would talk to me while he was doing it and say, "This is nothing to worry about, don't be scared, it's completely normal".
'I remember being scared, and I remember him saying, "come on think about a girl you really like".'
Berg, 44, is best known for her 2006 Oscar-nominated documentary Deliver Us From Evil, which looks at abuse cases in the Roman Catholic Church. It focuses on Oliver O'Grady, who abused many children in California in the late 1970s and early 1990s.
After its success, she was approached by Matthew Valentinas, a Boston entertainment attorney, and hedge fund manager Alan Hoffman, about making the film about sexual abuse in Hollywood.
They pursued the project after listening to interviews where actor Corey Feldman spoke of abuse.
'We chose Amy because we didn't want it to be exploitative or tabloid,' Valentinas said. 'We wanted it to be empowering for the victims.'
And despite the criticisms from some of the men named in the documentary and their attorneys, Berg said she quickly learned that the alleged victims' stories needed to be heard and shared.
'They were all struggling with the same thing: trying to move on 10 years after the fact,' she said.
'I think this was healing for many of them. They also felt that there was a threat to other children, and that was another reason they wanted to speak.'
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| 'An Open Secret' filmmaker Amy Berg |
It features interviews with men who say they were sexually abused or exploited by Hollywood agents or movie bigwigs when they were children.
Among the men named are managers Marty Weiss, Michael Harrah and Bob Villard - Leonardo DiCaprio's former agent - and internet company owners Marc Collins-Rector and Chad Shackley.
Collins-Rector and Shackley hit headlines earlier this year after former child model Micheal Egan III sensationally accused X-Men director Bryan Singer of abusing him at pool parties held by the duo.
MailOnline revealed in April that Egan was working with Berg on the then-unnamed documentary.
Egan ultimately dropped his suits against Singer and three others, TV exec Garth Ancier, former Disney exec David Neuman and producer Gary Goddard, after it emerged that some of his statements had been inconsistent.
An attorney for Bryan Singer also hit out at Berg, questioning why Egan's allegations were included, calling the decision to use someone with 'no credibility at all' 'disappointing and pathetic'.
Despite this, Berg, who worked on the documentary for two years, said that she believes Egan is a credible, valid part of her film.
 |
| Michael Egan III |
Egan's account is 'only one aspect of the story. It's a much greater issue. When you meet the victims and see how prevalent this problem is, it's difficult to ignore.'Lawsuit: Egan, pictured left as a boy, accused X-Men director Bryan Singer, right, of abuse but later dropped the lawsuits after it emerged he had given inconsistent stories. Singer has always denied the abuse
Her film looks at, in part, internet company Digital Entertainment Network, which was led by Collins-Rector and Chad Shackley, who held the alcohol-fueled parties attended by teen boys.
Rector-Collins was jailed in 2004 after pleading guilty to transporting minors across state lines to have sex with them. He was last believed to be in the Dominican Republic and renounced his American citizenship in 2011.
The film also looks at Marty Weiss, who pleaded no contest in 2012 to two counts of committing lewd acts on a child after he was charged with molesting a young performer he represented.
 |
| Marc Collins-Rector |
Named: The film also looks at accusations that Marc Collins-Rector, an internet company owner, pictured, hosted pool parties for men and young boys
His alleged victim told police in 2011 that he had sex with Weiss 30 to 40 times and the abuse ended when he turned 15 years old.
Weiss is seen in Berg's film attending family meetings with one of his victims and is heard on tape admitting to molesting the child, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The film also names Bob Villard, who represented Leonardo DiCaprio when he was a boy, who pleaded no contest to a felony charge in 2005 after he allegedly sold lewd pictures of boys on eBay.
Michael Harrah, a talent manager, is also accused in the film of having young boys stay with him in his home and of attempting to take at least one of them to bed.
In response, Harrah told The Hollywood Reporter: 'It's hard to respond to anything that is so nebulous.'
In a clip of the movie previously shared with Elle, one former child actor talks about the abuse he suffered at the hands of one of the men.
Berg explains that the clip 'depicts a former actor whose childhood dreams were destroyed by one man and covered up by the film industry... At 11 years old, he was forced to abandon his dreams and suffer the trauma of being abused.'
The alleged victim describes how the man would take him back to his house and tell him to take off his clothes so he could look at him. The man would also abuse the boy in his home movie theater.
'My memories are of me just sitting in there and being scared,' the now-adult victim recounted. 'We would sit in there and we would watch something, and then he would talk to me while he was doing it and say, "This is nothing to worry about, don't be scared, it's completely normal".
'I remember being scared, and I remember him saying, "come on think about a girl you really like".'
 |
| Marty Weiss, talent agent, pleaded no contest in 2012 to two counts of lewd acts |
After its success, she was approached by Matthew Valentinas, a Boston entertainment attorney, and hedge fund manager Alan Hoffman, about making the film about sexual abuse in Hollywood.
They pursued the project after listening to interviews where actor Corey Feldman spoke of abuse.
'We chose Amy because we didn't want it to be exploitative or tabloid,' Valentinas said. 'We wanted it to be empowering for the victims.'
And despite the criticisms from some of the men named in the documentary and their attorneys, Berg said she quickly learned that the alleged victims' stories needed to be heard and shared.
'They were all struggling with the same thing: trying to move on 10 years after the fact,' she said.
'I think this was healing for many of them. They also felt that there was a threat to other children, and that was another reason they wanted to speak.'
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