One of the stranger moments of the Postlegate saga was the period after Veronica Brill announced that she had been contacted by a “documentary crew” that seemed to be less than legit.
A caller claiming to be David Broome of 257 Productions called and texted the Postlegate initiator. The voice on the line said it wanted to interview Brill about the case. We can now drop the scare-quotes from “documentary crew”. It turns out it really was David Broome, exec producer on Netflix's Cooked With Cannabis.
Brill Tweeted in mid-August: “Some guy called me last week claiming to be a director who's shooting a Netflix documentary about the cheating scandal...”
Documentary confirmed
David Broome's brief Twitter statement over the weekend confirmed that the documentary is real. And that he is producing.
Mike Postle never had his case debated in court. He was dismissed from the case on a technicality of California’s gambling-related laws. As Mac Verstandig, the lawyer who took Brill et al’s case put it in one of his articles: “California still adheres to an antebellum doctrine by which gamblers may not seek judicial recourse for their cheated losses.”
Stones Gambling Hall and Justin Kuraitis were still on the hook until last week, when the settlement was signed.
The court of public opinion, however, never closes.
A mainstream documentary will have an enormous impact on public perceptions of Postle and poker in general. As a result, this documentary could serve as the defining narrative of Postlegate. Which side it ends up taking will carry plenty of weight.
“Not a Mike is innocent doc”
Stones just settled with three-quarters of their accusers. And this announcement stirred up a lot of worry throughout poker Twitter.
Shaun Deeb threw his hat into the ring as an expert witness for the documentary. In a short Twitter chain he told Justin Kuraitis, “if they want experts, I’m the guy. If they want shills, we know where you are.”
Broome replied, sounding excited at the prospect with “love for you to be in the doc. We will interview many others. This is not a Mike Is innocent doc.”
Daniel Negreanu got in a quick stab of his own. He suggested that “the most appropriate title" for the documentary is: "He Cheated.”
Follow the money
Todd Witteles took a different tack to Deeb. Witteles pursued the issue of where the funding was coming from.
He voiced the concern of many players that this would be a puff piece claiming Mike’s innocence and vilifying the whistleblowers.
Although Broome responded by insisting that “Stones is NOT funding the project.” He didn’t give much else away.
And his phrasing would still allow for a crisis management or PR firm to have funded the documentary, acting on Stones — or even Postle’s — behalf.
Certainly, if Stones don’t have a firm like that on retainer they should hire one.
And if they have one, and the firm didn’t moot a documentary like this, Stones should fire them.
What next?
We’ve contacted Broome asking about the documentary's funding and are waiting on a response.
Broome mentions that there will be a more formal press release coming soon.
It will be interesting to see how all this plays out. We’ll have more coverage when more is known.
