Sundance Labs Filmmaker Elgin James Indicted By FBI for Extortion
When I interviewed Elgin James a few weeks ago, his personal narrative was so compelling that it's no surprise Hollywood wanted to option it. A former Boston gang leader who stole from drug dealers to give to straight-edge causes, James had cleaned up his act and moved out west to become a filmmaker, and after seeing two of his scripts accepted into the Sundance Labs, he was preparing to go into production on one of them (Goodnight Moon, starring Alia Shawkat and Juno Temple) in just a few months. It was a striking trajectory, though as James told me then, "The criminal lifestyle is more honest, maybe, then what I found in Hollywood." Still, it seems that former lifestyle may have caught up with him.
The Boston Phoenix reports that James was indicted by the FBI this week on extortion charges that could carry a sentence of up to twenty years in prison.
According to the allegations, in October 2005, a member of Chicago band Mest was beaten by six men as he walked to his tour bus, forcing Mest to cancel its show that night for fear of further attacks. A month later, James contacted the victim and informed him that for a payment of $5,000 to James's gang, FSU, he could buy himself "protection" for the band's upcoming tour. The money, James was alleged to have said, would be used to bail out a friend of James and to buy Christmas gifts for his children.
In February 2006, the victim met with James while under FBI surveillance and exchanged the money, an act that would lead to the charges against the fledgling filmmaker over three years later.
Phoenix blogger Carly Carioli said of James yesterday, "Late last night we heard through the grapevine that he was out on bail." Developing...
· From Sundance to the slammer: FSU founder-turned-filmmaker indicted on extortion charges by FBI [The Phoenix]
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i have met Nathans whole adopted family,and can only say of what i know of him from new haven to Boston,weather he lived on a farm or not who fucking cares,i personally have fought side by side with him on dozens of occasions working the door of some of the toughest clubs in Boston. and prier against shit head gangs from ct. weather they were skin heads or not. Nathan joined fsu did not start it. it was started in Brockton mass.many years before nathan joined. He may have dropped out of collage, but was smart enough to teach himself several forms of martial arts witch he showed me. and alot of us came from middle class back grounds which i believe he points out in the documentary.his point was as a non white he never fit in. thats what punk rock was about.and oh ya the government transcripts lol they are always right on .lol please. they are no diffident then the the scene Nathan was escaping from. he wasn't running away from home he ran away from society. who like the government if you were different you were public enemy. punk rock wasnt cool then it was rebellion. you seem to know so much about him then then why dont you tell the truth. and every one takes a beating at some point in there life. dont know the real storie of what happened but Nathan never seemed like the extorting type. more likely it was the government trying to take down the self proclaimed leader of fsu, any way they could. once again he has some good stories to tell i was there and lived them. and would love to hear his prospective on them.as would a lot of people, who are or wear part of our sub culture. let the jury decide ,im not on it and nether are you. let the man self promote himself . maybe he will overcome maybe not but really stop hating . you or anyone who can get ahead in this world i wish the best . we make mistakes that why we are human. or should we just gas him the filthy criminal,i mean he not white we might as well you know its the black part of him thats bad! lol goofs. best wishes nathen.
ps sorry about grammar im a thug not a writer. And stories are based on fact!
bruce... did you ever live with franco on bennington? did you know farmer?
I wasn't there for as many of the stories as Bruce (monster). not by a long shot. but I was there for some of them and they were all crazy. Crazier than what's been publicly atlked about it, believe me.
I wonder who you really are CHris ? ANd why you have such a grudge? Dollars to donuts he banged your girl. If there's a nathen flaw. That's definitely it.
My take on Elgin James. Never backed down from a fight. I, like Bruce (although nowere nearly as many times, ) fought side by side with him against extrordinary odds. If there was trouble he was first one in. Always incredibly polite and respectful, but also a real ball breaker when he wanted to be.
He was also fsu's biggest critic. He was the one who tried to mellow the violence. He was the one trying to keep the peace if things weren't righteous ot too one sided. He was the one trying to make peace. And by the late 90's early 2000's most of the fsu guys were bummed on him for hanging more with hipsters (Start crowd, the Explosion etc...) or posi straight edge kids (RJ, Mental.)
About your points Chirs, he did grow up on a farm. Seen the pictures. him and a donkey. pigs and sheep. And who lies about growing up on a farm? what cool points does that bring?
And if he wasn't stabbed, where did that hole in his stomach come from. I saw it the next night at Local when it still had dental floss for stitches. No witnesses? You obviously didn't ask Dean about him coming home covered in blood. And you don't come from the world he and Bruce and some of the rest of us were living, without some serious scars.
As far as the inditment, I assume you were once punk so it's strange that you would believe a government document, hook line and sinker. They have an agenda. Think it's a coincedence that he wasn't arrested until 5 years after the offense? Only after that history channel bullshit. When he started getting recognised for his film stuff. It's unfortunate because he has totally turned his life around and is doing something creative and positive.
And as far as him capitolizing on his life, what do you think journalists are going to want to talk to him about He didn't go to film school, he didn't work his way up through the studio system. he came out of punk rock. They're gonna want to talk about his interesting past. That will only get him so far. the film's gonna have to be good becuase Hollywoods fickle. an interesting backstory will only get you so far.
I only saw the youtube trailer, but if really wanted to capitolize it'd be a story about violence and gangs and Boston. It's about a friendship between two 13 year old girls. Sounds like he's trying to downplay, not capitolize.
Chris, let it go. He's got a life good and bad. Maybe in some aspects better than some of us, because he's probably banging Kate Bosworth (that's his flaw remember), but also a lot worse too, facing 20 years in jail I'm happy when old heads from back in the day go on and do cool stuff. Stop hating, Chris. I'm sure you've got a good life now too. Let bygones be bygones brother.
Dude's married.
Dude needs to go to jail. Kate Bosworth needs to eat a sandwich.
Chris is right. Elgin is a fame whore. He does embellish and exaggerate...and he outright lies.
He will say whatever he needs to to get ahead.
Don't believe the hype!!!
Selz come on... Jig is up dude. You're the same butt hurt dude posting on every site that mentions this dude's name.
Amen Sorryforyou!
Aaron, I was there and it didn't add up back then either. Always a convienint lie or some story that can't be checked. He thought he was king of the crew buthe never mattered. He just keeps telling tales to new young dickeaters. Everythings gonna catch up with 'Elgin" sooner or later. Believe me.
Saw Little Birds at sundance. Beautiful film. Hope his legal troubles work out so he can continue making movies. Very talented.
Local, ha ha ha. You obviously weren't there because he was one person who surely never thought he was "king of the crew." Kid was listening to country and folk music while everyone else was listening to biohazard. he was on tour with his indie rock band the world is my fuse while "the crew" were listening to Life of agony. He never gave a rats ass about the crew or the young dickeaters. He cared about his friends. I worked beside him and toured beside him and he was always the first one to try to break up a fight and call out his friends (including me) when they did dumb shit. If you had beef with him back in the day you shoulda handled it then. I'm sure he would have happily obliged you. but you didn't. Now you take cheap shots anonymously on the internet posting under different names. Shit's weak. And I'm done. Later.
rat basatrd
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Elgin James is one asshole I wouldn't mind murdering with a 12 gauge. All these FSU jerkoffs need to be lined up and shot. He doesn't deserve a film career.
I can see you're a man of action, what happened, you traded you trigger finger for a twitter dinner?! I am going to remain anonymous on this site because I have no doubt the feds are looking into it... I been on the front line with dude and he didn't duck sit! No clue who the fuck your hiding ass is. I remember a couple Aaron's from back in the day, not positive which this one is but I'm sure he's one of them. Brice monster happens to now be President of the east Boston chapter, and potentially the regional President of the OUTLAWS... I know him very well. I just wrapped up fifteen years with the feds, who the fuck are you tho?! Fake ass pussy, STFU AND HERETO HIDING! As long as people like you keep killing people with words, the world is safe..
hey damien. did you know Franco A? »Where you in the can with him when he died?
I can see you're a man of action, what happened, you traded you trigger finger for a twitter finger?! I am going to remain anonymous on this site because I have no doubt the feds are looking into it... I been on the front line with dude and he didn't duck sit! No clue who the fuck your hiding ass is. I remember a couple Aaron's from back in the day, not positive which this one is but I'm sure he's one of them. Bruce monster happens to now be President of the east Boston chapter, and potentially the regional President of the OUTLAWS... I know him very well. I just wrapped up fifteen years with the feds, who the fuck are you tho?! Fake ass pussy, STFU AND HERETO HIDING! As long as people like you keep killing people with words, the world is safe..
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