At the monthly board meeting of the Effingham County Industrial Development Board Thursday, newly appointed Medient Studios CEO, Jake Shapiro, reported on the changes and progress since his appointment.

Shapiro describes himself as, “. . . a New Yorker by training . . .” but for the past few years has lived in Georgia. Shapiro holds a BA from Rutgers University (Cum Laude) and a Rutgers MBA. He also attended Columbia University in New York and National University of Singapore. Shapiro, a former Wall-Streeter, is a native Newark N.J. but lived in Augusta, Ga. as a child.

“The vision of the studioplex was created by giants, such as Louis B. Mayer, Samuel Goldwin and Charlie Chaplin, who built the modern, efficient studios of their time” said Shapiro. “They altered all of their equipment, used full-time crews and recycled their sets.”

Shapiro said that having spent a number of years working in the film industry, he immediately fell in love with the concept of building a modern-day studioplex facility that used its own full-time crew – creating permanent jobs – and used its own equipment. “The cost structure made so much sense to me right off the bat,” he said. “Because of this, I actually wrote the original business plan for Medient Studios, crafted the original PowerPoint presentation, and I have been an 'evangelist' for these changes in the industry.”

During his 25-minute address to the IDA, Shapiro quoted one of the members of the Medient board of directors, former New York Governor David Paterson. “It’s so obvious that the industry is broken,” said Paterson’s quote. “What we have proposed is going to happen. It’s just common sense, and whoever does it first is going to make a lot of money.” As Governor of New York, Paterson approved over $150 million in tax credits to the film industry for what it does for the local economy, Shapiro reported.

Shapiro explained that when he refers to a studioplex, he is really speaking of an intellectual property (IP) factor. “The purpose of a factor is to reduce costs and to maximize production and efficiency,” he said. “The IP factor is brilliant in its simplicity. That is where our business plan is and has always been. The instructions from my board of directors to me are to implement and execute this highly efficient IP factor.”

The Company has been served with what Shapiro and his board regard as a 'nuisance' lawsuit from former CEO, Manu Kumaran. “We have hired one of the top litigators in the state of Nevada to represent the Company and its board of directors, and we are highly confident that this will be resolved in our favor in the very near future,” Shapiro said.

Kumaran was abruptly terminated after public questions regarding Medient’s fiscal stability and transparency were raised by a Georgia CEO investigative report published in May.

One of the looming questions has to do with Medient stock and its future. Shares trading of Medient stock was suspended by the SEC. “In terms of the recent SEC suspension of our stock . . . the SEC had a number of questions regarding disclosure under the former CEO,” said Shapiro. “We have adopted a policy of Over Disclosure in every aspect of our business.” According to Shapiro, subsequent to the termination of the former CEO, along with open communication with the SEC, the SEC allowed the suspension of Medient stock trade to expire on July 9. “Now, our stock, while still down, is now trading again in the millions of shares per day,” reported Shapiro.