Mike Fleming

cannes-yacht-charterTonight’s party thrown by Paul Allen on his yacht M.Y. Octopus puts the focus on the ships off the Croisette, and makes some wonder just who is doing business from these luxury  vessels? I’m told that among the seafarers is troubled film financier David Bergstein. When that bench warrant over unpaid casino markers was rescinded, it enabled Bergstein to travel to the festival, and word is he’s working from Ron Tutor’s yacht. Some feel he won’t venture ashore, because it would be uncomfortable running into so many who got stiffed by his troubled labels Capitol Films, ThinkFilm and others which are now being scrutinized by a bankruptcy court-appointed trustee. I’m told Bergstein is there to broker foreign distribution deals for Father of Invention, which stars Kevin Spacey as an inventor-turned-egomaniac infomercial guru, who goes to prison after his invention maims thousands, and who emerges with a plan to rekindle a relationship with his daughter and rebuild his empire. Director Trent Cooper wrote the script with  Nichole Beattie and Jonathan Krane. Remember him? Krane was the longtime manager of John Travolta, who built the film company MCEG into a 80s powerhouse, before it faltered and went bankrupt several years later. Krane reemerged as an author and proprietor of a film academy in Florida. Heather Graham and Camilla Belle also star in Father of Invention, which was produced by Spacey’s Trigger Street banner.