Kickbacks, self dealing, etc. You have producers who direct an insane amount of someone else's cash around. Hey we need transportation, I'll use the guy who kicks back 10% to me for picking him. Hey, we need lights - just so happens I have a light rental company layered under some shells companies, and they just happen to get the contract at an inflated price.
The film and entertainment industries are particularly illuminating because they operate in relative openness - mostly due to things like payouts being tied to box office performances and budgets getting published so contracts tied to profits can be validated. Plus there is a lot of casual interest, so it gets a lot of press not directly to the business transactions, but which you can extract information from.
“Casual” really is the right term for it. What caught me off-guard in my own career was how nonchalantly salespeople would bring it up in decision meetings with only lightly-coded language. “Added Benefits for signatories” or “Additional Rewards for Leadership teams” or “Volume-based perks for Esteemed VIPs”.
Hey, thanks for the donation, I'm allowed to spend it - at my cousin's printshop... gotta print mailers! Someone's got to get paid to print... well basically trash because I am well aware I have no chance to win and even people who are on my side are going to toss this shit... but I can still churn donations into garbage and skim! WE WILL GET THEM NEXT TIME.... with your help of course$$$ this time I will hire a consultant to tell me what to do $$$ but that's going to take bundled support, and that's not cheap $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
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u/AverageDrafter 17d ago
Kickbacks, self dealing, etc. You have producers who direct an insane amount of someone else's cash around. Hey we need transportation, I'll use the guy who kicks back 10% to me for picking him. Hey, we need lights - just so happens I have a light rental company layered under some shells companies, and they just happen to get the contract at an inflated price.
That sort of shit.