Working on “Finestkind” movie in New Bedford was “complete nightmare” as film crew alledgely injured and never paid

The movie “Finestkind” released its trailer last week which made some noise in New Bedford as the movie was filmed in the south coast. Everyone was happy to see shots of Jenna Ortega with the south coast backdrop and cinematic scenes of New Bedford fishing boats.

Well, not everyone was excited. Paul Charbonnet, who is a cinematographer that specializes in aerial drone cinematography reached out with some alarming things to say about the production of the film.

Charbonnet claims he was hired by Rhoda Street Studios for $25,000 to fly out to New Bedford and film for the movie. His company “Atmosphere Drones” shipped thousands of dollars worth of equipment cross country to New Bedford for this project.

Not only does Paul Charbonnet claim that he was never paid the $25,000, but he detailed the “complete nightmare” experience he had while on set.

Before they even left the Port of New Bedford he was beginning to see red flags. Charbonnet witnessed a gruesome injury to a film crew members leg which allegedly occurred after a homemade underwater camera case exploded during a pressure test.

I reached out to that injured crew member, Patrick Ostlund and he confirmed the injury. He told me he was rushed to St. Lukes hospital and received 20 stitches. He claims that he will have permanent damage to his leg.

Not long after the boat left the Port of New Bedford, Paul Charbonnet realized the reality of this filming was much different than what was pitched to him. In what was thought to be a simple video shoot of a fishing boat on the coast of New Bedford, ended up being a wildly dangerous trek 200 miles off shore in 15 foot seas.

Not only was all of his expensive drone and video equipment destroyed by the treacherous conditions, but he was so sea sick and in fear of his life that he asked the captain to call the coast guard. The captain of the ship made the decision to turn around and head back to New Bedford.

Charbonnet claims he lost $19,000 worth of damage to his equipment on the boat. He mentioned another film company that was hired on the boat lost significantly more as they had a special Ford Raptor truck with a camera crane that took severe water damage.

Between the $19,000 in equipment damage and $25,000 in unpaid wages, Paul was quickly down $44,000 on his trip to New Bedford. Rhoda Street Studios allegedly did not have adequate insurance for the production, so it did not cover any damage to Charbonnet’s equipment.

In an attempt to claim the damages and unpaid work, Paul filed a lawsuit against Rhoda Street Studios. He then told me that Rhoda Street Studios filed for bankruptcy and there essentially isn’t much he can do at this point.

According to Paul Charbonnet, although he was not paid, his footage was used in the trailer of the movie. We have reached out to “101 Studios” which is the studio producing the film and have not received a response.