This is a post to warn investors in independent films. In this case, I tried to give this writer and independent filmmaker as many chances as possible to make the film that I invested in. After that, he used every stall tactic, promise, and fake/fraudulent electronic payments he could to hold me off from both suing him and reporting him to the authorities.
BACKGROUND
March 2024: I read about a film that was listed on Indiegogo named Back on Time.
BACK ON TIME – Sci-Fi Short Film by Dan Marcus – Indiegogo
There were about 131 backers providing $10,632. The film project was led by Dan Marcus, writer/director, with his company Hyper Tensive Films. A review showed that Dan is listed on IMDb and has produced several short films with some success, including 13 awards and 7 nominations from reputable film festivals. He was raising funds to produce this film. I contributed to the film as an associated producer. (I made some contributions back then, I only do investments currently).
After that contribution, Dan sent out an email through Indiegogo thanking the 137 donors and that they reached their fundraising goals.
October 7, 2024: After several months of inactivity, Dan sent an email to the contributors to let us know that filing will start in January 2025. He also mentioned they are aiming for a release date “somewhere in the summer of 2025. A premiere will be planned for Los Angeles”.
November 18, 2024: Hyper Tensive Films sent an email update on all the films they were working on including Sweet Death and Loomis. Both films were well done cinematically. This update also let them know they were raising some additional funds for Back on Time due to Indigogo taking 10% for their fees. He also wrote “With Back on Time, we will be using all of the resources at our disposal to deliver a film that looks and sounds like it cost ten times more than it actually did.” And “We’re also building a cast of industry vets, ranging from Doug Jones (Star Trek: Discovery) to Jesse James Keitel (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds). We’re thinking big for this project, bigger than any project we’ve made before.”
Based on watching his other films, and that I can see he has a couple of successful “edgy” films done, I was willing to contribute more in Back on Time. I contributed $1k more for the EP and to add my company as one of the production companies on the film. Dan confirmed the funds were received and that he will send updates as they got closer to filming and that I was welcome on set.
December 2024: Dan and I exchanged emails in early December 2024 about a protentional investment agreement for backend ownership in the film. I told him I can’t do it at this time, but we could talk again in the new year.
January 24, 2025: Dan sent me an email with a couple of pictures that he said was “concept art and camera test” for Back on Time. He mentioned that with my last contribution, he also added me as an Executive Producer on Loomis. He mentioned that they were looking for an investment to cover postproduction fees from editors, composers, sound design, etc. He also stated, “we found a beautiful location, on top of securing some great talent in front of the camera (including some alums from Star Trek, Doug Jones and Jesse James Keitel).”
April 14, 2025: After some email discussions with Dan, we signed a formal investment agreement for $10,000, with me as the Executive Producer with 100% recoupment and 10% net profits. Funds were sent to Daniel Johnathan Marcus Best’s PayPal account (He mentioned this was his Hyper Tensive Films account). Filming was to commence on April 26, 2025, for three weeks.
As a side note here: I received an email from “Ryne M Dillion, Executive Content Officer, TUBI”, to encourage me to invest with Dan on Back on Time, and he could put a proposal together for some of the other films I self-producing. I let him know that I don’t need a proposal at this time as I don’t need pressure to finish any of my projects and discussions like these can wait until after November. I let Ryne know that I had already invested with Dan in the project.
May 23, 2025: I sent Dan an email requesting an update on the filming. He replied that filming was delayed due to some issues on his other film Sweet Death. At this time, he mentioned that filming should commence in June. I understand delays in this business, so I was okay with that update.
July 1, 2025: Dan sent me an email to let me know filming is planned for July 11-15th in Los Angeles. He also mentioned in his email that he was negotiating to rent Sony Venice CineAlta cameras. That these cameras were not covered in his budget. He mentioned the cameras could get the film into IMAX screens, which is what he is shooting for. At this time, he sent me an updated agreement that included an additional $1,500, with an updated recoupment of 180% of the original investment. I did not sign this new agreement but sent an email with new terms to Dan on July 2nd, for those extra funds. I also wanted to understand his complete schedule. I included that he needs to seek additional investors to make this project work as it is already crossing my self-imposed threshold of providing more than 50% of the films budget.
July 15, 2025: Strangely, I didn’t hear back from Dan, but Ryne Dillon (the supposed TUBI guy). He let me know that Dan added him as a producer on the film to help keep it on track. He also let me know that Dan lost his mother back in February 2025. However, filming will commence in July. He let me know about his other investor in the project, who was going to invest another $5k in the camera rentals backed out. He also mentioned “Dan is currently sick, but he wanted me to contact you”. Ryne then added that if I could close the gap on the additional funding needed, he could send me a proposal from TUBI that would offer me $150,000 for all my films, when I was ready with them. I replied that I am not willing to invest another $5k in this film. I could only invest $1,500 more, if Dan accepted the additional terms I sent him. I also mentioned that between Dan, himself as Producer, and any other investors will have to help close the other $3,500 needed. I also didn’t want to discuss any TUBI deals at this time as my films are not finished. (and frankly I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my films for distribution. I also hadn’t researched TUBI enough to work on any deals with them)
July 21, 2025: Dan wrote me back. In this email he mentioned he got deathly sick with COVID and it slipped production another two weeks past his July 11th date. His “good news” was that he said he started production and he attached a few photos of with someone taking photos in a conference room of a small clock. Later I realized it was the same “location pics” he sent back in his January. So he sent nothing new for the film. He mentioned the email that I got from Ryne and the other investor backing out. He also mentioned his mother’s passing that has complicated the production of this film. He said if I could help close the funding gap, he would be willing to reimburse me as soon as possible with his mother’s insurance money in about 6-8 weeks. “I promise on my mother’s grave”. (a little weird for me to read this in a request for an investment!). He mentioned he could not wait as he would lose actors and crew, and his possible IMAX deal. I replied that I couldn’t invest any more funds beyond the $1,500 as I mentioned to Ryne. I know many producers who are passionate about their projects but are not good with budgets and schedules, that is why I limit my investments.
July 21, 2025: Strangely, Dan sent me a PayPal request for $3,500??? I canceled it.
July 22, 2025: Dan wrote that he had “an emergency session with my producers today”. Unfortunately, without the $5k gap funding, they have decided to halt production. He was pretty sure this would affect my deal with Ryne and TUBI also.
I emailed Dan back that it was probably best, for all contributors/investors, that he cancels the project. I also wished him well on his upcoming premiere in Los Angeles of his film Sweet Death.
As I prepared my email to let him know he could return my original investment, he emailed me around 10:30PM that he had good news: “Ryne made some last-minute calls and was able to secure $4k in gap financing”. He would like me to continue with the project and sent me a new investor agreement. I emailed Dan back asking him to explain that if he had $10k in contributions, $10k from my investment, and now $4k from Ryne, he should have $24k available for productions. He quickly wrote back that the $4k was only contingent on the additional $1.5k from me. That gets them over the $25k threshold to make this film per his script. He agreed to my additional terms for the $1.5k and sent a new agreement. He also said that he would be “rolling in front of the cameras by this weekend”. Then Ryne and I could honor our separate TUBI agreement. (I didn’t have a separate agreement with Ryne). I signed the updated agreement and sent an additional $1,500 to the PayPal account.
August 15, 2025: I emailed Dan asking for the production update and if he met the July 25th filing date. (he was having his Sweet Death premiere at this time).
August 18, 2025: Dan emailed me that he was sorry for the delayed reply. He said they finished interior scenes for Back on Time. He had additional exterior scenes that he planned to shoot in San Diego at the University of San Diego in November when talent becomes available again.
November 6, 2025: I emailed Dan for an update on the project. Based on his last email, he should have completed filming. If not, please send me your new updated schedule. I also asked him for the cast and crew list. Dan replied to my email: “Unfortunately, I broke up with my partner in the last month and a half. We had been collaborating on the screenplay for Back on Time for the last year. They were originally going to star as the lead character, as well as produce the film with me. They dropped out of the film after our breakup. I’ve decided to scrap the script we had been working on to write something completely different that doesn’t include their work. So, I’m sorry to say in regards to production I am back to square one.” He let me know that if he could not get a new shooting script ready before the end of the calendar year, that he would return my $11,500 investment and dissolve our agreement.
November 7, 2025: I emailed Dan back that my initial investment was back in April for Back on Time, with the original screenplay that I reviewed. Besides my large initial investment, my risk was compounded by another $1.5k that was given in good faith for “imminent production”. I let Dan know that I do not agree with the new script and that it is fair for us to dissolve our agreement and that the investment should be returned. I was willing to give him until the end of December to return the funds. If at a time he wants to send me a new pitch deck and script, I would evaluate that for investment.
November 24, 2025: Dan emailed me. He stated that he was thinking of having Davi Armanino write and direct Back on Time. He would produce it and I could stay on using the terms of the previous investment agreement. “Production would be ASAP”.
November 25, 2025: My response: “No sir, this does not interest me at all. As stated in my previous email, the agreement for you to write and produce “Back on Time”, with filming in January did not occur. Production was then rescheduled for July, with a request for additional “emergency funds for specialized equipment for production” and to “secure another producer”, besides Ryne, who you said was now a producer on the film. Per the discussions below, filming was scheduled “next week” which was July. You then communicated that filming was delayed and was now in November. Your last email was that production did not occur in November, and that you would not be using the original script that I based my investment on and you would be rewriting the whole script and trying to produce in December. Based on your final email (referenced in the last paragraph below), I agreed that we should just dissolve the agreement and you should return the entire investment. As previously communicated, I would give you and your company (Hyper Tensive Films) until the end of December to return the initial $10,000 investment, with the balance due 45 days after that (Feb 15, 2026). Investment funds given to producers should be held in your trust account for production purposes. Based on this, these funds should be available.” “It is good that you found someone to rewrite and help you direct/produce the film, but I am not willing to carry my investment forward as the agreement is now obsolete and dissolved.”
November 25, 2025: Dan’s response: “I understand. I will return your original investment by the end of the year. My sincere apologies that we could not make this work. Please believe me I have tried. I still plan on making the film, but this past year has been full of ups and downs, more than I can even get into here. Thank you for believing in me in the first place. Thank you for your kindness and support.
January 5, 2026: I emailed Dan asking about the return of the investment.
January 17, 2026: I emailed Dan again. I let him know that since I have not heard from him and he has not returned that initial investment, I will have to contact our attorneys to recover the debt. Dan replied: “I sincerely apologize for the delay in response. I will send over your investment on Tuesday.”
January 30, 2026: I sent Dan a formal demand letter prior to legal action.
February 4, 2026: Dan replied: “I was in the hospital for a week so I’m just getting back to responding to emails. I will respond first thing tomorrow in depth with a response regarding the return of your investment. I deeply appreciate your patience”
February 20, 2026: Dan emailed me: “I am so sorry for just getting back to you. It has been a crazy few weeks. Before I initiate the transfer for your investment (which I can do today), I wanted to give you one last update and perhaps one last ditch effort to salvage our professional relationship/agreement. After doing some thinking and rewriting, I have decided to take the original draft I sent you for Back on Time and flesh it out to feature length, around 60 pages. I will still be directing. If you still wished to honor our agreement, you would no longer be investing in a short film, but a feature…” He continued this long email with how he will take viewing funds on Sweet Death to help with the full feature budget on Back on Time. “Anyway, I figured I would mention all of this in hopes of still remaining in business with you.”
My Response to Dan: “Hi Dan. My path is to always maintain a professional and mutually beneficial relationship in this industry. For the Back On Time project however I believe this project needs to be concluded as we agreed previously. I have already engaged a law firm in Los Angeles to take the legal course to obtain my investment back, per my demand letter, after your two previous promised dates to refund the funds passed. However, that will cost both of us more time and resources that neither of us want. If you send the funds today, I will call the law firm to have them stop the litigation processes. You have made successful films in the past, and I think you will continue, I just don’t think it is the right time for our partnership. I look forward to the confirmation that the investment has been returned.”
February 22, 2026: I emailed Dan for a payment update. Dan replied: “I will initiate the transfer today”.
Then I received this from Melio Payments:
Dan then followed up with an email: “The transfer has been initiated. For the record, please be advised I am no longer in Los Angeles as I had to relocate due to unforeseen circumstances. I visit often, but that is not my current residence and hasn’t been since September 2025. I would hate, if for whatever reason you still proceed with legal action, to hire a law firm in a city where I do not currently reside. Please do not send any correspondences to the current address I have with the USPS or the address listed in our agreement as I no longer live there and my former roommate has been instructed to send all correspondences “back to sender”, so mail will not be delivered to me there. I would like this to be mentioned in writing that I have initiated a return of your $10,000 investment and that I am happy to return the funds to you. I hope we can avoid legal action.”
I attempted to retrieve the funds through the Melio Payments App. I got this:
I emailed Dan to let him know of the failure. He initiated another payment with the same app. I tried to get the funds again. Another failure:
I received another failure as the Melio Payment could not clear the payment from Dan’s credit cards.
Dan replied: “ I don’t understand why it failed. I will contact support tomorrow morning and have an update right after I have an answer. You will get an update from me tomorrow.”
Of course, I believe he attempted to send me a payment on debit/credit cards that didn’t have the funds (similar to writing a bad check).
February 23, 2026: Dan wrote me a long email about “not being fully transparent about Back on Time over the last year.” He stated he tried and attempted to shoot the film many times and he “has some footage”. He went on about his breakup with his partner, etc., and that he spiraled into depression and attempted suicide a few times. He also stated he was in the hospital last month. Blah Blah Blah, I want to finish the project… Blah Blah Blah, Ryne can still get your work acquired by that streaming service, Blah Blah Blah, I want to avoid legal action, and I am no longer in Los Angeles. “We can work out a payment arrangement or hopefully something that allows me to still honor our original agreement so I can make Back on Time and still return your investment this year.”
My response: “Please proceed with repayment. If needed you can pay half now and half in 30 days. If the first payment goes through, I will ask the lawyer to hold for 30 days. $11,500/2=$5,750.00” I let him know with an additional email that I didn’t appreciate him trying to fake pay me with Melio Payments.
Dan replied: “I did not attempt to fake pay you. I tried connecting Melio to my credit card in hopes of paying you that way, but I learned today I cannot use my credit card for such payments. I can provide evidence from Melio Support if necessary.” “I cannot pay half today, but if you give me two weeks (March 13th, 2026) I can submit a payment via PayPal for $5,000. If I can’t make that date, then feel free to pursue whatever legal remedy you wish.” And “This is my attempt at resolving this amicably, for both of us to avoid additional legal expenses and to avoid dragging this out for months or years. Like I said many times, it was never my intention or desire to “scam” you, simply the production fell apart and my life got in the way. However, I am once more committing to reimbursing you. The last few months have been some of the most difficult of my life, including suicide attempts as recently as last month. I’m very sorry this has affected you, but I am politely asking you to work with me to resolve this issue without lengthy and costly legal proceedings.” Also “Additionally, I can submit another payment of $5,000 on April 3rd, 2026 via PayPal. Which would cover the cost of your $10,000 reimbursement.” Blah Blah Blah “I am willing to negotiate the timeframe, and work with you to get you reimbursed. If I was a scammer I wouldn’t be willing to work with you like this. I am very sorry again for angering you.” Blah Blah Blah… “Lastly, I am currently unemployed with no income or money in my savings account. If you pursue legal action, even with a default judgment against me, there is no guarantee I would be even able to pay you in a timely manner. It would be the equivalent of getting blood from a stone. I’m not threatening or trying to garner sympathy. I’m simply stating the facts of my situation. However, I will ask family and close friends for the $10,000 with the urgency that it will help me avoid paying legal fees. I’ve also recently applied for disability insurance as I have syncope; I am waiting for benefits to be granted. I am asking you to please work with me to resolve this situation as amicably and efficiently as possible. I am very sorry again it has come to this.”… and this gem: “If you want, I can have my mother call you to affirm that I will make the dates promised. She can act as my liaison so you don’t have to deal with me. When I said I was still planning on making the film, I said that because I am going to use the proceeds I receive from releasing my latest film to fund Back on Time, including the funds we already raised. I am very serious about making it, as well as fulfilling the perk you paid for back in 2024. You will still receive your executive producer credit. As I’ve said before, I’ve completed and released every film I’ve ever announced. Back on Time is no different. I understand you are angry and you have every right to be, but if you can give me at least 3 weeks I can make sure the process of reimbursing you has been initiated. Please give me one last chance to make this right.”
Dan sent another email immediately after the above: “You can believe me or not, but I do have a friend who could help get your work on a streaming platform. He’s made the same promise to me. I was close to securing additional funding, that is true. That is how I got your additional funding in the first place from sending out emails and inquiring. As what commonly happens with independent films, deals fall apart and investors back out. This has happened to me numerous times before. I’ve been making independent films for fifteen years and you’re only the second investor to follow through that I’ve met online. I’m very, very sorry that I wasn’t more transparent with you about my breakup and how that affected production and your investment. As I’ve said numerous times now, that’s on me and I take full responsibility for that. I do not believe you want to get into a protracted legal battle with me. Please, please work with me to get you reimbursed in a timely manner as per my recent proposal. I want us to look back on this matter years from now knowing we resolved it amicably. I am here, willing to do that now.”
February 24, 2026: Dan emailed again: “After speaking with my family I am willing and able to reimburse you the full $10,000 by March 11th, 2026. Please accept this offer to resolve this issue amicably without legal action. If you still decide to pursue legal action, to save costs on hiring a PI my current address is 4972 Cedar Oak Way, Sarasota, Florida 34233.” Although I did not believe he was being honest with me (and another delay tactic used by scammers), I wrote him back to say I will await the March 11th, 2026 payment that he was supposed to be obtaining from him family.
March 11, 2026: Dan emailed me: “I will not be able to send a payment of $10,000 today as promised. I want to be transparent up front. I was unable to secure the funds from my family. My mother is currently living out of a hotel and my father works for the postal office. He just had knee replacement surgery. However, I have applied for disability benefits. I’ve been told I should be receiving my benefits within 4-6 weeks, which includes a year of retroactive back pay. It will be a substantial lump sum. I don’t know an exact date yet, but I would be able to reimburse you for your full investment by the end of April at the latest. I’ll even make that number $12,000 to include the additional $1,500 investment and another $500 given all the delays. I’ve also rewritten Back on Time to be more economical and closer to the original sizzle video we released for the fundraising campaign. Once my disability benefits come in, I plan to move forward with production in May. Since you contributed to the campaign, you will still receive an executive producer credit as promised. I am attaching the most recent version of the script. I’d understand if you decide to move forward with the lawsuit, but by the time a hearing would be set you will have been fully reimbursed. If I wasn’t serious, like I said earlier, I would just ignore you. I am very serious, I am extremely apologetic for the delays, and I am doing everything in my power to return your investment within the next 30-40 days.”
If you have read this far… you already know he is just going to try and delay and hope I give up.
My email reply to Dan: “I figured you wouldn’t pay as promised. You have not lived up to any promise to date. Just more failed promises, excuses, additional lies about potential funds that will for sure pay me back my embezzled funds (film funds are to be kept in a trust account and used for film production only. Any use on personal items is embezzlement and misappropriation punishable by law). I really am not interested in your mother or father’s status or another script from you and I don’t want my good name listed on any of your films. (the mother that you told me passed away and her large inheritance was going to pay back my investment quickly). I would think you were more serious if you actually paid me back something so far. You could have sent back $1k each month so far and that would have been a real effort to pay this debt. Instead, you just lie and hope that I will believe you and not go down a legal path”. “My lawyer told me I should see how many other people lost their money with your con and report you to the police for fraud and embezzlement. I wasn’t going to start that but since you decided to pass off another lie of hopeful funds, I will ask my legal team to see what info they can investigate on your film fraud so that I can submit a police report. Maybe I will save the next person from investing and losing their hard-earned funds.”
SUMMARY
As of April 30,2026 (40 days from Dan’s last promise to pay my investment back):
Everything I wrote above is backed up in writing with emails and screen shots. (bolding has been added to accentuate either a date, name, or time frame).
One of my reasons for writing all this was to save the next investor or contributor on one of Dan’s films. I also had to put it all together so that I could submit it to the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Office. After discussing this with them, I plan to report Dan for fraud and embezzlement from the film’s funds. Investment funds should have been held in trust and only used for the film.
For the other 99.99% of writers, directors, and producers I work with, thank you and keep up the great work in the independent film industry!
RECENT IMDB UPDATE ON THIS FILM
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