The Citizen Media Group

AG Creates Immigrant Services Unit

New Mexico Attorney General Gary King has created a new component in his Consumer Protection Division to deal with immigrant related issues. The Immigrant Services Unit will address issues such as immigrant-targeted consumer problems; wage claims and working conditions; development of illegal “colonias” that target immigrants; and victim assistance.

“Immigration policy is largely a federal issue, but as the State’s top law enforcement agency, the Office of the Attorney General may help ensure that state laws are followed and immigrants are not treated unfairly or unlawfully after their entry to our State,” King says.

AG Warns of Va. Tech Scams

New Mexico Attorney General Gary King is warning New Mexicans that several new web sites have been registered using domain names that might exploit last week’s massacre at Virginia Tech.

“Often after such tragedies, scammers attempt to prey on people’s generosity in order to solicit donations for fraudulent or non-existent ‘charities’ that supposedly support victims of tragedy,” King says.

ABQ Studios Owners Leveraged Albuquerque, Culver Name in Hollywood Deal

Katersky Takes Show on the Road to South Carolina
By Diane Velasco

Albuquerque Studios owners Dana Arnold and Harold Katersky’s standard line that they owned The Culver Studios helped them land the $41 million Hollywood office building project featured on their Pacifica Ventures web site.

The two also recited their experience redeveloping a Culver Studios building, a nearby parcel of land, and the Albuquerque Studios project to convince the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles to buy the Hollywood land from them for $5.4 million last fall, according to documents on record.

ABQ Studios Exec Under Subpoena

By Diane Velasco

Albuquerque Studios executive Nick Smerigan is under subpoena in the lawsuit against the studios’ owners Dana Arnold and Harold Katersky brought by former business partner F. Lee Tomlinson.

O’Malley Move Draws Fire from Taxpayer Group

Albuquerque City Council President Debbie O’Malley was sponsoring a resolution that would appropriate $224 million for a controversial streetcar project – until taxpayers caught wind of it late last night.

Culver Sues! ABQ Studios Owners Face Fraud, Racketeering Charges

By Diane Velasco

Note to readers: This is part five in an investigative series on Albuquerque Studios owners Dana Arnold and Harold Katersky, principals in California-based Pacifica Ventures. See parts one through four at the end of this story.

Dana Arnold

The real owners of The Culver Studios are suing Albuquerque Studios owners Dana Arnold and Harold Katersky alleging fraud, racketeering, misrepresentation and other charges related to their management of the historic California studios from April 5, 2004 to Nov. 1, 2006 and use of The Culver Studios name for their own purposes.

Hal Katersky

The lawsuit, filed Monday in California Superior Court, Los Angeles County, alleges the men inappropriately used more than $1 million of Culver Studios’ money, including at least $12,000 spent in pursuing the New Mexico studio deal.

Forest City’s Supporting Role: Developer Has Most to Gain, and Lose, from ABQ Studios

By Diane Velasco

Note to readers: this is part four of an investigative series. Albuquerque Studios owners Dana Arnold and Harold Katersky could not be reached for comment despite repeated attempts to contact them through their attorney and Nick Smerigan, vice president of Albuquerque Studios. Find links to first three parts at the end of this story.

Albuquerque Studios is the first high-profile project Forest City Covington, developer of the Mesa del Sol area, has been able to attract.

The project garnered national media attention, starting in early 2006 with a Forbes magazine article declaring Albuquerque the number one place to do business. The article said The Culver Studios, the famous studio complex in California, was building a 500,000-square-foot film studio complex in the Duke City.

A 12-page spread in the Hollywood Reporter last September on New Mexico’s rising film industry and Albuquerque Studios said the project “is backed by Pacifica Ventures, owner of The Culver Studios.”

Yet Pacifica Ventures is not, and never has been, the owner of The Culver Studios. (See part one of this series.) And The Culver Studios is not involved with Albuquerque Studios.

No doubt the public misperception was built by Albuquerque Studios owners Dana Arnold and Harold Katersky, principals in Pacifica Ventures who managed The Culver Studios for 30 months.

But in almost every public reference, Michael Daly, chief operating officer of Forest City Covington, also linked Albuquerque Studios with The Culver Studios.

Albuquerque Studios Owners’ Star Performance Belies Backstory

Their Past Takes Center Stage
By Diane Velasco

Note to readers: This is part three of an investigative series on Dana Arnold and Harold Katersky, owners of the Albuquerque Studios. Part one of this series debunks the claim their California-based company Pacifica Ventures owns historic The Culver Studios. Part two examines their claims of international experience. The two men have not returned calls for comment.

Albuquerque Studios Owners Dana Arnold and Harold Katersky go back a long way. Their company Pacifica Ventures, does not.

The company’s web site declares:
“Pacifica Ventures was created over a decade ago to take advantage of unique real estate and business opportunities in the entertainment industry, primarily focusing on the acquisition, development, and operation of entertainment industry production and filming facilities…”

“Pacifica Ventures serves major Hollywood studios, producers, and members of the entertainment community…”

Arnold’s Aspirations
The first statement more aptly describes Dana Arnold’s aspirations than actual accomplishments. And Pacifica Ventures has not served any other major Hollywood studios, other than The Culver Studios.