Bellum Entertainment Group
Bellum Entertainment Group (formerly "LongNeedle Entertainment") was a Burbank, California-based television production and distribution company. Bellum developed, produced, and distributed TV projects for broadcast, cable, digital, and ancillary markets. Bellum Entertainment began creating E/I programs in 2004 with the release of "Animal Atlas". In 2012, Bellum entered into a deal with Tribune Broadcasting to license a two hour E/I program block and two-weekend series, "Unsealed Alien Files" and "Unsealed Conspiracy Files". Previously produced shows. "Unsealed: Alien Files" is a 30-minute program that investigates recently released government documents regarding alien and UFO encounters , made accessible to the public in 2011 by the Freedom of Information Act. Based on the information, Unsealed Alien Files re-examines key evidence and follows developing leads to investigate mass UFO sightings, personal abductions, government cover-ups, and breaking alien news from around the world. "Unsealed: Conspiracy Files" investigates the previously top-secret files made public by the Freedom of Information Act. The show re-examines faulty assumptions, searches for inconsistencies, and explores new leads, questioning popular beliefs and arming viewers with information to make their own decisions. Distribution. Bellum Entertainment distributed six first-run syndicated series to local  broadcast television stations, as well as to pay, cable, broadcast networks, and subscription video-on-demand platforms in the United States. Bellum Entertainment's catalog contained thirty-nine titles and 2,067 episodes. Bellum partnered with international distributors including Electus, Red Arrow, IM Global, Cisneros Media Distribution, and Cineflix to distribute programs to territories worldwide. In September 2008, LongNeedle partnered with home entertainment distributor NCircle Entertainment to distribute their programming to home media, including traditional disc media and streaming services such as Amazon Prime Video. Unresolved financial issues. In 2017, Bellum began to be investigated by the United States Department of  Labor for misclassifying workers as independent contractors rather than employees. Robert Lindsey, a DOL investigator, stated that Bellum was being investigated for missed and-or-late payrolls. Bellum had wage claims filed against them by over fifty workers as of August 2017. Many of the cases are currently pending, and possible criminal charges are being considered by the state. Several employees who have won small claims suits over wage theft remain unpaid. Bellum also owes numerous companies unpaid money and as a result has been blacklisted from various distributors from consideration of production deals. It owes one company, Launchpad Entertainment , LLC over $275,000 in unpaid footage license fees that it used in programs. A legal notice published in the July 19, 2019 issue of "The Hollywood Reporter" indicates Bellum's library assets would be publicly auctioned by The Credit Junction (acting as the secured party) beginning July 22, 2019, before the actual auction occurs on August 15 at the office of a Santa Monica attorney. The auction would have been called off if Bellum secured their library for a payment of $10 million; it is unknown if they were able to do so.