Ripped off

[tourtelot]

Glad you got paid but still, really uncool behavior by the company.  Did you achieve payment through legal means or did a check just show up in your mailbox one day?  Any excuses or apologies? 

 

D.

[Pongo]

On 7/3/2024 at 6:33 PM, PMC said:

Great news for me! I won my self-argued small claims court case today against Abbson, LLC/Chad Abbott of New York for a one day job back in Oct '23. $4k plus interest, court costs and certified mailing expenses. Now I'll see how the collection process goes.

 

I hope all youse who have been burned by Beverly Boy get your money.

Any luck collecting this? I am in the exact same boat with the exact same company. 

 

Won my case when they didn't show up, but am having a hard time collecting from the other side of the country.

[PMC]

In order to have a NY county sheriff serve papers on Chad Abbott for a judgement in Iowa, I am told I have to get a NY county judge to sign off on it. Since no one I know can currently locate Chad and the fact that he is being sued by his investors, it is unlikely I will see my money. 

 

I hope they catch up to him and incarcerate him. The guy is a real sleeze ball. 

[carbonhobbit]

Is the company still trying to book jobs? Got a call this week and they were looking for a sound person three hours from my location because there aren't any sound people out that way. Late afternoon start time, so would get home after 11 pm. Gave a high quote to drive them away. They are still looking. If they come back unable to find someone, are they coming around to paying in less than 30 days?

[cmb1455]

On 2/12/2024 at 9:17 PM, 480sound said:

Last September I was hired by a LA company; Beverly Boy Productions to work on an Industrial film for Roku. Roku had rented out an entire high end resort in Santa Fe NM where I live. Beverly Boy hired the crew and made the deals via their producer. Since I didn’t work much last year I was glad to have the job. I should have been more careful when the producer said if it was OK that Beverly Boy paid in 30 days.
They didn’t pay. I did not have or did I ask for a deal memo. Beverly Boy has a good rep and has done many productions. I did have emails, text messages and a call sheet with my name on it and the producers contact numbers. I waited for a month after the 30 days to start contacting Beverly Boy for payment and was told at least three times that I would be paid before the Holidays. That came and went then it was next and next week again. They not only didn’t pay me but the entire local crew got stiffed. One crew member has filed in small claims court in NM and has since discovered that Beverly Boy has not paid many crews on other productions and a Lawyer has been hired to file a Class Action Lawsuit against them. I’m not a lawyer but this is fraud. Not only that they crossed state lines to commit this fraud but to my understanding that makes it racketeering. To my stupefaction they sent me a 1099 for the payment I did not receive. It would seem that they want to claim my none payment on their taxes possibly as a business deduction.
It seems obvious now that the owner of the company Kael Beverly had no intention of paying the crew for the job. I don’t know if his producers got paid. You can look him and his company up online. I’ve been doing this a long time and this is the first time I have been ripped off so blatantly. This is a high profile company working for a huge company, this had to be planned by a real swindler. Hope it doesn’t happen to you.

 

 

Hey 480Sound,  I thought I'd let you know they're still floating around in the pro world in New Mexico.  I used to live in Santa Fe for many years but I've since moved back home.  I still return to New Mexico for gigs a few times a year.  I did a gig for Beverly Boy in New Mexico in 2024.  It was a similar situation as what's been described here, though I did end up getting paid probably about a month or so after I should have been.  I had to threaten them with submitting a report to the New Mexico Labor Department and the New Mexico Film Office.   It was their second year doing this particular event, but isn't it funny they didn't just hire the same crew as they did the previous year?   Beverly Boy has a lot of red flags in how they operate.   I think most of us are just so used to not having problems that we don't do as much research about a client before working for them, not to mention sometimes there's no information to be found about a client in regard to this type of problem.

 

They've called me a few times since then for possible gigs, but nothing has ever come to fruition.  And probably for the better, because I won't do anything else for them ever without being paid in full up front.  That's especially true if it's something where I'm hiring other to crew to work the gig with me.  It's one thing when you're waiting for your own funds, it's completely different when you have to pay crew out of your own pocket so that THEY aren't waiting too.  I think someone else here mentioned that about integrity, and that's how I operate too and what I had to do when I worked for Beverly the first time.   They're still trying to get gigs in New Mexico because I was called by them a few months back. 

 

This is what I think happened.  They maybe started out fine, but over the years they've basically had a cash flow problem.  They're based in California, so anyone who knows anything knows that's a high cost-of-living state.  Also, I think Beverly boy is top-heavy when it comes to employees. I'm ususually cc'ed by atleast 3 different people anytime I've had them email me.  So if you have the owner, Kael Beverly, plus 1 or 2 main managers who handle the business, and another 1-2 people who act as the "producers" for every gig they do.  Add that all up, that's a lot of salary to pay before you ever start paying the hired contractors.  I think they got into a routine where new contracts/jobs were being used to pay people they owed.   This is the main reason they pull the "net 30 days" routine when they negotiate with you, because even if the client has already paid them, or pays them at the end of the shoot like my client did, they've already spent that money.    What's going to end up happening is at some point they just file for bankruptcy and anyone who hasn't collected at that point will pretty much have no chance of collecting.  From what I've researched about them, they don't own their own gear.  So there's not really any assets to sell when they go bankrupt.  I'm sure they rent whatever office space they use.   They're basically just another one of these "middle man" companies that pays top dollar so their name comes up at the top of the list in a Google search for "Anytown, USA Video Production".    I wish there were better, cheaper ways for small producers like myself to advertise to clients that don't know how to find local video professionals.  But since there aren't, companies like Beverly Boy still exist in our industry.  

[cmb1455]

On 8/1/2025 at 6:10 PM, carbonhobbit said:

Is the company still trying to book jobs? Got a call this week and they were looking for a sound person three hours from my location because there aren't any sound people out that way. Late afternoon start time, so would get home after 11 pm. Gave a high quote to drive them away. They are still looking. If they come back unable to find someone, are they coming around to paying in less than 30 days?

 

I know you posted this back in 2025, but I thought it would be helpful to others if I responded.  Yes, Beverly Boy is still around as of 2026. They contacted me a few months back to do a gig in New Mexico.  Other than the first time I worked for them in 2024, I have not done any jobs for them.  I've fielded a few phone calls and emails from them, but after providing quotes or info, I usually never hear from them again until the next request for a quote/info.  I think their reputation is likely catching up with them, but honestly they'll be able to out run that for quite some time because they pay big bucks so their company is listed in the top search results for "(insert location) Video Production" or "(location) Live Streaming / Video Streaming" and similar search terms.  If you want to test this, do a google search for "CITY, ST Video Production" and see if they're in the top of the list for your area.    I've attached an example....

 

My advice is this:   Quote them your price, do not offer them any discounts etc.   Don't make a big deal about up front payments until the gig is so close they would literally have no other option.  Then tell them you're gonna require up front payment to proceed because of their reputation.  Do NOT accept a deposit only.   This is especially true for Live-streaming events or anything where you aren't in control of the footage / deliverables that you can basically ransom them with.  I normally would never tell someone to operate like this, but when it comes to Beverly Boy, you need to protect yourself.  They've proven they cannot be trusted.

 

The other option is this:  try your darndest without being obvious about it to get the contact info for the direct paying client (or someone on their team).  Contact the client and inform them not only about Beverly Boy's payment history to their hired contractors, but also about how they operate.  That basically the client is STILL getting a local crew, but they're likely paying way more for it because of the middle man.    See if you can snag yourself a new client / gig.  What's the harm?  You'll likely never get paid by Beverly Boy on time anyway,  and at some point they will stop paying contractors all together and file for bankruptcy. 

[The Documentary Sound Guy]

What would it take to make this thread the top SEO result for Beverly Boy?

[Philip Perkins]

My recent experience with sleazes similar to the Co being discussed here is that they don't have a real brick-and-mortar office--they work on their kitchen table and use co-working spaces for their mailing address.  

[OJR]

On 7/3/2024 at 9:33 PM, PMC said:

Great news for me! I won my self-argued small claims court case today against Abbson, LLC/Chad Abbott of New York for a one day job back in Oct '23. $4k plus interest, court costs and certified mailing expenses. Now I'll see how the collection process goes.

 

I hope all youse who have been burned by Beverly Boy get your money.

i'm late to this.  Did you finally collect?

[Tim Norris]

On 8/1/2025 at 6:10 PM, carbonhobbit said:

Gave a high quote to drive them away. They are still looking. If they come back unable to find someone, are they coming around to paying in less than 30 days?

 

Not that long ago, after a suspect company offering a disagreeable gig accepted my extremely high price, I informed them that as a "new to me" client, my additional terms included electronic payment in full before the day of the shoot, with extras due at the end of the shoot. They were unable to comply and went away.

 

I imagine the DP/Producer used the audio from the iPhone it was to be shot on.

 

We can and should set the terms if we don't mind losing work sometimes.

 

Cheers,

Tim

[ErisHong]

If you haven’t already, keep copies of all messages, invoices, and payment records. Even if the amount isn’t huge, having everything documented makes it much easier to dispute the charge or pursue other options. Hopefully it gets resolved and others can learn from the experience too.

[PMC]

On 6/5/2026 at 1:06 PM, OJR said:

i'm late to this.  Did you finally collect?

I have not yet collected. The New York Sheriff's department, Manhattan District, will not serve a judgement on a New York resident that was ajudicated in an Iowa court.

 

Next step is to hand it over to a debt collector as proceding with a New York trial magistrate is time and cost prohibitive.

[Blocktek]

I've had two unpleasant experiences with Beverly Boy over the last 4 years. The first time was a job I did for them in February of 2022. I was booked for an "interview shoot." The night before, I got the call sheet, calling for driving shots and shots of the talent visiting scenic spots in San Francisco, in addition to a "stationary shot" later in the afternoon. When I arrived, I was informed that there were 4-5 talents that needed to be mic'ed. I struggled to make do with the simple interview package I had brought. I asked about parking and security for my loaded vehicle while we drove around the City grabbing shots, but was told that I was on my own. When I arrived at the afternoon location (again, no parking arranged for), I discovered that the scene was a 3 camera, 5 person cooking segment. I should have just walked, but I saw the day out. Although they paid within 30 days, it was a fraction of the amount that should have been paid for the amount of gear and stress I had to deal with.

I heard from them again in August 2025. They inquired about booking me for a job in October. I figured I'd give them a second chance, and would be very clear about equipment needs and charges. They thanked me for my response and told me it looked good. They would discuss with the rest of their staff and "get back to me." Then they went silent. Repeated emails weren't answered. The week of the shoot, I ended up having to travel out of town for a family emergency. I figured that the job had gone away, but wanted to do my due diligence to make sure they were covered. I sent multiple emails to the production coordinator, and tried to call the company directly. I never got any response.

Needless to say, I won't be responding to their calls again.

[Jason Nightall]

I’m a UK based sound recordist and had the misfortune of being booked by Beverly Boy to record sound for podcast interviews in London at the start of the year. I’m now owed a four-figure GBP sum by Beverly Boy and they have stopped responding to any communication.  I’ve also directly contacted the person who apparently owns the company, to no avail.

 

I’m aware that not being in the US makes getting the money that much harder but is there anything I can do?

 

This experience has highlighted to me that working for companies external to the UK is too risky.  They can simply choose to not pay me and I have little to no recourse. Based on this experience I’ve already started turning down work from foreign production companies unless they have an office in the UK that is subject to the local legal system.