re: Q&A with Sean Pamphilon

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We met at his house in New Orleans and clicked immediately. On the second day we began shooting, organically. He was driving and saying something really profound. I asked him if I could turn my iPhone on to shoot it. The first four minutes I shot with Steve are some of the most powerful words I have ever heard. I would love for him to release that original material because I think it would impact people.

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Clearly, it has strained our friendship.... Ultimately, Steve felt he should have had the final call on releasing that audio. I believed I had a moral imperative once the story had already broken. What people keep ignoring is that I am not a "whistleblower." There have been recent reports that identify the man who allegedly did this, speculating that he was a former assistant coach with the Saints. I would not have released this audio if the story had not already broken. I would have felt like I betrayed a trust, the very trust people are now condemning me for.

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My team has put a lot of time and the majority of the money into the principal photography of this film and so we would need to be compensated. This being said, I would donate all the personal time and the money I put into this project and make it a gift to the Gleasons. No one ripping me wants to hear that, but I operate on a soul level when I take on these projects. To have my character assassinated in this way isn't worth the money.

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I feel a deep pain by all the venom that is being thrown at me. My word and my integrity are my currency. It's the very reason I am trusted on the level I am when doing a film. The rage and hate I took from people around him, people who would hug me and tell me they loved me when they saw me (before), was the most disappointing experience of my career. That rage was the root, which fed the tidal wave of negativity dropped on me. Before that, people were actually talking about the real issues.

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The more people who found out about the tape’s existence, I simply became afraid to possess it. I articulated this viewpoint on many occasions and felt it should have been taken more to heart. So, eventually a chasm grew between myself and Steve and Michel. I resented the idea I should have to protect other people, when I felt me and my family were in such a vulnerable position.

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Anyone who says I did this for self promotion can kiss my a--. If I wanted to get better known for anything other than my work, I would have released footage of Ricky Williams smoking weed during one of the times we fell out. It took the six years to make "Run Ricky Run" and my loyalty under stressful circumstances can be vouched for by many.
I have shot three amazing documentaries in the past two years and am in post-production on two of them. Our work will continue to speak for itself and I hope that when it does, the people who have lit me up, publicly, have the class and character to apologize with the same enthusiasm.

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If you think [the NFL] would have made [the tape] public for people to hear it, you are drinking at (NFL commissioner Roger) Goodell's Kool-Aid stand and asking for seconds.

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Seriously, I think many of these football writers listen to old NFL Films music when they write their fiction they pass off as fact and express their mean-spirited opinions.
I'm glad I don't have their karma.

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I am being killed in New Orleans, but if they actually took the time to read that essay, they would be buying me free drinks and giving me season tickets.

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I think this about sums it up.
Pamphilon is SUCH a martyr.
Misunderstood, but a more honest and ethical man there never was.

Let's all give it up for Sean Pamphilon.