Veteran journalist and filmmaker Phelim McAleer’s latest project hit controversy before it even launched, which McAleer attributes to political agendas in Hollywood and elsewhere.
McAleer and his wife and creative partner, Ann McElhinney, have joined forces with Magdalena Segieda to produce a movie about Kermit Gosnell, the late-term abortion doctor convicted of multiple murders and 21 illegal abortions. The trio previously produced the documentary FrackNation.
However, their plan to raise more than $2 million via the crowd-funding website Kickstarter was thrown off course when the website objected to the description of the project and raised concerns about the political convictions behind it.
“This is unacceptable to us and it should be unacceptable to any filmmaker particularly on a platform such as Kickstarter which claims to be all about artistic freedom,” McAleer said. “Kickstarter’s actions are particularly odious and alarming because they are an attempt to censor factual descriptions of a serial killer’s actions.”
In a news release, the trio said that Kickstarter attempted “to restrict the detailing of Gosnell’s crimes.”
According to grand jury testimony, Gosnell killed babies born alive after botched abortions by taking scissors to their necks. The grand jury report also detailed Gosnell’s practice of keeping the severed feet of the aborted babies in jars in his office.
Kickstarter has so far not responded to questions about the allegations made by McAleer.
McAleer calls Gosnell America’s biggest serial killer and is shocked that there hasn’t been a movie made about him yet.
“There have been four movies about Ted Bundy, five about the Zodiac killer, three about John Wayne Gacy, and the Lifetime network has already made and broadcast a film about Jodie Arias – who killed one person. Kermit Gosnell killed more than them all put together,” McAleer said.
The producers say the reason there hasn’t been a movie is simple: Hollywood’s left-wing bias.
“Hollywood and the mainstream media have been very reluctant to cover this serial killer, but we think it’s time Gosnell’s story was told,” McElhinney said.
Instead of seeking Hollywood money, the producers have turned to Kickstarter rival indiegogo to seek support.
“GOSNELL will be based on trial transcripts – it will be based on what happened and how America’s most prolific serial killer was allowed to go undetected for over 30 years,” Segieda said.
While the trio’s last project, FrackNation, raised $212,000 through crowd funding, their goal now is $2.1 million, with a range of perks offered to donors.