Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1195815
MATTHEW VELLA THE ousted writer for the con- cept behind a Net TV soap op- era has claimed he has suffered an unfair accusation of sexual harassment by the producers of the show Fattigi. Sandro Vella was accused by producer Pierre Portelli, of Wa- termelon Media, of having abu- sively registered trademarks on the name Fattigi and various ep- isodes he had originally script- ed, which were used by Vella to block Net TV from promoting Fattigi on Facebook. But the writer says he has now commenced the transfer of his trademarks to Karl Gouder, the MP and acting CEO of the PN media company Media.Link, which operates Net TV. However, Vella claims that he was victimised by Watermelon Media after one of the produc- ers, Pierre Portelli's wife Diane, suggested to an actress that Vella had written parts for her that could give rise to an alleged sexual harassment. In a lengthy letter he wrote to MaltaToday, Vella said he was called in informally by the Po- lice as recently as 6 September, 2019, a full year since the Fattigi ruckus had erupted. According to him, the actress Sarah Camilleri – who had ap- peared in the main role in soap Tereza – penned a legal letter dated 27 September, 2018, in which she stated that Water- melon producer Diane Por- telli had informed her that the scripting of her character in Fattigi was intended in such a way that, when acted out, would give rise to her sexual harass- ment. "I was completely baffled as to why I was being accused in this way, given that the origi- nal scene I scripted lacked any sexual connotations whatso- ever. To my mind, Fattigi was intended as a production to be appreciated by families, adults and children," Vella said. "If Sarah Camilleri really be- lieves that I intended to sexually molest her, she should refrain from publicly recounting her concocted version of the story... and instead take immediate le- gal action to protect her rights at law," Vella said. "To my knowledge, true suf- ferers and victims of sexual abuse do not write legal letters and boast about them publicly in vengeance. Those who do pluck the courage to speak up do so through the correct chan- nels, seeking maximum protec- tion from the law and its insti- tutions. Sarah Camilleri is an insult to real sufferers of sexual aggression." Vella said he registered the trademarks on Fattigi episodes he scripted six weeks after leav- ing the show. But in a judicial protest, Watermelon producer Pierre Portelli asked a court to force Vella to renounce the trademarks, which he claims were taken out in bad faith, and pay damages incurred by the production company and Net TV's Media.Link Commu- nications. Portelli also wants the court to instruct Facebook to take down Vella's Facebook page for Fattigi, which he man- aged to claim in his favour after registering the trademarks. Vella had been enrolled by Portelli in April 2017 to script episodes for Fattigi. Vella re- signed the production after scripting just two episodes of the proposed 26. Portelli says he had called on Vella not to persist with the trademark registration, and that Vella acquiesced to the request; but over a year later, in Sep- tember 2018 Vella managed to register six trademarks on the name 'Fattigi'. On his part, Vella claims he took umbrage at Portelli's initial decision to entrust the produc- tion of the show to his wife: Por- telli was then executive head of PN media company Media.link. "I was genuinely interested in playing a part in the improve- ment of Media.Link – definitely not to aide the lucrative per- sonal interests of others," Vella said. Vella felt that Portelli's Wa- termelon Media, although hav- ing produced high-level shows, should not have been commis- sioned to produce programmes for Media.Link, hinting at a conflict of interest for Portelli. "I resigned from the produc- tion regretfully... the fact that I chose not to get paid for my work, did not automatically make me anonymous, and neither did it mean that my work had no authorship value to safeguard. Registering the trademark allowed me to keep a stronghold on the work I had done, in order for it to follow the path as intended – as a donation to Media.link," Vella claimed. But Portelli said Vella's trade- marks cost his production company essential exposure on social media. "We were adver- tising the second season of Fat- tigi on Facebook, but it turns out that Vella wrote to Facebook and informed them that since he is the registered trademark owner of Fattigi, then Facebook has to stop the programme's promotion." This led to Facebook remov- ing Watermelon Media's of- ficial Fattigi page, putting the programme out of reach of some 20,000 Facebook follow- ers. Portelli also said Vella had told Facebook to warn his com- pany, Media.Link and Net TV from promoting Fattigi on pain of losing their social media pag- es. "This malicious use of trade- marks took place in bad faith, and has led to Watermelon and Media.Link to suffer losses of thousands of euros in advertis- ing without its Facebook expo- sure. Media.Link alone spent €20,000 on a digital platform to stream these programmes online and now cannot share the link to Netondemand.mt on Facebook, Messenger, or Insta- gram," Portelli said. 10 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 22 DECEMBER 2019 NEWS 17 th November 2019 European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development 2014-2020 PRE – ANNOUNCEMENT (Measure 2.1, 4.4, 16) Measure 2.1: Support to help benefiting from the use of advisory services' The Director General of the Funds and Programmes Division, within the Parliamentary Secretariat for European Funds and Social Dialogue announces the pre-launch of the second call for Measure 2.1 under the Rural Development Programme for Malta. The scope of Measure 2.1 – 'Support to help benefiting from the use of advisory services' is to provide assistance to farmers through recognized Farm Advisory Service Entities by meeting the costs arising from their use of advisory services to improve the overall performance of the farmers' holding. Eligible beneficiaries under Measure 2.1 are Farm Advisory Service providers recognized by the Farm Advisory Service Registration Board. The indicative budget for measures 2.1 is €1.9 million. This investment is key to the government's mission to facilitate better quality and sustainability in the local agricultural sector. Further details on the application process, including dates, will be published on the Managing Authority's website www.eufunds.gov.mt. Managing Authority will also be organising again an information session on this sub-measure. Those interested in attending the information session or require additional information may contact the Managing Authority on rdd.meae@gov.mt or 2200 1108. Measure 4.4: Support for non-productive investments linked to the achievement of agri- environment-climate objectives The Managing Authority would also like to announce that the final batch of applications under sub-Measure 4.4 will be received until the 30 th April 2020. Unless otherwise notified, no applications will be received after this date. Measure 16: Cooperation The Managing Authority would also like to announce that the final batch of applications under Measure 16 will be received until the 28th of February 2020. Unless otherwise notified, no applications will be received after this date. 17 th November 2019 European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development 2014-2020 PRE – ANNOUNCEMENT (Measure 2.1, 4.4, 16) Measure 2.1: Support to help benefiting from the use of advisory services' The Director General of the Funds and Programmes Division, within the Parliamentary Secretariat for European Funds and Social Dialogue announces the pre-launch of the second call for Measure 2.1 under the Rural Development Programme for Malta. The scope of Measure 2.1 – 'Support to help benefiting from the use of advisory services' is to provide assistance to farmers through recognized Farm Advisory Service Entities by meeting the costs arising from their use of advisory services to improve the overall performance of the farmers' holding. Eligible beneficiaries under Measure 2.1 are Farm Advisory Service providers recognized by the Farm Advisory Service Registration Board. The indicative budget for measures 2.1 is €1.9 million. This investment is key to the government's mission to facilitate better quality and sustainability in the local agricultural sector. Further details on the application process, including dates, will be published on the Managing Authority's website www.eufunds.gov.mt. Managing Authority will also be organising again an information session on this sub-measure. Those interested in attending the information session or require additional information may contact the Managing Authority on rdd.meae@gov.mt or 2200 1108. Measure 4.4: Support for non-productive investments linked to the achievement of agri- environment-climate objectives The Managing Authority would also like to announce that the final batch of applications under sub-Measure 4.4 will be received until the 30 th April 2020. Unless otherwise notified, no applications will be received after this date. Measure 16: Cooperation The Managing Authority would also like to announce that the final batch of applications under Measure 16 will be received until the 28th of February 2020. Unless otherwise notified, no applications will be received after this date. 17 th November 2019 European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development 2014-2020 PRE – ANNOUNCEMENT (Measure 2.1, 4.4, 16) Measure 2.1: Support to help benefiting from the use of advisory services' The Director General of the Funds and Programmes Division, within the Parliamentary Secretariat for European Funds and Social Dialogue announces the pre-launch of the second call for Measure 2.1 under the Rural Development Programme for Malta. The scope of Measure 2.1 – 'Support to help benefiting from the use of advisory services' is to provide assistance to farmers through recognized Farm Advisory Service Entities by meeting the costs arising from their use of advisory services to improve the overall performance of the farmers' holding. Eligible beneficiaries under Measure 2.1 are Farm Advisory Service providers recognized by the Farm Advisory Service Registration Board. The indicative budget for measures 2.1 is €1.9 million. This investment is key to the government's mission to facilitate better quality and sustainability in the local agricultural sector. Further details on the application process, including dates, will be published on the Managing Authority's website www.eufunds.gov.mt. Managing Authority will also be organising again an information session on this sub-measure. Those interested in attending the information session or require additional information may contact the Managing Authority on rdd.meae@gov.mt or 2200 1108. Measure 4.4: Support for non-productive investments linked to the achievement of agri- environment-climate objectives The Managing Authority would also like to announce that the final batch of applications under sub-Measure 4.4 will be received until the 30 th April 2020. Unless otherwise notified, no applications will be received after this date. Measure 16: Cooperation The Managing Authority would also like to announce that the final batch of applications under Measure 16 will be received until the 28th of February 2020. Unless otherwise notified, no applications will be received after this date. Fattigi writer claims producer concocted sexual harassment claim against him The real soap opera behind Net's Fattigi: ousted writer was accused of scripting role for actress in which he could 'sexually harass' her Writer Sandro Vella (top) wrote the first few episodes of Fattigi (right)