Independent filmmaker Stephen Tramontana says he made a low budget film called Grindhouse on weekends in 2002 and 2003 on a budget of just $4,000. It was shown at independent movie festivals and won best horror film at the New York International Film and Video Festival, along with receiving good writeups in industry magazines. The original Grindhouse creator says he was with a producer friend at the Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back after party when he approached Tarantino and told him about the film before they were about to make it. Tarantino was friendly but said he wasn’t insterested in seeing it when it was done.

Once the film was shot, Taramontana Fedexed the DVD and a poster to Tarantino’s office. He didn’t hear back from him, but he knows he received it.

Then the creator of the original Grindhouse says he read in Variety in 2005 that Tarantino was making a movie called Grindhouse with Robert Rodriguez.

On his website detailing the way Tarantino ripped him off, he says he doesn’t want money or publicity for his project, just an acknowledgment from Tarantino that it was his idea to make a Grindhouse film. Tarantino didn’t steal his story, he says, but he blantatly jacked their concept and they want him to admit it.

Taramonta even copyrighted the Grindhouse title shortly after making the film, and was told that if he wanted to do anything about the fact that Tarantino was using it, he had to take them to court:

Cut to 2005. I was now working for a production company as a Post Coordinator. I picked up an issue of the trade publication Variety, announcing: Tarantino was making a film called GRINDHOUSE. Not our Grindhouse, something he was teaming up with Robert Rodriguez on.

I was heartbroken. One of my heroes had ripped us off. And it wasn’t like we were anybody. We were nobodies, trying to get ahead with our tiny film like he had almost a decade before. I had our entertainment attorney call Dimension Films, where Tarantino was setting the film up. I tried to stop them from using the title Grindhouse because I own it. I am the only person with the title Grindhouse registered with the copyright office. Dimension came back and said that Tarantino’s was called Death Proof, not Grindhouse. Yes, we retorted, but you’re not releasing it as Death Proof, you’re releasing it as Grindhouse. They came back with, essentially, take us to court and see what happens to you. I didn’t want to take them to court; I wanted them not to use the title.

It sucks, because now I’m that guy. I’m that guy stating that a big Hollywood player ripped off my idea. We all know how that looks. But, a. I made the movie – anyone can see it. and b. he’s constantly referenced the day in 2003 when he got the idea to make a movie called Grindhouse. My bet is that it was the day he opened my Fed Ex. Maybe he didn’t even watch the movie, but he had to have seen the poster, and maybe that was all it took…

What people don’t realize is that this isn’t about money. This isn’t about getting our film “out there.” Trust me, we never thought this film, in this version, was going to be a launch. We hoped that someone would see it and maybe give us more money to remake it with a decent budget.

This is about standing up for yourself. This man has a history of outright stealing shit and it’s time for someone to just call him out on it and not waiver. And those who are so offended that I would have the audacity to call out Tarantino on such flimsy evidence, I say I really don’t care. A thief is a thief, famous or no. I don’t believe anyone in the history of Hollywood has successfully proved theft of ideas. So, I didn’t honestly expect this to go any better. That being said, unless you’re completely uneducated about his career history, he is known for being a complete thief who writes great dialogue. But stop stealing shit, calling it referential, putting good music to it, and making everybody worship you for it.

Filmwad says “If Tarantino’s/Rodriguez’s movie is better, then it really doesn’t matter who originally conceptualized it. History is full of credit given based on the improvement upon the ideas of others, and many times it’s only the improved idea that ends up being noteworthy.” That’s a little too Machiavellian for me. If I came up with a move called Grindhouse and mailed it to a director and then he came out with a movie called Grindhouse a few years later I’d be crying foul too.

Tramontana says that a lot of hard work and money went into the new Grindhouse movie and it’s undoubtedly better than his version. It’s bombing at the box office, though, which should be some consolation. Procuders are considering re-releasing it as two separate films as moviegoers are thought to be daunted by the over three hours running time.

Here’s the trailer for the “Real Grindhouse”

Thanks to Digg users for the Filmwad story.