Posted on 11/12/2009 9:20:37 AM PST by nickcarraway
Golden, celebrity-endorsed shampoo for sale -- 13,000 bottles of it -- sits in the Ormond Beach garage of actor John Martino.
Hollywood Movie Hair Products was his dream business, just coming into fruition when the venture was tarnished unexpectedly -- not of Martino's doing. Now he's hoping to polish the product with an image makeover.
Martino -- most famous for his Godfather role of Paulie, a turncoat driver killed off in the first Godfather trilogy episode -- never expected part of his real life business to become involved in a new drama.
But there he was on a sunny June morning in New Smyrna Beach more than two years ago, pulling up to a spiffy new building, which housed, among other businesses, his shampoo company. The product cost half-a-dozen years and thousands of dollars in research and development.
The building was surrounded by crime tape.
"I called the phone number on the door and reached Michael Gore who said, 'I will meet you tomorrow at 11 o'clock,' " recalled Martino.
He learned from Gore, a court-appointed receiver, the property was shut down because of a complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Orlando by the Securities and Exchange Commission, against the building owner, New Smyrna Beach resident Michael J. Naste.
Companies Naste was associated with were placed under the control of the receiver.
Martino had hooked up in a partnership with Naste, a large, bristling former New Yorker whom he'd met on a low-budget movie set a few years earlier. Naste had been playing a Mafia role, as was Martino. In real life Naste was a two-time lottery winner looking for business investments, Martino said. So the Hollywood actor told the local businessman about his long-standing hair product idea.
What Martino didn't know at the time was that in 1996, Naste, who claimed a $20 million personal worth, had already been into businesses gone bad. Naste had accumulated up to $200,000 debt in a DeBary home-building venture, Trophy Homes. Several lawsuits were filed by creditors against another of Naste's business ventures, Terra Firma Management Corp, an investment planning business, in which people lost money. Those cases are closed now and no criminal charges were ever filed.
That history didn't come to Martino's attention when Naste built a sprawling building and invested in his hair venture and other businesses.
But the crime tape wasn't a stunt, and the building containing Martino's thousands of bottles of shampoo was shut down. All the connected businesses' assets became tied up in the court case. For a long time Martino's proprietary hair formula in fancy art deco bottles were locked up with those assets.
The drama took more than two years to reach a finale.
Last year Naste was slammed with a $5.3 million judgement in the case, plus Naste was permanently enjoined from selling securities or obtaining money or property.
"We proceeded to liquidate (Naste's) companies, similar to a bankruptcy," said Jonathan Cohen, attorney for court receiver Gore. "We couldn't sell the vast bulk of the hair product."
Cohen said the receiver tried e-Bay, but with no luck. Of course, they didn't have the celebrity's backing.
Martino said at first the receiver asked him to buy back the product.
"It was already paid for, so I said 'No,' " Martino said. "About three months ago I got a phone call that the building was sold and the people wanted to get the stuff out."
Since the receiver couldn't find any buyers, the decision was made to give Martino back his goods, Cohen said.
Although Martino was in the middle of recording an original song, "In America," at a local sound studio and also learning lines for a film role in a TV sitcom pilot, "You Make Me Laugh," with Karen Black (among her credits -- "Five Easy Pieces" with Jack Nicholson), he rented a U-Haul.
"My 22-year-old son Johnny and I picked (the 13,000 bottles of hair product) up. It took us seven hours to load," Martino said. "Then Joey, 21, came in from college, and my wife Lori helped unload the truck."
Now that Martino has the product stacked neatly in his garage, he's going to give business a go again. But he's not where he hoped to be after his earlier successful launch 2 1/2 years ago in 14 Walgreens.
Cohen said there is no objection to Martino continuing to use the company name, but the actor isn't sure yet how he will proceed, or whether he will change the company name or not.
"We might be selling it at the flea market, but we will be looking to turn it over," Martino said. "And I will start the company up again, but not before this product is gone."
Ping
“celebrity”?
I’ve probably seen The Godfather a dozen times, and I wouldn’t recognize this guy if he was standing right in front of me.
Kind of pathetic, really.
“Leave the gun...get the canoles!”
It’s Canoli
LOL
cajones?
I was just watching part 2 this weekend. I had to google this guy also. I would have never known who the heck he was. After all I could not take my eyes off of Al Pacino.
Paulie Gatto at the wedding of Connie Corleone and Carlo Rizzi.
Wrong Martino - that is a pic of Al Martino who played Johnny Fontaine
FMCDH(BITS)
Best movie line...EVER!
How confusing!
I’m pretty sure that’s Johnny Fontane (Al rather than John Martino). See how he’s crying? God, I’d love to slap him and scream at him to “BE A MAN!!!”
LOL
You are correct. I’m sure it will be on TV for the 1000 time and I will have to look for John Martino.
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