Author: Hamish (WritersNet)
Date:   11-26-06 13:59

Looking for information on Peter Senese?

It was alleged in these forums that Peter Senese has a record of deceiving writers. Questions were also raised about the legitimacy of his Bookbeat TV project.

These posts were removed after Mr Senese made numerous calls disputing the allegations and took up considerable staff time.


Hamish
WritersNet.

Author: Anthony Ravenscroft
Date:   11-26-06 23:34

All I've got is the usual research.

-- I could only find one WNet posting about Senese, by one Mason Fox, & that's dating from 27 March 2005. No responses, suggesting it didn't exactly rock anyone's world, & Senese is causing himself a lot of trouble by not letting it remain quietly buried.

-- the site http://www.petersenese.com/ has been abandoned & is presently up for sale. In any case, it's due to expire in about 18 days.

-- this might be more informative: http://theproductionbook.com/. I especially enjoy the "YOUR PHOTO HERE" part.

-- starting Orion Publishing & Media was not a great idea, considering the reach of Britain's Orion Publishing Group. Personally, I wouldn't mess with a company that's got its own Wikipedia entry.

-- Senese was Class of '87 at Syracuse University.

-- I cannot find (yet?) any references other than his own to the film version made by "Orion Productions" of his novel Cloning Christ.

Dunno. I can't find anything interestingly scurrilous. It's all ho-hum mediocrity. Maybe his "people" are just bored.

Author: Tom Hypes
Date:   01-23-07 08:42

I wish you didnt take the information off. I have found from personal experience that Mr. Senes thrives from people having a lack of information about him until it's too late.....

From.... http://www.cbaonline.org/MarketPlace/Fraud_and_Scams.jsp from May 2004

Tom Hypes, owner of The Shepherd's Nook in Marion, OH, writes:

"There is a book called 'Cloning Christ' by Peter Sinise. He contacted us a while back about his book and what all is going on with it. He told us he was the cousin of actor Gary Sinise and that a major motion picture company just signed him to a $100 million budget to make it into a film. The film was being filmed in Italy now and starred his cousin, John Malcovich, and Viggo Mortenson (from The Lord of the Rings). We set up a book signing for this past weekend, ordered in a lot of books, and started publicizing it.
"We confirmed the event with Peter two weeks out. However, when we tried to get in touch with him to give directions a week before, he did not return calls, and we did not hear back from him. He did not show up for the book signing.
"An hour after we apologized to our cusotmers, we got a call from another customer who's son-in-law (a buyer for Borders books) was in town. He thought it would be fun to meet a new author. However, when he found out that the author was Peter Sinise, he told me that Borders is pressing charges against him and that he is a fraud.
"He is not related to Gary Sinise and there is no movie deal. He had set up book signings with them and not showed up. It is all a ploy trying to get stores to showcase his book until the stores find out they were lied to. We did accumulate costs that we can not get back and are sending back a lot of books. I know he has called other stores in our association and is trying to do this as much as he can. I really wish for the stores to be warned."

Author: Victoria Strauss
Date:   01-23-07 10:50

This is Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware and the Writer Beware blog. I'd like to invite anyone who has had experiences with Peter Senese or Bookbeat TV to contact me at beware@sfwa.org. All information shared with Writer Beware is held in strictest confidence; we never reveal names or contact info without permission. Thanks much!

- Victoria Strauss

Author: jason martel
Date:   08-16-07 17:01

To begin, I want to make it perfectly clear that my name is Jason Martel, and I work in the financial securities business, and have for nearly thirty years. I am fully registered and licensed. I know Peter, and have for nearly eight years. I have found Peter and continue to find him to be respectable, honest, and direct. He does not tolerate nonsense, and is careful and quick to remove from his circle those individuals who are disingenuous. The team that he has surrounded himself with at Orion is more than top notch: not only is this an extremely close knit and effective group, but each Senior Manager is extremely well respected and extraordinarily loyal to him. They must have a good reason to be. One only has to understand what PS had to deal with this past year, as he traveled literally around the world, to understand the sheer strength and dedication he has for his beliefs and values. It also demonstrates the ability of his team.

So why the attacks on PS? Pretty simple: he banished a few rotten tomatoes from his circle a few years ago, and through the ease of the Internet, these same individuals are easily able to defame him under invisible shields. Jealous and malicious, they post anonymously, or under false names. They have conversations with themselves. Their behavior is dangerous, disingenuous, and arrogant. Combine the written words of the invisible posters with irresponsible, unprofessional, and out of sorts site administrators simply looking to have viewers visit a site, and an uninformed reader can consider anything being written.

As V. Strauss (one of the writes who has posted here) knows, PS no longer is willing to tolerate any more lies or slander. In court actions filed against by PS and his team, VS was Ordered by the Courts to immediately stop her actions and remove all threads regarding Senese on a blog site she operated.

Interestingly, Tom H. goes on a whole lot about PS, but the fact is he has never met or spoken to him. He even spells Peter’s last name Sinise, when the correct spelling, as printed on every item Peter has ever written is Senese (which is the correct spelling, as I legally would know due to my professional relationship with him). The entire statement by this guy Tom is simply untrue. The whole statement is one lie. I would imagine Tom H. that soon enough you will be held accountable for your actions. Perhaps the guy that lives with 19 cats can shed some light on it.

A word to all: the Internet is a great tool if respected. We should all be mindful about when an anonymous blogger writes something disparaging about another person. As for Peter Senese, he is my friend and a professional colleague. I admire him, respect him, and trust him. He is dependent on himself and the terrific team he works with, and has for some time. I am also glad I’m not one of the idiots who has attacked him. PS actions may appear silent, but they surely are not: I guess this message is for you.

Author: Tom Hypes
Date:   10-25-07 14:36

Wow! What typical PS (as "Jason" uses as a hip term).

Just for clarification on my blog alone (I hate this went unchallenged for several months as I hardly go through these posts) .......

Your logic trying to disclaim my limited post is short reaching and unfulfilling. Of course, I never met the man (though I talked to him twice on the phone). I did not mean him because he did not show up for the event he solicited, set up, and then disappeared. As far as spelling his name this way or that, my lack of spelling (especially as one not claiming to be an author) lends you no creditability as I am a self described lousy speller. Also, I do not fit into your theory of a few that Peter banished from his circle. Wow, that is very, very lame as an excuse on my individual contact with "PS".

Look, what happened is very documented and followed up on. As you see, I am not anonymous....I am a pastor and Christian bookstore owner in Ohio. My story was reported to the CBA (Christian Bookselling Association) which is the international Christian Bookselling organization. This was reviewed by them, they talked to others with similar stories, had their lawyers review the report that they put into their industry magazine and web-site to warn other stores. They talked to Peter a couple times before he realized what they were investigating and then he stopped taking their calls. This is well researched, on their web-site for all to see to this day, and the only one hiding has been "PS". My store is hard to call as "simply untrue".

Since the time my story was reported on by CBA (and also Christian Retailing Magazine who did a separate investigation and report on our situation), many others have contacted me over the years with their own stories and concerns. If you are checking out "PS", then all you have to do is the research. Look at those who are sharing their hearts and see if who they are. Look at those defending him, and see if the writing styles and "defense" seem very similar and vague. Then make up your own minds.

I hope I shed some light on my own story. I'm not quite sure who the guy with 19 cats is, but if I figure it out, I'll let you know.

Sorry, I've got a full life to get back to=) This stuff doesn't deserve too much of my time. Good day to you "JM".

(I did a spellcheck to make you feel better. I hope I didn't miss anything.......if I did, feel free to negate all of my blog.)

Author: kristen kramer
Date:   11-10-07 19:54

I will not give my story here, but I will say, "Beware." And you really can see through this man... just open your eyes.

Author: Sally Yoda
Date:   11-12-07 03:02

Peter Senese has come to Italy looking to produce a film with what he claimed was a very large budget. He claimed to have signed contracts, direct contact and a close personal relationship with director Jeremiah Chechik (whose agent denied knowing him), actors Gerard Depardieu, Viggo Mortensen, Dustin Hoffman, Philip Seymour Hoffman, who were all \"set\" to take part in the movie \"Cloning Christ\" (all denied). He also claimed to personally know and to have auditioned for other roles Matthew McConaghey, Leonardo Di Caprio, and others.
He claimed to have had permission from the United Nations to film inside for a scene in the movie, as well as to have gained permission through his connections to film inside the Vatican area, including the church of St.Peter in Rome.
He claimed, as head of Orion Entertainment Group, to be already filming a project called Bookbeat, a television show about writers hosted by Laurence Fishburne. He said they have already interviewed Stephen King, Dan Brown, Stephen Hawking, and others, and that the show would air on NBC prime time in February 2008. Nothing was found to back up this theory.
The NY address on Mr. Senese\'s business card is fake.
He claimed to have arrived in Italy on a rented private jet which no one ever saw.
He claimed to have an assistant named Raul Sanchez and a security man named Jim Westman that were supposed to come to Rome along with the director and other crew. He kept delaying their day and time of arrival, until eventually disappearing.
Mr.Westman telephonically later denied having plans to come to Italy with Senese.

Peter Senese left his hotel leaving a very large bill to pay, and leaving all the people involved who had been working extremely hard on the project completely BAFFLED.
These are some of the other countless excuses/very probably lies:
- Someone in his family died, trip delayed
- His grandmother who raised him died; according to him the whole troupe left Italy for his grandma\'s funeral; no one ever saw them.
- His brother is a firefighter and was a survivor of 9-11. A hands-on experience following the tragedy led Senese to write \"Cloning Christ\". The story involves a train, rats, him destroying a church.
- Three people on his staff, including Raul Sanchez and family of four daughters, lost their house in the fires in Malibu. Mr. Sanchez has only ever written us by email, from Senese\'s email. They have the same spelling problem.

Peter Senese is an extremely pleasant guy, very nice to everyone around him, and very intent on spreading the message of \"be cool to one another, be good to each other\".
Be extremely careful if you meet him, because we do not know exactly why he came to Italy and then fled, after so much hard work and so many lies, leaving his suitcase, a large bill, and an extremely disappointed and disheartened group of people and professionals.

For more information contact us at capitana@hotmail.com.
For pictures of Senese (his own, posted by him) search on youtube.com \"Tyler Senese\". He is the heavyset man in several of the pictures.

Author: Meg Ryan
Date:   02-05-08 09:54

I am not a writer, however wanted to post this for other to read.

My 2 girlfriends and I jsut got back from NYC where we had the astute pleasure of making the grand acquaintance of Mr. Peter Senese, Owner of Orion Motion Pictures.

He graced us with his presents for 2 of the 3 evenings we were in New York. With his stories of espionage, kidnapping and heartbreak. We were in awe of this man and the fact that he was even interested in us in any way was amazing.

He invited us to tour the Met and had wine and music in the early evening and later that night we were going to be taking his "chopper" up for a ride around New York to see the city.
Then he took us out for dinner,a group of 9 NEW friends. Mr. Senese ordered drinks, appetizers for everyone and then ordered the largest lobster in the restaurant (14lbs) the nine very impressed people gathered around him, all of whom were very educated and young, most with drams of stardom and travel. He proceed to “verbally” make everyone dreams come true with jobs and travel and that we were all going to the Oscars as his guests.

We were to all to be boarding his private jet in the morning to go to super bowl then off to his 7 acre estate on Malibu beach, then to DC back to New York to pick up one more for the trip then to Fl and off the San Juan. Our husbands were called and we begged to go. Well as the night came to an end, Mr. Senese contently for got his wallet and my two girlfriends and I were stuck with the 700.00 dollar bill.
But I have to say, I am not that mad, but more confused and sad as to why anyone would feel so bad about themselves to do this. I mean he really goes out of his way to back up his facade. This like loading all these famous people with messages and numbers into his blackberry to printing out blueprints of the stage that he is having built for his TV show, for us to see.

In a nutshell, I can honestly say, we had fun. I would probably never in my life have ordered a 14 lbs lobster for myself EVER! He made three little housewife’s vacation defiantly something to remember FOREVER!


So thank you to Mr. Senese, good show! You are a Great Story Teller!

Author: Blythe Hurney
Date:   02-05-08 15:52

Warning: I contacted Victoria Strauss, in the above thread, several times regarding her request for information about this individual. I never heard back. (Victoria, if I am being unfair and you didn't respond because you were inundated with information, my apologies.)

My advice?


Be careful whenever you encounter a new business contact, and, when your dreams are handed to you too easily...be that much more cautious.

And Peter? Just keep this in mind:

I'm sure you've done nothing wrong. But just in case?

Karma; she's a bitch.

Author: Victoria Strauss
Date:   02-05-08 17:02

Blythe,

According to my records, you've sent me two emails to date (one in March 2007 and one in May). I replied both times. The first time, I received no response. The second time, my message bounced, though I tried several times to re-send it. I will make another attempt today.

Please contact me at beware@sfwa.org.

According to Jason Martel, "As V. Strauss (one of the writes who has posted here) knows, PS no longer is willing to tolerate any more lies or slander. In court actions filed against by PS and his team, VS was Ordered by the Courts to immediately stop her actions and remove all threads regarding Senese on a blog site she operated."

Mr. Senese did get a court order. However, the order was contingent upon service, and I was never served (Mr. Senese tried to serve my publisher, which quite rightly rebuffed the attempt). So the court order was never valid. Nevertheless, Blogger yanked my post and has refused to reinstate it.

- Victoria

Author: morgan faye
Date:   06-22-08 21:41

Be very certain what has been written here before in the above by others IS MORE THAN TRUE.

Description of such a person discussed:

-They have few, if any, real friends. These people are afraid to get close to anyone they can't completely control, for fear their deceptive nature will be uncovered. It may seem they are offering friendship and help, but it is only a mirage, acted out to gain one's confidence. Does confidence/con-man ring a bell?

-They are excellent self-promoters, and have an exaggerated sense of their place in the eternal plan . . . delusions of Grandeur . . . and believe their calling is above that of others.

-They love to talk, but only listen to find personal weaknesses or flaws in those with whom they converse, which can be used to their advantage at some future time, i.e., blackmail.


Just walk away...

Faye

Author: Maria Toro
Date:   09-22-08 16:01

I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Senese this past Sunday. He promised us a ride on a blimp; I gave him my card.

Ten minutes after I did, I called a good friend and had her google him and found this blog. Should I be afraid? Who is this person? This is all starting to give me the creeps.

I'm glad i followed my instincts, but now I feel concerned.