An open letter to Dana Ritterbusch:
I want to make a couple things clear right off the bat. I am not your friend [although we do have a mutual facebook friend, but we’ve never met]. I’ve never met Erik or Ginny, and they aren’t my friends either. I am simply a long time Not Literally fan [thanks to that mutual facebook acquaintance], and a donor to the Ravenclaws video. I have followed you guys since early on, and now I’d like to tell you how I feel about you. You were always my favorite of the group, until now. You have contradicted yourself. You are screwing over your fans. And you are acting like a total hypocrite.
You pretend to be an advocate of the fans. Then you post nonsense like “I don't care if the editing is up to normal NL standards. I care that the fans/extras/crew get what they donated money and time for.” I and the other fans donated money for a good video, not for a half finished product. I care very much if it is up to normal NL standards, because that’s what I was expecting. The fact that you don’t care about the quality is beside the point, and is a self serving stance. We, the donors, do care.
You also posted a promise to your fans that your intent and plan was not to dissolve. At the end of the second phone conversation you say “very likely I will want to dissolve the company”. So which of these is your stance? Are you giving up the idea of dissolving the company or not? And if you really don’t want to dissolve, and really don't care what Erik does with the brand, then why aren't you acting like it? Be a bigger person instead of someone who just wants to fight to fight. Get this garbage resolved so that we can have our finished video in all its glory, or at least give us refunds if you can’t find it in your heart to be .
You tweet “I won't be told I have to decide the future of my relationship with the company or Smarter won't get released”. Have you listened to yourself in those calls? It sounds like you've already decided your future with Not Literally. You said it like a dozen times that you are completely finished and “checked out” of Not Literally. You even go so far as to say it doesn’t “rank” on your priority list. So why are you lingering? It really does look like you stick around just because you want to fight with Erik. You are acting like a toddler. Grow up.
You accused your business partner of coercion. But he appears to have some good reasons for not wanting to finish the video right now. Not Literally is his brainchild too, isn’t it? He has put time into it, hasn’t he? Did you really expect him to keep working after you told him you wanted to end his company? If your employer came to you today and said we’re firing you after you finish this project, would you really stick around? And I can see from how you went from resigning in one call to dissolving in the next why he wouldn’t trust you. What I can't see is why you don't just wall your talk and be done with it. Instead your dangling an already-made decision over your business partner like a carrot on a stick to force him to do something he wants to do anyway. I think your exact words were “unfortunately for you I’m in the position of power”. What the hell, Dana? What's with the power trip? I don’t think you really care about the video, company, or fans at all. You're too busy throwing around your "power" over the company to care. THAT is coercion Dana. If you really cared about your fans you’d stop with the power trip, and do what needs to be done so that the finished video will get released.
As for being anti-bullying; you could not be anymore of a hypocrite. We've all heard you call Ginny "a harpy" in private, so it's not unbelievable that you'd talk shit about your other business partner behind his back as well. The lengths that some of your acquaintances have gone to just to dominate the facebook page with backlash against Erik makes it hard to take anything they say or posted on any social media in your defense seriously. Frankly, it looks like a shark tank, and you are the one coming off looking like the bully.
And your posts don't have me believing one bit that you're some well intentioned selfless victim who is getting picked on by the big bad mean Erik. This looks like a “front your posting” [your words] to confuse the issue. I and other fans aren't stupid, Dana. We can see from what had come to light in last few days that you don't give a crap about your fans. And thanks to your minions the motive is also obvious: this is a personal issue for you. This is about exerting control over and getting back at an ex boyfriend. I do not think it is ok at all that the donors and fans have to suffer just because you don’t like Erik.
As for the video you have released. I want you to understand that as a donor I don’t feel like posting a low quality incomplete version to your tumblr page meets what we were promised in your funding campaign. I am due a shirt. And I am due a completed version of the video up to the quality that NL is known for. If you can't swallow your bitterness long enough to make that happen, then I am at least due a refund.
So I want to hear from you, Dana. Not your sharks; they have made themselves clear. Not Erik; he has made his position clear. From you. Your donors want an answer. And your donors want action. What are you going to do? And when are you going to do it?
