Tallchief
When Heather Tallchief turned herself in last week to face federal charges that she drove off in an armored truck containing $2.5 million in 1993, she came in with a carefully choreographed plan to sell her life rights.
Defense attorney Bob Axelrod entrusted her life rights to Bob Aaronson, a former studio exec and currently a producer's rep who will begin shopping for a deal this week. Armed with a pledge of complete cooperation and an interview videotaped before the surrender, Aaronson will shop for a movie, book and/or TV interview deal.
An attempt at pre-trial commerce is almost unheard of for an accused perpetrator; Axelrod said Tallchief has no visions of another cash windfall. Her motive is to pay back money she drove away with, and he feels that surrender and restitution could help with a jury. Though she's not asking for editorial control, Tallchief is also eager to present her story in the court of public opinion, one that paints her nearly as a victim in a twisted relationship that included brainwashing and ritualistic sex at the hands of her alleged co-conspirator and father of her child, Bob Solis.
Axelrod hopes to sideline an unauthorized project being developed by Pandemonium producer Bill Mechanic that emanated from a much less charitable article in Marie Claire that the attorney maintains is inaccurate. Mechanic wouldn't comment other than to say he's comfortable with Pandemonium's take. "Collateral" scribe Stuart Beattie is working on the latest draft.
"You'd think a criminal attorney would never allow a client to have their story printed or filmed in a way that demonstrates they engaged in the conduct they were accused of," Axelrod said. "In this case, we have no intention of denying as much as presenting why she did it. What's compelling is, did she do this of her own volition or, as we claim and think we can prove, because she was brainwashed."
Axelrod and Aaronson orchestrated a few pre-arrest interviews, including one on "Dateline," careful to be covert enough to ensure Tallchief could successfully surrender and not get hauled in by some bounty hunter eager to cash a six-figure check.
"It is a compelling package," Aaronson said. "Apart from the heist elements, there is so much backstory."
Contact the Variety newsroom at
news@variety.com