Thursday, August 20, 2009


Bernie Madoff’s son is being sued for $5.3 million by a filmmaker who says she’s broke after being lured by promises of big bucks to a film studio he bankrolled.

Dana Offenbach, whose credits include the film “Love & Orgasms” and commercials for Jell-O and Pepsi, contends she was paid a mere $30,400 after being promised a $250,000 salary and an ownership stake in Nehst Media Enterprises.

Andrew Madoff, who turned his dad in to the feds after he confessed to a massive Ponzi scheme, is a chief investor in Nehst, though the suit filed late Wednesday by Offenbach says she was told to keep his involvement a secret.

“Whatever you do, don’t tell anyone about the Madoff connection,” Offenbach’s suit says she was instructed by studio Chairman Larry Meistrich.

The suit against Madoff, Nehst and company bosses, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, says executives at the studio talked her into leaving a lucrative position with pay promises that never materialized.

“After the defendants used the plaintiff to get their film studio off the ground, and after the revenues began to pour in, the defendants unceremoniously dumped the plaintiff, without compensating her for her services or providing the promised equity,” the suit says.

Offenbach contends she was paid $30,400 for five years of work, and that CEO Ari Friedman told her in May that she never signed a contract with Nehst.

Representatives for Offenbach and Nehst could not be reached for comment.