Bee Says Morning View's Kazanjian Has Quit; Carpenter Says Email Was Hacked

The Sacramento Bee ran a story Thursday that quotes an email from one of Morning View's most prominent executives as saying that he has resigned from the project: 

"Per my employment agreement I would be hired as Executive VP Studio 'in the event of project funding,' " Howard Kazanjian wrote Tuesday, according to the Bee story. "That agreement was terminated today as the project funding has not been met."

Howard Kazanjian is the most credible executive involved with Morning View, at least in terms of work history. The Bee notes that he produced "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi," both of which are George Lucas movies. 

We reached out to Carpenter to ask about Kazanjian's resignation. 

"All of us have been victims of identity theft, hacking, and stalking," she said Thursday morning. "[The email] was an internal document. It was probably sent to the Bee unethically and illegally attained." 

So, what is the status of of Kazanjian's involvement with Morning View? 

"He's not going anywhere," Carpenter said. "We fight back and forth and we bitch at each other. We've done it for 16 years. Even if it did happen, he'd still be on for 60 days." 

"Howard did write the email and he sent it just to us," she said. "The point is Howard and i fight like cats and dogs. I fire him, he fires me. He quits. I quit. We're like brothers and sisters." 

The Bee story says that the email came to them from Kazanjian, not as an internal email that was leaked by somebody else. 

I asked Carpenter if we could speak with Kazanjian, to which she said she expects to have him available soon, possibly next week. 

"Legally, my team is intact," she said. 

Carpenter, while avoiding detailed discussions about the Bee story, made accusations of harm and abuse on the part of their reporters. 

"We know and respect the Bee," she said. "But the tactics of the reporters have hurt family members." 

She says that the wife of one executive was approached. 

"Can you imagine a big six-foot tall man screaming at her and begging her to get an interview," she said. "That had to scare the hell out of her." 

Carpenter maintains that they're moving full steam ahead. She mentioned several times that big news will soon come from Morning View, possibly next week.

Kazanjian, she maintians, will be involved as that news is shared. We've emailed Kazanjian, but have received no response. 

Carpenter would not make Kazanjian available for this story. She repeatedly stressed that "legally" he is still a part of the team.