Eric Holzer Talks EC3, Braun Strowman Lawsuit

Eric Holzer is facing legal trouble, trouble, trouble: EC3 and Braun Strowman have filed a lawsuit against their business partner for claims of fraud, breach of contract and theft of digital content, according to court documents filed in the 9th Judicial Circuit Court of Florida.

The Wrestling Estate reached out to EC3 for comment, and his response was a quote from his lawyer Scott Sheffler. “We do not litigate cases through the media or in public forums. The lawsuit papers contain our positions on the matters that are the subject of the lawsuit. Any information that you wish to gather regarding the lawsuit is best found in the lawsuit filings.”

To read the filings, click here.

In an exclusive interview, Holzer gives his side of the story, explaining the origin of Magic City Prints and K5 Entertainment, as well as what went wrong. He has also launched a GoFundMe for assistance with his legal bills.

What led to the inception of Magic City Prints?

Eric Holzer: “Well, it actually all started when my now former friend JC (Jedediah Koszewski) moved in with me while he was going through some tough times. I play in a band called Ruined Conflict, and I was working on a better way to distribute our merchandise. I did some research and found out that you can convert certain printers to print DTG (direct to garment) onto T-shirts, so I decided to give it a try. As I discovered through trial and error, it was a bit more complex than I thought, and it was taking too much time to perfect. So, I moved on to other options at the time.

JC used to be a screen printer and we were throwing around ideas of what we could do if the printer had actually worked. We found out you could buy converted printers all ready to print, and JC recommended that he ask his friend EC3 to join in and invest in the printer. We all agreed to go into business together and be equal partners, and EC3 invested $4,000 in the printer while I invested $1,500 in the other equipment. And just like that, Magic City Prints was born.

The screen printing went well at first, but the printer ended up not cutting it. That printer was more of a hobby printer and we needed a more professional one. We knew we had to expand, and at that time, we were running operations out of a bedroom in my house that needed to be converted to a nursery for my son. We decided to rent a building and invest more money to further the business. JC knew someone that had an unused printshop sitting there. They sold the equipment to us, and EC3 and I invested more money to get into the building, buy the equipment and cover other startup costs. I also financed a professional DTG printer on my credit so that we could continue to print short run on demand. Business was building slowly, but surely. JC, EC3 and I all decided not to take salaries and, instead, use the income from sales to grow the business.”

What was the goal for Magic City Prints?

Eric Holzer: “We were looking to print both large and small run orders, since we had capabilities of both screen printing and DTG. The DTG side was meant to build a fulfillment department that could print for people’s brands or clothing lines on demand for orders as small as one piece. That is what led to EC3 bringing in Braun Strowman’s company, Meat Castle, LLC, to have Magic City Prints print his Meat Castle clothing line.”

Describe what Braun Strowman and EC3 were to the company.

Eric Holzer: “This is a disputed issue in the lawsuit. I am claiming, and believe the documents support, that Braun Strowman and EC3 were both investors. They allege that they were lenders. As I stated above, in the beginning, JC, EC3 and I were all equal partners. EC3 and I were both monetarily invested while JC agreed to pay back his portion of the investment as time went on. JC brought the knowledge of screen printing to the table, and I became more of a DTG expert over time. Braun’s company originally came in as a client via his company, Meat Castle, LLC, but he asked to buy shares of Magic City Prints. He later purchased 8% of Magic City Prints for $15,000. We also all agreed to start an entertainment company (K5 Entertainment, Inc.) that we all owned shares of and a YouTube show that was originally supposed to be a live show with fan interaction and a live audience. It was imagined to be very much like the Chris Gethard meets Wayne’s World meets Pee Wee’s Playhouse.”

What was the goal of K5 Entertainment?

Eric Holzer: “I have a background in audio and TV production, so I pitched the idea of a live aired show hence the “Magic City Live” name for the main show on the network. EC3 invested another $10,000 in equipment for the show, which was agreed to be paid back to him with profits from K5 Entertainment. I put together a makeshift setup with what I had to work with. I built the set you guys saw with my own two hands with a bit of grunt work from ‘Jon the Intern,’ who was a recurring character on the show. I used the rest of the budget to buy cameras, lighting, wireless mics, etc. It was done on a tiny budget, but at the end of the day and with all things considered, I believe things looked great. We all put in our ideas and then filmed a pilot.

Upon filming the pilot, we realized that we could not do a live-stream, uncensored show. Some of the footage was definitely not suitable for fans of all ages. This threw things for loop because we advertised the show as “Magic City Live” but decided not to do it live. In the beginning, I was the sole editor of the show. I highly edited the show and added a “laugh track” live audience so at least we could pass the live part off as a joke much like The Eric Andre Show did on Adult Swim. It definitely worked much better that way than the original edit. For those of you out there that understand production, you will know how much work this all was. I was editing a 4-camera shoot with sometimes over an hour of footage with 6-channel audio and adding sound and effects. It was originally supposed to take a four-hour setup and live switch cameras for the live broadcast, but because a live stream was not possible, the project quickly turned into my having to put in a good 40 hours a week or so on the production and editing of the show while trying to help keep the print shop afloat (as JC was the main person helping to run the print shop) and deal with a newborn at the same time.

EC3 helped JC when he could, but running these businesses was quite a struggle. The alleged ‘computer-related crimes’ referred to in the lawsuit pertains to footage that I shot for K5 Entertainment as an owner of K5 Entertainment. My position in the lawsuit is that there is no actual crime because, as a 21% owner of K5 Entertainment, there is nothing wrong with having video footage belonging to K5 Entertainment in my possession, especially considering that I have never released any of it for any reason and have not used (and will not use) the footage for any personal gain.”

When did you detect things were going sour?

Eric Holzer: “There was a lot of tension at the end, but in my opinion, some tension is normal for anyone that is familiar with starting a business. I was spread very thin, and I don’t believe that my partners understood how much work was going into both editing and trying to run the print shop. Most of the time, EC3 was not around although he did stop in and help get us out of a crunch labor-wise here and there, and he was a bit more active towards the end. Braun simply was a silent partner in the print business and showed up to film footage for K5 Entertainment. Therefore, I don’t believe that Braun understood the day-to-day operations of the businesses.

Near the end, everything was a catch-22. If we took focus away from the shop, then there was not enough income to move forward. If we took focus away from the show, then there was no way to put out a consistent product. We also had a live show scheduled in Tampa during WrestleMania weekend which, to my knowledge, the marketing and ticket sales of the show were going poorly. It was a classic case of too many cooks, but not enough chefs. We needed more paid help to assist with both businesses, but we did not have a budget to get it and no further funds were invested. The marketing side of K5 Entertainment was also very lacking, and even though I had actual marketing experience, it was impossible for me to focus on that while trying to run the show production (i.e., filming, editing, etc.) and the print shop. We really needed a marketing person for the show, as the show was getting a good response but did not have nearly enough traffic coming to it. Not many people really knew that it existed. The idea for the time being was to market the show by using EC3’s and Braun’s Instagram accounts, which seemed to generate some traffic. But to really grow E5 Entertainment, we needed other marketing strategies to be implemented, but we had no ability to do that.”

Were you taken by surprise when this suit started taking shape?

Eric Holzer: “I was taken by surprise when I was asked by my partners to leave the business. I had just arrived back from Europe at that time, as my band was forced to return to the U.S. immediately after landing in Amsterdam due to the COVID-19 travel ban. It was a nightmare. As soon as I got back, I was asked to come to a meeting at the print shop. At that time, I was blindsided with being asked to leave both businesses. They can definitely ask me to step down as an acting partner, which I had no problem with due to the continued disagreements over how to run the businesses, but I still owned shares of both businesses. My partners presented me with paperwork to turn over my shares of K5 Network for no compensation and a non-disclosure agreement.

Obviously, I refused to sign the paperwork, as I legally owned part of the business and put in countless hours of work for no salary or compensation at all. My partners also changed the locks on our business facility without notifying me and have denied me entrance onto the premises, even though I am listed on the lease (giving me a right of possession) and continue to be responsible for my portion of the rent. Based on the Florida Division of Corporations and EC3’s and Braun’s social media accounts, it appears that my partners are currently listed as operating a printing business under the name of Justified Prints and are using the assets and accounts of Magic City Prints (a company of which I still own 31% of) to operate. Additionally, they are filming ‘wrestling promos’ and podcasts using the former K5 Network YouTube Channel with no compensation to my initial investment in K5 Entertainment. As a result, my position in the lawsuit is that I believe my partners are doing this in order to render my shares of Magic City Prints worthless and to deprive me of my share of the profits that may eventually be derived from both businesses.”

What is at stake in this lawsuit?

Eric Holzer: “Both sides are seeking money damages and discovery is ongoing. Therefore, I have no comment as to the quantification of any such amounts. Currently, I have a motion to dismiss pending wherein I argue that my partners’ claims against me are legally flawed and must be dismissed. I will also be filing counterclaims against them for, among other things, breach of fiduciary duty, but those have not yet been filed.”

If successful, would you be able to relaunch Magic City Prints?

Eric Holzer: “I do not know, as the lawsuit has not yet been resolved. However, I doubt that Magic City Prints will ever be a functioning business entity again.”

How can people support you?

Eric Holzer: “I hate asking for help and I have never in my life asked for money from anyone besides immediate family. However, given the negative impact of COVID-19 on me financially, as well as not having received a salary from Magic City Prints and K5 Entertainment for over a year’s worth of work that I put into both companies, I need assistance with my legal bills. Therefore, I started a GoFundMe account for such assistance. I know times are tough for many of us right now, but I need your help to level the playing field here and everything counts, even a dollar. It’s much easier for famous professional wrestlers to fund a lawsuit than it is for an individual like myself. I need your help to fight back and to seek justice for my having put guaranteed income (which was needed to support my family) aside for almost a year to focus on these businesses. Here is the link to the GoFundMe page, and from the bottom of my heart, I truly appreciate any assistance that you can provide to me.”