Renowned St. Pete indie filmmaker accused of hacking

in Local Courts/Top Headlines by
St. Pete filmmaker Chris Fuller

It’s not been a good month for Chris Fuller.

The renowned St. Petersburg-based independent filmmaker is accused of “hacking” an ex-employer, according to a lawsuit filed in Pinellas County, while he also faces a stalking complaint from an ex-girlfriend.

Founded in 2016, Global Widget is a Lutz-based manufacturer and distributor of health supplements via retailers and more than a dozen websites such as hempbombs.com, getgrowmax.com, getfocuzeen.com, and getbeefup.com. Donald Paul Biedrzycki Jr., a 40-year-old resident of Wesley Chapel, co-owns Global Widget with Kevin Collins.

Fuller, whose full name is Christopher Elwin “Chris” Fuller, is a 34-year-old Pinellas Park resident and IT professional best known for writing, directing and acting in Loren Cass, a 2006 film about the 1996 St. Petersburg race riots.

Loren Cass received rave reviews from both The New York Times and Tampa Bay Times, earning Fuller a reputation as an up-and-coming indie filmmaker, as well as a contract with Creative Artists Agency.

In February 2017, Global Widget hired Fuller to be its first in-house IT director. However, after his 12-week probationary period ended in May, Global terminated Fuller’s contract, claiming he worked insufficient hours, demonstrated “erratic/unprofessional conduct and appearance,” and mishandled a major reorganization of the firm’s websites.

In a lawsuit filed June 15 in Pinellas County Circuit Court, Global accuses Fuller of retaliation with a series of actions that threaten the firm’s livelihood, including: Stealing and shutting down more than a dozen Global websites, thus making it impossible for customers to order products online; exposing credit-card information of more than 100,000 “innocent” Global customers to possible theft; and “hacking” the bank accounts of Global as well as that of co-owner Collins.

On June 16, 2017, a judge approved a petition by Global Widget for a temporary injunction against Chris Fuller to stop his actions against Global.

Fuller’s well-regarded 2006 film Loren Cass