"Shottas" Creator Locked In Legal Battle Over Flick With Film's Director

Richie Effs, co-creator of “Shottas.”

Richie Effs Said It’s Time For The Truth About Cult Classic “Shottas”

The man behind Caribbean movie classics “Shottas” is stepping out from behind the camera.

Richie Effs, the co-creator and producer of the 2002 movie, said after years of legal wrangling with the film’s director, it was time for him to tell his story.

“I just want the culture and the fan base to know the truth about this,” Effs said. “A lot of fans think they know what happened with Shottas, but they don’t.”

The movie, which follows a two best friends who rise out of the slums of Kingston to become major kingpins in Miami and Jamaica, starred Wyclef Jean, Ky-Mani Marley and Spragga Benz. Although it was initially bootlegged, Effs said he and director Norman “Cess” Silvera made a deal with Sony to distribute it. But Effs alleges that Silvera sold their company, Access Pictures, to himself behind Effs’ back, and collected upwards of $2 million from the con.

“We kept asking him what happened to the money,” Effs recalled. “Nobody knew that he was actually getting checks.”

Courtesy of Richie Effs

Effs said he uncovered the scam in 2011 when he tried to pitch a “Shottas” TV show and learned that it was Silvera who owned the rights.

“We’re all street guys,” Effs admitted. “At the time when he told me that, I thought, ‘How am I gonna handle this?’ Take it to the street? I decided to take it to court.”

Effs sued Silvera for breach of contract in 2012 and Effs said Silvera has tried to minimize his role in the movie’s production, and in court papers, said Effs’ claims were barred by the statute of limitations.

“In his deposition, he said I was a coffee boy,” Effs said. “That I was a water boy.”

But Effs said he was the one who put Silvera on and even drove $1 million in cash from New York to Miami to finance “Shottas.”

As the legal battle goes on, Effs said he’s looking forward. He has plans to release a “Shottas” clothing line, a vodka brand, and is raising his three sons.

“It’s life,” he said of his current challenges. “You just gotta figure out how to make it right.”