Atop the Fourth Wall is a web television series hosted by Lewis Jeffrey Lovhaug (born August 19, 1987), going by his pseudonym "Linkara". It is hosted on the website That Guy With The Glasses, run by the production company Channel Awesome.
In his program, Lovhaug reviews comic books of various genres (particularly superhero comics), with his catchphrase at the end of reviews being "This comic sucks!" Unlike other reviewers on Channel Awesome, he features a running story arc in which Linkara battles galactic conquerors and transdimensional entities. In addition, he is known for using limited profanity in his reviews, as he doesn't think he needs excessive swearing to make his jokes funny.
Background
Before the webshow, Lovhaug wrote and illustrated his own series of webcomics, which served as the origin of the name Linkara.
Atop the Fourth Wall started as a text-based review blog. In October 2008, Lovhaug participated in a contest on That Guy With The Glasses, filming his own version of Doug Walker's "Ask That Guy" videos. Since then, he has been a prominent reviewer on That Guy With The Glasses, often participating in crossovers with his fellow reviewers. Each episode is posted on blip.tv on Mondays, with the episode appearing on That Guy With The Glasses on Tuesday.
In several episodes, as well as in episodes of Nostalgia Critic, it is revealed that Linkara is a big Star Trek fan. In particular, he really enjoys the longest version of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Linkara is also a fan of the Power Rangers franchise, utilizing a Green Power Ranger outfit used by Tommy Oliver and the Dragon Dagger in his story arc from time to time. He also loved Doctor Who, the first Doctor he's seen being the Seventh Doctor. He also possesses a fedora hat (used in the design of the show's logo) and a fake flintlock pistol known as "the magic gun."
Theme Song
Welcome to Atop the Fourth Wall, where bad comics burn.
Linkara's gonna teach you all a lesson you won't learn.
Brodsky, you're not the smartest.
Leinfeld, not an artist.
Anyone who's had a bad comic published, it could be your turn.
Linkara!
He is a man, punch, wears a purty hat.
Linkara!
He has a magic gun. Where'd he purchase that?
Linkara!
Coins, robots, Amazons, and trucks.
Linkara!
This. Comic. Sucks.
Linkara!
Show Format
The videos are often shot from a studio room in Lovhaug's apartment, with a beige wall in the background and Linkara sitting on a green futon. He opens the review with the catchphrase, "Hello and welcome to Atop the Fourth Wall, where bad comics burn!" and quickly provides some background information on the comic being reviewed for the day's episode. After the theme song, Linkara reads from the comic, scrolling through the panels, cracking jokes or pointing out continuity or factual errors in the comic. After the comic is finished, he yells out, "This comic sucks!" concluding the review with a brief summary of everything wrong with the comic and then tossing it at the futon and walking away. Additional text comments about the comic are made in the end credits.
As the show also features a running storyline, the segments are often played before and after the review segments, with an occasional stinger after the credits.
Running Gags
*"Of course! Don't you know anything about science?!"- from Superman: At Earth's End, used in response to implausible descriptions of scientific technology.
*"I am a man!"- used to mock overdramatic emotions. Also from SAEE.
*"Bees, my god."
*"I'm the goddamn Batman!"
*Clips from Mystery Science Theater 3000
*"Because poor literacy is kewl!", usually played whenever Linkara encounters a major grammatical error.
*Continuity Alarm- blares to indicate lack of continuity (although Linkara has since mostly phased it out)
*"You magnificant bastard, I read your book!" from Patton.
*"Its Magic, you don't have to explain it." Whenever something unexplainable appears, such as a plot hole or lack of research. Reference to Joe Quesada and his defense against complaints towards One More Day, of which Linkara has voiced hatred of.
*"There is logic in what he says."
Other Works
In addition to his reviews of bad comics, he has also completed a Let's Play of Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force. He and Iron Liz, his former girlfriend and occasional co-operator, also posted vlogs of themselves playing trading card games for anime franchises such as and Sailor Moon in You're Such a Card...Game!
He also is currently producing the "History of Power Rangers" series, in which he looks back at each season of the franchise and gives a serious but very informal overview about its elements.
After the DC relaunch, Linkara also produced a short series of videos called "That's All I'm Saying," in which he took a quick look at the titles in The New 52 as well as others (including the Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics) and shared his thoughts on their quality and storytelling.
Lovhaug has appeared in an episode of Yu Gi Oh The Abridged Series as well as provided a voice for Dragon Ball Abridged. Lovhaug is also a writer, having made his own webcomic called Lightbringer, several self published novels known as the Angel Armor series, and an indie title called Revolution of the Mask.
Characters
The following characters are played by Lovhaug:
*Linkara: The host. He has taken up the role as the Earth's defender, having a vast arsenal of weapons and tools ranging from Doctor Who, Star Trek, and Power Rangers.
*Harvey Finevoice: A 1940s-style lounge singer and gangster. Armed with a machine gun.
*'90s Kid: An obnoxious teenager who praises common fads from the 1990s, particularly gratuitous violence and Rob Liefeld's artwork. Background music is usually Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana.
*Ninja-Style Dancer: A ninja who is completely silent and is an excellent dancer.
*Dr. Linksano: A mad scientist and alternate universe version of Dr. Insano (a character created by Lovhaug but popularized by Noah Antwiler from The Spoony Experiment). He tries to be evil and frightening, but is often undone by no more than his own incompetence and ineffectiveness.
*Boffo the Clown: A dignified, content, and overall not-evil clown. Speaks with a car horn.
Other characters include:
*Iron Liz: Played by Elizabeth Skochil, Lovhaug's former girlfriend. She stands by Linkara during his battles. In her off-time, she has a review show dedicated to pen-and-paper role-playing games.
*Lord Vyce: A galactic conquerer, who is conquering universes to "protect" them from a mysterious being known as the Entity. After a fierce battle, Linkara triumped over him and exiled him to a prison dimension, while claiming control of his spaceship, naming it Comicron-1.
*Snowflame: A schizophrenic one-shot character introduced in New Guardians #1. The original character is the villain of New Guardians #2, and was praised for having a line so lame it was awesome. He is apparently addicted to cocaine.
*Pollo: Named after the Spanish word for "chicken," Pollo is a robot constructed by Linkara and one of his closest friends and allies. In October 2011, Lovhaug posted a contest for fans to submit a new redesign for Pollo, as the old model has been falling apart. Currently, Pollo (like much of his set) is now computer animated. Pollo is voiced by a Microsoft Sam like program.
*Mechakara: An alternate universe version of Pollo who comes from a world where robots rebelled against humanity and exterminated most organic life. Mechakara uses a suit made from Linkara's own flesh and there is no one in the worlds he hates more than Linkara, and wishes to make him suffer in every possible way.
*NIMUE: Named after the Lady of the Lake from Arthurian lore, NIMUE is an AI program that helps to run the functions of Comicron-1. "She" is often voiced by either Amythest Angel (aka The Prop Lady) or Obscurus Lupa.
*The Entity: A terrible creature from Lord Vyce's native universe, which wishes to consume and convert all of existence to its singularity. It's later revealed to be the MissingNo. glitch from . Linkara ultimately defeats the creature by making it realize how pointless its goals and existence truly are.
In his program, Lovhaug reviews comic books of various genres (particularly superhero comics), with his catchphrase at the end of reviews being "This comic sucks!" Unlike other reviewers on Channel Awesome, he features a running story arc in which Linkara battles galactic conquerors and transdimensional entities. In addition, he is known for using limited profanity in his reviews, as he doesn't think he needs excessive swearing to make his jokes funny.
Background
Before the webshow, Lovhaug wrote and illustrated his own series of webcomics, which served as the origin of the name Linkara.
Atop the Fourth Wall started as a text-based review blog. In October 2008, Lovhaug participated in a contest on That Guy With The Glasses, filming his own version of Doug Walker's "Ask That Guy" videos. Since then, he has been a prominent reviewer on That Guy With The Glasses, often participating in crossovers with his fellow reviewers. Each episode is posted on blip.tv on Mondays, with the episode appearing on That Guy With The Glasses on Tuesday.
In several episodes, as well as in episodes of Nostalgia Critic, it is revealed that Linkara is a big Star Trek fan. In particular, he really enjoys the longest version of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Linkara is also a fan of the Power Rangers franchise, utilizing a Green Power Ranger outfit used by Tommy Oliver and the Dragon Dagger in his story arc from time to time. He also loved Doctor Who, the first Doctor he's seen being the Seventh Doctor. He also possesses a fedora hat (used in the design of the show's logo) and a fake flintlock pistol known as "the magic gun."
Theme Song
Welcome to Atop the Fourth Wall, where bad comics burn.
Linkara's gonna teach you all a lesson you won't learn.
Brodsky, you're not the smartest.
Leinfeld, not an artist.
Anyone who's had a bad comic published, it could be your turn.
Linkara!
He is a man, punch, wears a purty hat.
Linkara!
He has a magic gun. Where'd he purchase that?
Linkara!
Coins, robots, Amazons, and trucks.
Linkara!
This. Comic. Sucks.
Linkara!
Show Format
The videos are often shot from a studio room in Lovhaug's apartment, with a beige wall in the background and Linkara sitting on a green futon. He opens the review with the catchphrase, "Hello and welcome to Atop the Fourth Wall, where bad comics burn!" and quickly provides some background information on the comic being reviewed for the day's episode. After the theme song, Linkara reads from the comic, scrolling through the panels, cracking jokes or pointing out continuity or factual errors in the comic. After the comic is finished, he yells out, "This comic sucks!" concluding the review with a brief summary of everything wrong with the comic and then tossing it at the futon and walking away. Additional text comments about the comic are made in the end credits.
As the show also features a running storyline, the segments are often played before and after the review segments, with an occasional stinger after the credits.
Running Gags
*"Of course! Don't you know anything about science?!"- from Superman: At Earth's End, used in response to implausible descriptions of scientific technology.
*"I am a man!"- used to mock overdramatic emotions. Also from SAEE.
*"Bees, my god."
*"I'm the goddamn Batman!"
*Clips from Mystery Science Theater 3000
*"Because poor literacy is kewl!", usually played whenever Linkara encounters a major grammatical error.
*Continuity Alarm- blares to indicate lack of continuity (although Linkara has since mostly phased it out)
*"You magnificant bastard, I read your book!" from Patton.
*"Its Magic, you don't have to explain it." Whenever something unexplainable appears, such as a plot hole or lack of research. Reference to Joe Quesada and his defense against complaints towards One More Day, of which Linkara has voiced hatred of.
*"There is logic in what he says."
Other Works
In addition to his reviews of bad comics, he has also completed a Let's Play of Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force. He and Iron Liz, his former girlfriend and occasional co-operator, also posted vlogs of themselves playing trading card games for anime franchises such as and Sailor Moon in You're Such a Card...Game!
He also is currently producing the "History of Power Rangers" series, in which he looks back at each season of the franchise and gives a serious but very informal overview about its elements.
After the DC relaunch, Linkara also produced a short series of videos called "That's All I'm Saying," in which he took a quick look at the titles in The New 52 as well as others (including the Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics) and shared his thoughts on their quality and storytelling.
Lovhaug has appeared in an episode of Yu Gi Oh The Abridged Series as well as provided a voice for Dragon Ball Abridged. Lovhaug is also a writer, having made his own webcomic called Lightbringer, several self published novels known as the Angel Armor series, and an indie title called Revolution of the Mask.
Characters
The following characters are played by Lovhaug:
*Linkara: The host. He has taken up the role as the Earth's defender, having a vast arsenal of weapons and tools ranging from Doctor Who, Star Trek, and Power Rangers.
*Harvey Finevoice: A 1940s-style lounge singer and gangster. Armed with a machine gun.
*'90s Kid: An obnoxious teenager who praises common fads from the 1990s, particularly gratuitous violence and Rob Liefeld's artwork. Background music is usually Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana.
*Ninja-Style Dancer: A ninja who is completely silent and is an excellent dancer.
*Dr. Linksano: A mad scientist and alternate universe version of Dr. Insano (a character created by Lovhaug but popularized by Noah Antwiler from The Spoony Experiment). He tries to be evil and frightening, but is often undone by no more than his own incompetence and ineffectiveness.
*Boffo the Clown: A dignified, content, and overall not-evil clown. Speaks with a car horn.
Other characters include:
*Iron Liz: Played by Elizabeth Skochil, Lovhaug's former girlfriend. She stands by Linkara during his battles. In her off-time, she has a review show dedicated to pen-and-paper role-playing games.
*Lord Vyce: A galactic conquerer, who is conquering universes to "protect" them from a mysterious being known as the Entity. After a fierce battle, Linkara triumped over him and exiled him to a prison dimension, while claiming control of his spaceship, naming it Comicron-1.
*Snowflame: A schizophrenic one-shot character introduced in New Guardians #1. The original character is the villain of New Guardians #2, and was praised for having a line so lame it was awesome. He is apparently addicted to cocaine.
*Pollo: Named after the Spanish word for "chicken," Pollo is a robot constructed by Linkara and one of his closest friends and allies. In October 2011, Lovhaug posted a contest for fans to submit a new redesign for Pollo, as the old model has been falling apart. Currently, Pollo (like much of his set) is now computer animated. Pollo is voiced by a Microsoft Sam like program.
*Mechakara: An alternate universe version of Pollo who comes from a world where robots rebelled against humanity and exterminated most organic life. Mechakara uses a suit made from Linkara's own flesh and there is no one in the worlds he hates more than Linkara, and wishes to make him suffer in every possible way.
*NIMUE: Named after the Lady of the Lake from Arthurian lore, NIMUE is an AI program that helps to run the functions of Comicron-1. "She" is often voiced by either Amythest Angel (aka The Prop Lady) or Obscurus Lupa.
*The Entity: A terrible creature from Lord Vyce's native universe, which wishes to consume and convert all of existence to its singularity. It's later revealed to be the MissingNo. glitch from . Linkara ultimately defeats the creature by making it realize how pointless its goals and existence truly are.
David S. Gruder, (b. 1954, New York City) is a psychologist living in San Diego, California. He is the author of two print books, The New IQ: How Integrity Intelligence Serves You, Your Relationships, and Our World. and Sensible Self Help. In 2008, The New IQ won a San Diego Book Award as Health & Wellness Book-of-the-Year. In 1997, Sensible Self-Help won the Colliers Mental Health Book of the Year Award and the Outstanding Book Writing in the Area of Self Help Award for the San Diego Book Awards.
Professional life
He is the Executive Director and Founder of Integrity Revolution and Willingness Works, is the creator of the Integrity Stimulus Plan, is the host of Integrity Talk Radio on wsRadio, and was the Founding President of the International Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology (ACEP), a non-profit organization. Upon his retirement from ACEP, "The David Gruder Leadership Award" was created as a tribute to his pioneering work.
Professional life
He is the Executive Director and Founder of Integrity Revolution and Willingness Works, is the creator of the Integrity Stimulus Plan, is the host of Integrity Talk Radio on wsRadio, and was the Founding President of the International Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology (ACEP), a non-profit organization. Upon his retirement from ACEP, "The David Gruder Leadership Award" was created as a tribute to his pioneering work.
Rami Singh is a British Canadian Healer, Teacher of Energy Psychology, International Speaker, Consciousness Transformational Coach, Alternative Medicine Therapist and Intuitive Counsellor.
Early life and education
Rami was born to a Sikh family in New Delhi, India and was educated in School and Universities in Delhi, Canada, Japan, US and UK. From a very early age of four she was demonstrating her innate spiritual awareness and psychic abilities, and telling family that all are one despite outward appearances and differences of race and religion. Her psychic abilities were ever present, yet left untapped as a teenager. As an adult she gravitated to holistic healing after finding herself aware that one cannot heal oneself physically without healing the mind and spirit. She set about learning many healing modalities from masters and teachers around the world and trying everything out with people who were in need of physical and emotional healing to see what worked.
She is a trained Counsellor, and has qualified to the highest level of Thought Field Therapy in Voice Technology Techniques from Dr Roger Callahan in US. She is a trained Kinesiologist, Hypnotist, Spirit Response Therapy practitioner, Healer of Spiritual Restructuring, Reiki and Seichem Master and Teacher. She has a broad background in physical, energetic and spiritual healing and a deep level of understanding in the field of energetic healing and how it relates to the body, mind and spirit.
Career
Rami developed her own healing modality which works effectively on healing trauma, any physical condition, personal development.
She has taught Energy healing in many venues throughout the UK, USA and Canada since 2005. She teaches people worldwide how to effectively access healing to their physical self.
She is an empowering Transformational Coach specialising in relationships, Consciousness, Peak Performance, Spiritual Coaching and Effortless Manifesting.
Rami conducted (and conducts nowadays) educational lectures, workshops, courses, which ignited great interest in Canada, USA and Great Britain. She helps people understand how things works holistically and helps them to achieve their dreams by removing the blocks that hold them back. She helps people find their destiny and life path with coaching and spiritual teaching. She empowers them to learn the truth of who they are and the power they have within them.
Association Memberships
Rami is a member of various Associations which are dedicated to upholding professional and ethical standards amongst the practitioners of healing modalities. She is a member of the British Complementary Medicine Association (BCMA), Association for Thought Field Therapy in USA (ATFT), Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology in USA (ACEP), British Thought Field Therapy Association (BTFT), Spiritual Response Association and Spirit Release Foundation.
Media
She has been published in many newspapers and international magazines and many newspapers have written of her abilities as a healer. In 2004 The Guardian in UK recommended her to its readers as a healer. In 2005 National Childbirth Trust wrote about her spiritual message of healing the mind body and Spirit.
Early life and education
Rami was born to a Sikh family in New Delhi, India and was educated in School and Universities in Delhi, Canada, Japan, US and UK. From a very early age of four she was demonstrating her innate spiritual awareness and psychic abilities, and telling family that all are one despite outward appearances and differences of race and religion. Her psychic abilities were ever present, yet left untapped as a teenager. As an adult she gravitated to holistic healing after finding herself aware that one cannot heal oneself physically without healing the mind and spirit. She set about learning many healing modalities from masters and teachers around the world and trying everything out with people who were in need of physical and emotional healing to see what worked.
She is a trained Counsellor, and has qualified to the highest level of Thought Field Therapy in Voice Technology Techniques from Dr Roger Callahan in US. She is a trained Kinesiologist, Hypnotist, Spirit Response Therapy practitioner, Healer of Spiritual Restructuring, Reiki and Seichem Master and Teacher. She has a broad background in physical, energetic and spiritual healing and a deep level of understanding in the field of energetic healing and how it relates to the body, mind and spirit.
Career
Rami developed her own healing modality which works effectively on healing trauma, any physical condition, personal development.
She has taught Energy healing in many venues throughout the UK, USA and Canada since 2005. She teaches people worldwide how to effectively access healing to their physical self.
She is an empowering Transformational Coach specialising in relationships, Consciousness, Peak Performance, Spiritual Coaching and Effortless Manifesting.
Rami conducted (and conducts nowadays) educational lectures, workshops, courses, which ignited great interest in Canada, USA and Great Britain. She helps people understand how things works holistically and helps them to achieve their dreams by removing the blocks that hold them back. She helps people find their destiny and life path with coaching and spiritual teaching. She empowers them to learn the truth of who they are and the power they have within them.
Association Memberships
Rami is a member of various Associations which are dedicated to upholding professional and ethical standards amongst the practitioners of healing modalities. She is a member of the British Complementary Medicine Association (BCMA), Association for Thought Field Therapy in USA (ATFT), Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology in USA (ACEP), British Thought Field Therapy Association (BTFT), Spiritual Response Association and Spirit Release Foundation.
Media
She has been published in many newspapers and international magazines and many newspapers have written of her abilities as a healer. In 2004 The Guardian in UK recommended her to its readers as a healer. In 2005 National Childbirth Trust wrote about her spiritual message of healing the mind body and Spirit.
Since its formation the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) was involved in a number of controversies, the major one being with the Kerala Film Chamber of Commerce, which represents producers, exhibitors and distributors in Kerala. The rift started as early as April 2002 when the Chamber came out with an instruction to the film artistes against appearing in TV programmes or stage shows; the cited reason being diversion of energy of the artistes from films and loss of star value by frequent public appearance. In January 2004, the AMMA decided to participate in an award night conducted by Asianet, a private TV channel to be held on 7 March 2004. The Kerala Film Chamber of Commerce objected the move claiming that it is a breach of an agreement between the two parties which had provisions against the AMMA's members appearing in stage and television shows. Further, the Chamber president, Siyad Kokker warned that all the production work will be halted from 8 March 2004 unless the AMMA refrain from the show. The Malayalam Cine Technicians Association (MACTA), which first took a stand in favour of the Film Chamber, later decided to maintain a neutral stand in the issue. AMMA was put under pressure by some comments made by senior actors Thilakan and Lalu Alex against AMMA. Lalu Alex particularly accused that "the AMMA had betrayed the Film Chamber after signing an agreement". On 16 April 2004, the AMMA called a press meet in which they demanded changes in agreement with film chamber. They claimed that certain points in the agreement were equivalent to the denial of freedom and rights of the artistes and also detrimental to the growth of the Malayalam film industry, and sought removal of them from the agreement.
The AMMA's concerns regarding the clauses of the agreement:
#In the case of remuneration to be paid by the producer to the artiste, there was no guarantee that was assured in the agreement.
#The agreement will be in force till the film is released and would in effect prevent an artiste from associating with any other project.
#The ban prohibiting an artiste from taking part in star nites or stage shows in India and abroad for a period of 12 months from the date of agreement.
#The ban for an artiste to associate themselves with any programmes, including those for the television channels, which were likely to be telecast without the written consent of the Kerala Film Chamber of Commerce.
While the Film Chamber was adamant on modifying the agreement, the AMMA went forward with the stage programme on 7 March 2004, which further deepened the crisis. The production works in Malayalam film industry halted as both sides remained firm on their stands; the AMMA kept its members from working for any film till the stand-off gets over and the Chamber halted the production works of films. A series of dramatic events followed, which gave new dimensions to the crisis. The first of them was the formation of Malayalam Film Chamber of Commerce vis-à-vis Kerala Film Chamber of Commerce on 10 March 2004. The former consisted of a number of film producers, artistes and other workers. The body set its objective as to keep unity among members of the film industry and to work for their economic, social and professional growth. The officials also claimed that it was not a parallel body to the Kerala Film Chamber of Commerce. However, the formation of the Malayalam Film Chamber of Commerce had little effect on the crisis. The Government of Kerala got involved in the controversy after an AMMA delegation met the then-Chief Minister A. K. Antony and requested the Government's help in solving the crisis. Antony directed the Kerala Information and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, M.M. Hassan and the Minister for Food and Culture, G. Karthikeyan to hold talks with the Kerala Film Chamber of Commerce. The mediatory efforts by the State Government ended soon on 25 March 2004 as the Chamber refused to involve the AMMA in the talks citing the reason that it does not recognise AMMA. The Chamber representatives also informed the Government that there is no crisis in the industry. Meanwhile, a number of AMMA members conducted a star night programme in Dubai on 26 April 2004, further deepening the crisis. The AMMA's stand was worsened on 28 April 2004, when young actor Prithviraj openly challenged the AMMA and joined a film directed by Vinayan, titled Sathyam after signing the controversial agreement. He insisted that he did not want to disobey the AMMA, but he could not let his career suffer as well. He claimed that he did not find any of the 21 clauses in the agreement as harmful to the interests of the artistes. Parallelly works on another film titled Manju Poloru Penkutty started; the film being directed by Kamal with Lalu Alex and Suresh Krishna in the major cast. Suresh Krishna was another actor who challenged the AMMA's stand. Other cast in both films were either from outside Kerala or were not members of the AMMA. The crisis went through many ups and downs when the MACTA accused the AMMA general secretary Mohanlal of playing dirty (28 March), directors Priyadarshan and T. K. Rajeev Kumar participated in the AMMA star nite on 6 March, the AMMA pulled out of the non-cooperation (18 March), the Chamber drafted new agreement (20 March) and the AMMA's first approval(4 April) and then disapproval(17 April)) of the new agreement (which was signed by Prithviraj, Thilakan and Lalu Alex). The crisis came to an end on 3 June 2004 when the AMMA and the Chamber came in terms with the new agreement. The Chamber obliged to alter 2 clauses in the agreement. The changes were:
1. Clause 17
: Original Clause: Artistes should get permission from the Chamber for taking part in stage programmes.
: Changed to: Artistes need to inform the Chamber about taking part in stage programmes.
2. Clause 21
: Original Clause: The Chamber is the body which will take decisions in case of disputes.
: Changed to: A combined forum consisting of selected members of the Chamber, the AMMA and the MACTA will be the arbitration body in case of disputes.
The AMMA's decision to abide by the new agreement put an end to the crisis that lasted about 4 months. The artistes who defied the AMMA during the crisis, namely Prithviraj, Suresh Krishna Lalu Alex, Bheeman Raghu, Captain Raju, Meera Jasmine and Kaviyoor Renuka expressed their apology at an AMMA meeting on 13 June 2004 in response to a show-cause notice from the AMMA, further loosening the situation. However a fresh crisis surfaced with the Chamber's decision to go ahead with an indefinite Cinema Bandh starting on 15 June 2004 seeking reduction of electricity rate slash for supply to cinema halls and reduction in entertainment tax. The bandh was called off on 2 July 2004 after the State Government assured to take positive stand on the demands of the Chamber.
The AMMA's concerns regarding the clauses of the agreement:
#In the case of remuneration to be paid by the producer to the artiste, there was no guarantee that was assured in the agreement.
#The agreement will be in force till the film is released and would in effect prevent an artiste from associating with any other project.
#The ban prohibiting an artiste from taking part in star nites or stage shows in India and abroad for a period of 12 months from the date of agreement.
#The ban for an artiste to associate themselves with any programmes, including those for the television channels, which were likely to be telecast without the written consent of the Kerala Film Chamber of Commerce.
While the Film Chamber was adamant on modifying the agreement, the AMMA went forward with the stage programme on 7 March 2004, which further deepened the crisis. The production works in Malayalam film industry halted as both sides remained firm on their stands; the AMMA kept its members from working for any film till the stand-off gets over and the Chamber halted the production works of films. A series of dramatic events followed, which gave new dimensions to the crisis. The first of them was the formation of Malayalam Film Chamber of Commerce vis-à-vis Kerala Film Chamber of Commerce on 10 March 2004. The former consisted of a number of film producers, artistes and other workers. The body set its objective as to keep unity among members of the film industry and to work for their economic, social and professional growth. The officials also claimed that it was not a parallel body to the Kerala Film Chamber of Commerce. However, the formation of the Malayalam Film Chamber of Commerce had little effect on the crisis. The Government of Kerala got involved in the controversy after an AMMA delegation met the then-Chief Minister A. K. Antony and requested the Government's help in solving the crisis. Antony directed the Kerala Information and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, M.M. Hassan and the Minister for Food and Culture, G. Karthikeyan to hold talks with the Kerala Film Chamber of Commerce. The mediatory efforts by the State Government ended soon on 25 March 2004 as the Chamber refused to involve the AMMA in the talks citing the reason that it does not recognise AMMA. The Chamber representatives also informed the Government that there is no crisis in the industry. Meanwhile, a number of AMMA members conducted a star night programme in Dubai on 26 April 2004, further deepening the crisis. The AMMA's stand was worsened on 28 April 2004, when young actor Prithviraj openly challenged the AMMA and joined a film directed by Vinayan, titled Sathyam after signing the controversial agreement. He insisted that he did not want to disobey the AMMA, but he could not let his career suffer as well. He claimed that he did not find any of the 21 clauses in the agreement as harmful to the interests of the artistes. Parallelly works on another film titled Manju Poloru Penkutty started; the film being directed by Kamal with Lalu Alex and Suresh Krishna in the major cast. Suresh Krishna was another actor who challenged the AMMA's stand. Other cast in both films were either from outside Kerala or were not members of the AMMA. The crisis went through many ups and downs when the MACTA accused the AMMA general secretary Mohanlal of playing dirty (28 March), directors Priyadarshan and T. K. Rajeev Kumar participated in the AMMA star nite on 6 March, the AMMA pulled out of the non-cooperation (18 March), the Chamber drafted new agreement (20 March) and the AMMA's first approval(4 April) and then disapproval(17 April)) of the new agreement (which was signed by Prithviraj, Thilakan and Lalu Alex). The crisis came to an end on 3 June 2004 when the AMMA and the Chamber came in terms with the new agreement. The Chamber obliged to alter 2 clauses in the agreement. The changes were:
1. Clause 17
: Original Clause: Artistes should get permission from the Chamber for taking part in stage programmes.
: Changed to: Artistes need to inform the Chamber about taking part in stage programmes.
2. Clause 21
: Original Clause: The Chamber is the body which will take decisions in case of disputes.
: Changed to: A combined forum consisting of selected members of the Chamber, the AMMA and the MACTA will be the arbitration body in case of disputes.
The AMMA's decision to abide by the new agreement put an end to the crisis that lasted about 4 months. The artistes who defied the AMMA during the crisis, namely Prithviraj, Suresh Krishna Lalu Alex, Bheeman Raghu, Captain Raju, Meera Jasmine and Kaviyoor Renuka expressed their apology at an AMMA meeting on 13 June 2004 in response to a show-cause notice from the AMMA, further loosening the situation. However a fresh crisis surfaced with the Chamber's decision to go ahead with an indefinite Cinema Bandh starting on 15 June 2004 seeking reduction of electricity rate slash for supply to cinema halls and reduction in entertainment tax. The bandh was called off on 2 July 2004 after the State Government assured to take positive stand on the demands of the Chamber.