If you were looking for a Christmas light show in the Chicago area in 2021 and 2022, the Amaze Light Festivals in Rosemont and Tinley Park would have had you covered.
But more than a year since their last show, NBC 5 Responds found the company is still accused of not covering many of their expenses.
Artistic Holiday Design, the company behind the Amaze Light Festival, is facing millions of dollars in lawsuits from vendors and transportation companies.
“It goes well beyond me now. It is multiple organizations, it seems like nearly every company that was involved, and putting their time and service in here, either has not been paid in full or has not been paid at all,” said Kim Scerine, who heads the children’s nonprofit dance troupe, the On Broadway Dancers.
Scerine says her troupe is still owed about $48,000 for their performances during the 2022 Tinley Park Amaze Light Festival. Last year, she told NBC 5 Responds that after months of waiting for the company to pay, she decided to take out a loan and pay the dancers herself.
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“To kind of think that like they would take advantage of us and like, not give us the money that we were told we are going to get from the contract, that's just really upsetting and it shouldn't have happened,” said Brecken Johnson, a performer at the 2022 Tinley Park Amaze Light Festival.
Now for the first time, the CEO of the company behind those controversial light festivals is speaking out exclusively to NBC 5 Responds. Our team caught up with Derek Norwood near his office in Cape Coral, Florida.
“Losing money sucks. It's really, really hard. But it is not the same as stealing money. Any illusion that I did anything fraudulent is a flat-out lie,” said Norwood, the owner of Amaze Light Festival LLC and Artistic Holiday Design LLC.
NBC 5 Responds
Norwood explains his company put on three light festivals, two in Illinois and one in New York. But the profits weren’t what he expected.
“We didn't come close to the amount of tickets we needed to break even,” said Norwood. “I fell in love with a dream of being the producer of a light festival. And it was a wonderful dream. And it was not something that is very difficult. We felt that, you know, if enough people got there, it would blow up and we would sell a ton of tickets and it just didn't happen.”
He acknowledges Scerine’s dance troupe shouldn’t have to wait for their money, but says he has other immediate priorities.
“The entire situation is unfair for her. We also have to pay our losses, I mean, the lawsuits and she hasn't filed. We have to settle those lawsuits in order to make sure our Venture Capital Group continues to support us. Our investor is the most important part here,” Norwood said.
Scerine previously told us she couldn’t afford to take the company to court. Other businesses owners tell NBC 5 Responds they felt they had no other option.
“Amaze just stopped answering our emails and calls,” said Michael Gurl, the owner of Petal &Co Productions based out of New York.
Gurl’s company helped design and install various aspects of Norwood’s festivals. He is suing Norwood for breach of contract.
“Overall contract amount owed is near $800,000,” Gurl said. “At times, we thought we would have to close the business.”
Norwood asserts the company is making payments as they're able to.
“All the lawsuits, go back and do your own research, you're gonna find that almost all of them are settled. We are currently making payment. We’ll continue making payments as money comes in,” said Norwood.
But Gurl says Norwood has ignored his attorney’s efforts to discuss a settlement and he hasn’t received any payment from Norwood’s company since November 2022. Two other lawsuits filed by New York based companies are still ongoing, according to court records.
A breach of contract lawsuit filed by Odyssey Fun World, which hosted the 2022 Tinley Park festival, is also still ongoing according to court records.
Norwood was also recently hit with two lawsuits out of Lee County, Florida over non-payment. The lawsuits involve a candy company, as well as a toy company, who provided goods for the Illinois Amaze Light Festival shows.
The Tinley Park Police Department told NBC 5 Responds Norwood’s company owes them $80,000 for security and traffic services from the 2022 festival. Village Manager Pat Carr said they are still waiting for payment and considering legal action.
In December, Norwood did offer to give Scerine and her dance troupe a one-time payment of $26,000 up front, which is a little more than half of what they’re owed. Norwood’s other offer was to pay Scerine monthly over the next two years.
“[Norwood] also promised to pay me in the last year and never made any of those payments. And I'd have to be an idiot to trust [him] for two more years to do the same thing, and interest free,” Scerine said.
“I encouraged her to take one of our offers and settle it and move on and it's not going to help to continuously go backwards,” Norwood said. “It sucks. It’s not good, but its better than it not happening.”
Scerine says she recently received a $1,000 payment from Norwood that arrived around the same time Norwood agreed to our interview.
In the meantime, Norwood claims he has paid off roughly 65% of his debts, though he declined to provide documentation to support that claim. He said the company is on track to pay what they owe Scerine’s dancers, potentially by the end of the year.
