Client Alerts – Doner Law

Could UBS Have Stopped a “Con” on Investors in a Bull Durham Musical?

July 1, 2020

[1] Have you ever heard a film producer or financier say, “I have access to half the financing”? It’s often followed by, “If you have the other half, we can do this.” I’ve heard this, many times. Words like these can be the start of a successful deal, or of

16 Reasons Why? Producer Dana Brunetti Hits Detachment by Discovery from “Manhunt” Series

July 12, 2019

Film and TV projects start in various ways. Sometimes a producer will formally option a writer’s idea or work. But the process of working through a wide range of possible outcomes, as option agreements typically do, can exact a lot of brain damage – and cost – on a project

“Bones” Decision: Fox Hit With $128M Penalty; How Much Did the Studio Wrongly Hide from Profit Participants?

March 29, 2019

By Ezra Doner The hit TV series Bones (the “Series”), featuring a crime-solving, forensic anthropologist, ran from 2005 through 2017, a total of twelve seasons. It starred Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz and was produced by Barry Josephson based on books by Kathy Reichs (collectively, the “Creatives”). At 246 episodes,

The Walking Dead: Should AMC pay less than $2M Per Episode, or more than $20M?

August 3, 2017

By Ezra Doner Writer/director Frank Darabont is the creator of mega series The Walking Dead (the “Series”); talent agency Creative Artists is the Series’ packager; and AMC Studio is the producer and distributor of the Series, and licenses it for broadcast to the AMC Network [1]. Plaintiffs Darabont and CAA, who

Did Relativity Media Run a $100M “Romance Scam” on a Film Investor?

February 14, 2017

By Ezra Doner RKA Film Financing has sued a group of film executives and financiers claiming that they schemed with much-hyped film distributor Relativity Media to pull off a $100 million-plus fraud. Putting movie industry context side, RKA’s fraud allegation, in key respects, looks like a classic “Romance Scam”, in

“Bones” Complaints: Did Fox Properly Account for Hulu monies?

December 9, 2015

By Ezra Doner Twentieth Century Fox produces the hit TV series Bones for its broadcast network and also makes the series available on Hulu of which it is a one-third owner. Did Fox properly report and share monies it received from its license of Bones to Hulu? Two complaints recently

Glen Larson TV Profits Dispute: If You Wait to Sue, How Long is Too Long?

September 18, 2015

Glen Larson produced some of the most successful television shows of the 1970s and 80s…

The Walking Dead: Is AMC’s License Fee “Improper” and “Outrageous”?

March 31, 2015

In a pending lawsuit, writer/director Frank Darabont, creator of the

Harlequin e-Books Royalty Case: A Dollar or a Dime?

May 22, 2014

By Ezra Doner In entertainment and media, sometimes business practices evolve more quickly than standard contracts. As recently as 2004, Harlequin Enterprises, the leading publisher of romance novels, did not specify a royalty rate for e-books in its author agreements. Rather, e-book sales were lumped into an “other rights”

Crash Profits Restated; Court Responds with “Big Interest”

February 12, 2014

By Ezra Doner Can a film company issue a participation statement, then later revise and reissue it, making major changes in its favor? If the changes are decidedly wrong, can there be consequences? Profit definitions typically give film companies an express right to correct mistakes, even retroactively. After all,