Author Michael Crichton, who died in 2008, achieved a unique blend of artistic, commercial, and financial success. A great storyteller, Crichton was also a futurist who dramatized the shock of new technologies. Standouts include Crichton’s novel Jurassic Park, which gave rise to the franchise of the same name, and the genre-defining ER, which ran forContinueContinue reading “Is “The Pitt” Getting a Free Ride on the “ER” Brand?”
Category Archives: Client Alert
“We’ve Got Scorsese!” / Bad News: Lawsuit to Follow
In 2022, UK-based producers contracted with legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese to executive produce their World War II project, Operation: Fortitude. The UK producers would be telling a big, true story, about an outsize plan of deception pivotal to the Normandy invasion. And to jumpstart their project, they paid Scorsese half a million dollars upfront, withContinueContinue reading ““We’ve Got Scorsese!” / Bad News: Lawsuit to Follow”
As A Potential Food Fight Looms, How Much is Hulu Really Worth?
Starting in November, Disney, the majority owner of Hulu, can “call” Comcast’s one-third interest in Hulu, that is, require Comcast to sell its interest in the company, at a sale price tied to Hulu’s value as of September 30, 2023. If Disney doesn’t exercise its call, Comcast can “put” its one-third interest to Disney, atContinueContinue reading “As A Potential Food Fight Looms, How Much is Hulu Really Worth?”
When A Film Project Collapsed, Could Movie Star Eva Green Keep Her US$1M Pay-Or-Play Fee? Was The “Law Of Failed Projects” To Blame?
In May 2019, French actress Eva Green (Casino Royale, Penny Dreadful, 300: Rise Of An Empire) was hired to star in A Patriot (the Project), a UK film project that collapsed shortly before filming was to start. By October of that year, A Patriot’s American bridge lender (the Bridge Lender) sought return of Green’s US$1,000,000ContinueContinue reading “When A Film Project Collapsed, Could Movie Star Eva Green Keep Her US$1M Pay-Or-Play Fee? Was The “Law Of Failed Projects” To Blame?”
Is Sacha Baron Cohen Funny? What’s So Funny? Courts Weigh In
My posts are usually about business and legal developments in the entertainment industry, especially disputes regarding profit participations. But in this post, I focus on two recent cases which pose questions not often asked in litigation. Namely, who, and what, is funny? In 2018, an elaborately disguised Sacha Baron Cohen, pretending to be an IsraeliContinueContinue reading “Is Sacha Baron Cohen Funny? What’s So Funny? Courts Weigh In”
Harlequin e-Books Royalty Case: A Dollar or a Dime?
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” category originally intended for book clubs and other activitiesContinueContinue reading “Harlequin e-Books Royalty Case: A Dollar or a Dime?”
Ladd v. Warner Bros. – Can They Really Do That?
Producer Alan Ladd, Jr. is responsible (with others, of course) for such popular and even iconic motion pictures as Blade Runner, Body Heat, The Brady Brunch Movie, Braveheart, Chariots of Fire, Night Shift, Once Upon a Time in America, Outland, Police Academy 1–6 and The Right Stuff. He is in that upper stratum of filmContinueContinue reading “Ladd v. Warner Bros. – Can They Really Do That?”
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