Hollywood Road

Chapter 335 Out of Court Settlement

Murphy, which Miramax owes, is mainly the final box office of "Sin City" and other directors' share, and a small part belongs to the later dividends of "Planet of Horror", the total amount is about 4 million US dollars. .

For Murphy in the past, four million US dollars is a pretty large number, but after successively getting high salary and income sharing, this share is no longer a big deal, but he will not give up easily. This is what he deserves. The rights and income of the people, but also to show their determination to the outside world.

He will not be a director and investor who will swallow at a loss.

Hollywood itself is a business circle, and businessmen pay great attention to profits. If they are owed this time and do not pursue them, other companies will certainly follow suit.

Like himself, Murphy will never overestimate the moral bottom line of Hollywood practitioners.

With Walt Disney taking complete control of Miramax, Murphy issued a letter of recourse in the name of Stanton Studios, but the stone fell into the sea, and even a wave did not arouse. Miramax’s new The management seems to not want to talk to him as a salary seeker at all.

Bill Rossis also called in the name of Murphy's agent, and the answer was to continue to wait.

Like all owed wages, you can never expect the capital conscience to discover that if you do not take the initiative, you may always be waiting, and you can't wait for a good result.

Therefore, Murphy did not hesitate to ask his accountant David to list the relevant details, attach it to the lawyer's letter from the lawyer Robert, and send it to the top of Miramax.

It may be that Miramax doesn't want to deal with a director who is worthless to him, it may be that he has a lot of debts, or it may be that Miramax's mess has not been sorted out, the total of the principal and interest. Once again, there was no response to the US$5 million recovery letter.

If there is no response through normal channels, there is only one way.

Of course, this method is not to find someone to kill Michael Eisner, nor to threaten the management of Miramax with some shameless means. It has not yet reached this point. How does Murphy say he is a person with status and status. However, the risks and rewards of doing so are completely disproportionate.

After consulting Bill Rossis and Robert, Murphy chose the most normal method-the law!

This is the most commonly used method of recovering salary in Hollywood. It is said that Peter Jackson is currently suing New Line Pictures for the $15 million he deserves in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

Many Hollywood companies have a poor reputation in this regard. It is not only Peter Jackson who sued New Line Films, but also the cast and Tolkien copyright management agency. They all accused New Line Films of concealing a large amount of "Lord of the Rings." The box office revenue of the trilogy, in order to avoid paying more shares, the actual box office revenue of these three films is much higher than the public box office data.

On behalf of Murphy, Robert also sued Miramax and Walt Disney, the actual manager of the company, to the Delaware Commercial Chancery Court, whether it was Stanton Studios, Miramax, or Walt. Disney, the actual place of registration is Delaware.

Then, Murphy learned from the Delaware Commercial Chancery Court that it was not just him who sued Walt Disney, but also many of Disney’s shareholders.

Disney’s shareholders took the management headed by Michael Eisner to court. As for the reason, the board of directors controlled by Michael Eisner when Michael Ovitz resigned from the position of Disney’s CEO. Without the approval of the normal procedures, Michael Ovitz paid nearly 200 million US dollars in liquidated damages in installments.

Over the next few days, Murphy learned more about this. Walt Disney’s shareholders sued the management not only for liquidated damages. Their drunkenness was not about drinking, they targeted Michael Ai. Sna.

To put it simply, there is a powerful force within Disney that is dissatisfied with Michael Eisner's domineering style and his actions in recent years, and wants to replace it.

Now even the parent company Walt Disney has begun civil strife. Miramax may really have not figured it out. Murphy thinks there is such a possibility. Miramax and Walt Disney may not really want to owe wages. Civil strife. Will seriously delay their work efficiency.

But thinking about it, Murphy would not withdraw the lawsuit, and the arrow that he shot did not make sense. Moreover, Miramax did indeed default on his share of payment.

However, Walt Disney, especially the management headed by Michael Eisner, in an eventful period, does not want to increase the trouble of Stanton Studios. The lawsuit filed by Robert on behalf of Murphy also seems to remind that most of the energy is put on They on the infighting.

Miramax’s management contacted Murphy through Bill Rossis, hoping that the two sides could reach an out-of-court settlement. Murphy began contacting Miramax after soliciting opinions from various parties. If an out-of-court settlement can be reached , He also didn't want to fight a long and boring lawsuit.

This kind of lawsuit may drag on for half a year or even longer, and consume countless time and energy.

In addition, the high cost of litigation is also an important reason for Murphy to consider out-of-court settlement.

Even though Robert has never failed in all Hollywood lawsuits, Murphy still gives priority to out-of-court settlement.

He knows Robert's Hollywood victory record very well. In fact, this is not particularly unusual, because most of the Hollywood lawsuits ended in out-of-court settlements, and the results are mostly confidential, which has created a group of lawyers who have never failed in the Hollywood business.

Indeed, since accepting Murphy’s employment, Robert has done his duty and is a lawyer with very professional ethics, but he works in the American Mais Law Firm, which is rated as the top law firm in the United States by the "American Lawyer" , The control over its lawyers is quite strong. If they have other ideas and delay the case, it will only be the lawyers of both parties to the litigation that will eventually profit, and even the final agency fee will not only be the $5 million requested by Murphy.

This is not an exaggeration.

However, entertainment lawyers are also an indispensable part of the mature industry of Hollywood, and the services they provide do make it convenient for employers such as Murphy.

As Bill Rossis was busy in the awards season, Murphy commissioned Grace and Robert to negotiate an out-of-court settlement with Miramax’s agent.

Murphy did not want to delay this boring lawsuit, and the new management of Miramax, who was eager to go back to help his master fight for power, did not want to distract. The negotiation between the two sides went extremely smoothly, and it only took three days to reach an agreement. Then, under the supervision of representatives of the Delaware Commercial Chancery Court, a formal settlement agreement was signed.

The core part of the out-of-court settlement agreement is Murphy’s director share owed by Miramax. The two parties finally reached an agreement at 4.5 million U.S. dollars. In addition to the 4.5 million U.S. dollars, Miramax also paid back to avoid future troubles. At a price of 500,000 US dollars, Murphy bought out the later dividend rights of "Terror Planet" and "Sin City".

Because the offline share ratio stipulated in the original director contract was very low, Murphy also happily signed the out-of-court settlement agreement.

From then on, except for the share specified by the union, Murphy has basically no economic relationship with the two films "Planet of Horror" and "Sin City".

In fact, after Murphy paid 10% of the attorney Robert's agency fees, the final share from Miramax was about the same as the original amount plus normal interest.

Such an out-of-court settlement not only avoids high litigation agency fees, but also does not have to involve too much Murphy's experience. Otherwise, the repeated hearings and court appearances will be annoying.

Similarly, this is an important reason why many Hollywood lawsuits choose to settle out of court.

Murphy does not want to distract himself from the lawsuit. On the one hand, he has to make some preparations for the awards season. On the other hand, he is preparing for the filming of "A Song of Ice and Fire: Game of Thrones".

This will not be easier than shooting any major movie.

Since it has reached a joint production agreement with the 20th Century Fox Film and Television Production Department and confirmed that the series will be broadcast on Fox Cable Network, Murphy does not plan to shoot pilot episodes like ordinary American TV series, and then decide after watching the reaction. Is it to continue shooting, but to shoot the ten episodes of the first season at once.

The two parties also reached an agreement on investment and copyright. Each holds 50% of the investment. The copyright purchase cost of Stanton Studio will be directly converted into Stanton Studio’s investment based on the investment situation. The production cost of the first season is temporarily It is scheduled for 60 million U.S. dollars.

In addition, Murphy also talked with David Ellison several times, and the agents of the two sides also started negotiations. Only then did he know that the funds that David Ellison could control before were far from what was rumored. That's a lot, about forty to fifty million dollars.

It was not until the investment of "The Lost Lovers" was a success that David Ellison got the real right to use the foundation under his name from Larry Ellison, and he did indeed hold an enviable amount in his hand. Of huge funds.

This money is enough for him to invest in non-super big productions two to three times, and all of them fail, and he can still get up.

Sometimes things are so unfair. It is also the initial stage. Some people will fall into **** if they take a wrong step, and some people will have a lot of opportunities even if they fall into the trap one after another.

Stanton Studios once again accepted a loan from the David Ellison's foundation, totaling $15 million, which basically solved Murphy's funding problem for the production of "A Song of Ice and Fire: Game of Thrones".

As in the past, David Ellison still needs to prove himself to the outside world with success, and Murphy also likes this kind of interest-only loan, where both parties get what they need.

But after David Ellison's funds were in place, Murphy ran into trouble and fired the screenwriter who assisted George Martin.