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5 items from 2004

17 August 2004 | The Hollywood Reporter | See recent The Hollywood Reporter news »

The U.S. District Court judge in the fraud trial against Elie Samaha and his Franchise Pictures has indicated that she will accept the $106 million jury verdict awarded to plaintiffs Intertainment Licensing. Judge Alicemarie Stotler said she is "inclined to approve" the judgment, according to court records of a hearing Friday in Stotler's Santa Ana courtroom. The judge's final ruling could come as soon as this week. Samaha's attorneys are considering an appeal of the June verdict, which found that Samaha defrauded Intertainment by inflating the budgets on such features as Get Carter, The Whole Nine Yards and 3000 Miles to Graceland. »

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17 August 2004 | The Hollywood Reporter | See recent The Hollywood Reporter news »

Donald Faison, Molly Sims, Eddie Kaye Thomas and Eddie Guerra are teaming to star in the indie comedy feature Venus and Vegas for helmer Demian Lichtenstein. Penned by Guerra (CSI: Miami), Venus follows a trio of crooks -- Faison, Thomas and Guerra -- who must work together to repair their fractured relationship after they botch a holdup job. Jaime Pressly, Abraham Benrubi, Florence Henderson, Jon Polito and Paul Ben-Victor round out the cast. The project is under way in Los Angeles and is being produced by Scott Floyd Lochmus and Luis Moro. Lichtenstein (3000 Miles to Graceland) also is producing. »

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17 June 2004 | The Hollywood Reporter | See recent The Hollywood Reporter news »

A federal jury returned a $77 million verdict against Elie Samaha's Franchise Pictures on Wednesday, finding that it defrauded Intertainment Licensing by inflating budgets on a slate of feature films including Get Carter, The Whole Nine Yards and 3000 Miles to Graceland. The nine-person jury sitting in Santa Ana, Calif., found the fraud by "clear and convincing evidence," a relatively high threshold of evidence that allows Intertainment to return to court today to ask for further punitive damages. After about 12 hours of deliberation, the jury also found breach of contract but no violation of racketeering statutes. The latter meant Intertainment does not get the $115 million it had asked for -- or an opportunity to ask U.S. District Judge Alicemarie Stotler to treble the damages under terms of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. Samaha was not personally held liable for any wrongdoing. »

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17 June 2004 | The Hollywood Reporter | See recent The Hollywood Reporter news »

A federal jury returned a $77 million verdict against Elie Samaha's Franchise Pictures on Wednesday, finding that it defrauded Intertainment Licensing by inflating budgets on a slate of feature films including Get Carter, The Whole Nine Yards and 3000 Miles to Graceland. The nine-person jury sitting in Santa Ana, Calif., found the fraud by "clear and convincing evidence," a relatively high threshold of evidence that allows Intertainment to return to court today to ask for further punitive damages. After about 12 hours of deliberation, the jury also found breach of contract but no violation of racketeering statutes. The latter meant Intertainment does not get the $115 million it had asked for -- or an opportunity to ask U.S. District Judge Alicemarie Stotler to treble the damages under terms of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. Samaha was not personally held liable for any wrongdoing. »

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30 April 2004 | The Hollywood Reporter | See recent The Hollywood Reporter news »

COLOGNE -- German rights group Intertainment on Friday announced that it has delayed publication of its 2003 year-end figures until after the ruling on the company's $100 million suit against Elie Samaha's Franchise Pictures. The suit, currently entering its third week of hearings in Santa Ana, Calif., revolves around a deal signed in 1999 between Intertainment and Franchise in which the German firm agreed to pay a license fee that would cover 47% of Franchise's production costs on a slate of pictures. Intertainment claims Franchise fraudulently inflated the budgets on films made under the deal, which included 3000 Miles to Graceland, The Whole Nine Yards, Battlefield Earth, Driven, Get Carter and The Pledge. The Munich-based group is betting its future on the successful outcome of the suit and on the $100 million in damages it is claiming from Franchise. Samaha took the stand on Thursday to testify that he had a secret oral agreement with Intertainment head Ruediger "Barry" Baeres to inflate movie budgets. Samaha claimed that Intertainment agreed to pay what was needed on any given picture, even if that exceeded the 47% cutoff written into its first-look deal with Franchise (HR 4/30). Samaha will take the stand again when the case resumes on Tuesday. A decision on the suit is expected by June 11. »

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5 items from 2004