Brian Damage
03-28-2010, 02:30 PM
Notice the producers filed this lawsuit after "Smallville" was renewed for a tenth season.
"Smallville" producers have accused studio WarnerBros. and the network it co-owns that airs their show, The CW, of "self-dealing" the series at a below-market cost -- thus short-changing executive producers with a stake in the show's profits. Reads the suit:
"Warner Bros.' practices of unfair self-dealing include licensing the series for broadcast on its own affiliated WB and CW networks for unreasonably low, below-market license fees, resulting in lower gross revenues for the series and less compensation for plaintiffs, and failing to renegotiate the series' license fee to cover its production cost... depriving [plaintiffs] of compensation to which they are entitled ... by failing to maximize profits from the series, all to the benefit of the vertically-integrated conglomerate Time Warner."
The idea is that WarnerBros. sold the show at a bargain rate to its own network. Then, for the international market, lumped "Smallville" together with other less successful shows as a package deal -- diluting its individual value.
But really. Nine seasons and Superman still can't fly? If anything, fans should sue the producers for breach of creative contract.
http://www.thrfeed.com/2010/03/smallville-producers-sue-warnerbros-cw.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+live_feed+%28The+Hollywood+Reporter+-+The+Live+Feed%29
"Smallville" producers have accused studio WarnerBros. and the network it co-owns that airs their show, The CW, of "self-dealing" the series at a below-market cost -- thus short-changing executive producers with a stake in the show's profits. Reads the suit:
"Warner Bros.' practices of unfair self-dealing include licensing the series for broadcast on its own affiliated WB and CW networks for unreasonably low, below-market license fees, resulting in lower gross revenues for the series and less compensation for plaintiffs, and failing to renegotiate the series' license fee to cover its production cost... depriving [plaintiffs] of compensation to which they are entitled ... by failing to maximize profits from the series, all to the benefit of the vertically-integrated conglomerate Time Warner."
The idea is that WarnerBros. sold the show at a bargain rate to its own network. Then, for the international market, lumped "Smallville" together with other less successful shows as a package deal -- diluting its individual value.
But really. Nine seasons and Superman still can't fly? If anything, fans should sue the producers for breach of creative contract.
http://www.thrfeed.com/2010/03/smallville-producers-sue-warnerbros-cw.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+live_feed+%28The+Hollywood+Reporter+-+The+Live+Feed%29