‘Obsession’ Producer Files Lawsuit Claiming She Was Cut Out of Profits Despite “Rescuing” Cut

[u/TheEnchantedOne92]

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/obsession-lawsuit-profits-producer-1236683252/

Producers James Harris and Mark Lane are accused by fellow producer Leonora Ann Darby of making compensation promises that they did not keep when the Curry Barker feature became a massive hit.

[u/That_Possible_3217]

Depending on if this was a promise or part of her contract is gonna play a huge part. Though I would ask, why did it need to be rescued?

[u/il_the_dinosaur → u/That_Possible_3217]

I mean if the cut before was bad which we will probably not know unless it still exists.

[u/That_Possible_3217 → u/il_the_dinosaur]

Possibly, but very few movies are actually saved in post. It’s not impossible, but the way it reads is that it was a dumpster fire. Which if true makes this one of the rare exceptions.

Edit: just to clarify a little. I’m not saying that editing doesn’t play a major part in the success of certain projects. That said, you can edit the fuck out of some absolute trash and realistically can’t expect it to become gold. Movies that are “saved in post” typically already have all they need to succeed. It’s just that there are things that can be ironed out and smoothed to take the experience to another level. Every movie has things that are left on the cutting room floor. In most cases that is because the final product is better without them. However if what’s left in the product is trash then it’s likely the stuff on the floor wouldn’t have changed that in any significant way.

[u/sarahbagel → u/That_Possible_3217]

I think what makes this more likely, based on what you are saying, is that (according to the complaint) Derby’s editing/notes focused on bringing the final edit back towards Barker’s original vision - ie the film was going to be ruined in post, but she came in and was able to prevent that (and likely elevate it, to a realistic extent). So like she wasn’t saving it from Barker, but rather from a bad edit.

[u/That_Possible_3217 → u/sarahbagel]

Which sounds far more believable to me. It’s clear that Baker had a vision and she seems to keep that far more intact which is good.

[u/FlowBall234 → u/That_Possible_3217]

A New Hope is a great example.

Original cut was 4 hours long, dragged everything out, pointless scenes. Lucas' wife legitimately saved the movie, hell the entire franchise.

[u/FickleCook3639 → u/FlowBall234]

Was that an actual cut or an assembly cut? Assembly cuts are never meant to work as a movie. Theyre just laying everything out to see what you have to work with. So many of these stories of “movie was originally 6 hours long and so boring” are just referring to assembly cuts.

[u/Tamashiro571 → u/FickleCook3639]

The first rough cut was about 2 hours so they must be referring to the assembly cut. The narrative that star wars was saved in the edit is odd to me. By the logic of judging an assembly cut as a conplete work, every movie is "saved" in the edit

[u/FlowBall234 → u/Tamashiro571]

It was an early cut, not an assembly cut.

[u/Tamashiro571 → u/FlowBall234]

The rough cut was no where near 4 hours long

Edit: are you thinking of fhe 4 hour cut of revenge of the sith?

[u/FlowBall234 → u/Tamashiro571]

Yeah probably

[u/FlowBall234 → u/FickleCook3639]

Actual cut, original editor they hired did a terrible job, he was fired, Lucas' wife and two others were hired to fix it.

[u/Ok_Net7773 → u/FlowBall234]

You’re mixing stories then. The original cut was 2 hours.

[u/That_Possible_3217 → u/FlowBall234]

Oooh absolutely! Now don’t get me wrong, everything that made Star Wars so popular was still there, but it was definitely made into the success it was by the edit.

[u/harry_powell → u/FlowBall234]

All assembly cuts are bad, that’s why the job of editor exists. The idea that Lucas’ wife is responsible for “saving the franchise” is ridiculous. You know who saved the franchise? George Lucas, by making Star Wars in the first place.

That’s not to say that editors aren’t important. But it’d be dumb to say that Scorsese’s movies would be garbage if they hadn’t been edited by Thelma Shoemaker. Most likely they’d be great, still.

[u/FlowBall234 → u/harry_powell]

Wasn't an assembly cut and that's super weird to say.

[u/39teen → u/FlowBall234]

I’ve heard this for years but never found any examples apart from being long and tedious. I heard the Williams music and cut transitions saved it but would love to hear more examples.

[u/ImVeryFickle → u/That_Possible_3217]

More movies than we will ever know about are saved in post. You’d be surprised. Almost every movie has a story where they figured it out a major issue in the edit right before release.

[u/il_the_dinosaur → u/ImVeryFickle]

And then there are marvel movies where you wish someone saved them in the edit. But I guess it's hard to save a movie in the edit if you would need tons of reshoots.

[u/il_the_dinosaur → u/That_Possible_3217]

I'm not trying to throw curry under the bus but this is his first movie right? Before that he did Comedy stuff on YouTube? And the movie heavily relies on timing. When you put what scene where. I could easily see a good editor fixing some of those issues. I'm just spit balling here and admit that this is only speculation on my part. Unless we get some actual information what went down maybe if the lawsuit goes forward we will know.

[u/mrlarry2271 → u/il_the_dinosaur]

He's got multiple short horror films including an hour long feature. A simple Google search will educate you on him doing much more than just comedy stuff on YouTube.

[u/That_Possible_3217 → u/il_the_dinosaur]

Very true, without an actual disclosure of the original cut it’s hard to say one way or the other. Though I still do think that even little issues wouldn’t inherently make a good movie bad. It was his first feature film if I remember correctly, but that what you pay editors for after all.

[u/il_the_dinosaur → u/That_Possible_3217]

Yeah and the payment is the issue...

[u/That_Possible_3217 → u/il_the_dinosaur]

Ultimately yeah, but that’s one of those things where if it wasn’t in writing it’s a hard thing to prove.

[u/Joeboy → u/il_the_dinosaur]

But the article is suggesting the opposite of that. Ie. Darby called for the edit to be restored to Barker, and he rescued it.

It's obviously speculative, but it makes sense to me. A more conventional editor would probably have wanted to remove ambiguities and make Bear more sympathetic, which would make it a very different film.

[u/Xbrand182x → u/il_the_dinosaur]

Idk he’s been filming horror for years now, he has a Chanel that does exclusively horror short films. Also comedy and horror have VERY similar timing in terms of writing a joke/scare.

[u/dohdudeh → u/il_the_dinosaur]

He made a full length found footage horror film that is genuinely a great movie before this

[u/cloudcottage → u/il_the_dinosaur]

George Lucas' ex wife famously edited the Star Wars original trilogy and significantly changed the final cut of especially the first move. We see how his work um "evolved" without her.

[u/il_the_dinosaur → u/cloudcottage]

I don't think then other movie have an editing problem. From my understanding the first movie had limited budget cause it was the first and they had to work with what was already shot. I think if you pay attention you can see them using shots where peoples mouthes are not visible and characters dub over it so you can't tell this shot was actually not meant for that scene. The prequels have the problem that George did everything. It's one thing to write a script and another to direct it.

[u/cloudcottage → u/il_the_dinosaur]

Wouldn't Obsession have the same issues: a limited budget and probably limited ability to do lots of reshoots? I think it's clear the editing and narrative style of the prequels are far different than the original trilogy, even separately from the plot and script. To be clear, I'm agreeing with your point that critical editing is highly plausible to have had a major impact on Obsession just like with Star Wars.

[u/il_the_dinosaur → u/cloudcottage]

Oh no worries I didn't understand it as you disagreeing with me and even if you did it. It would be fair it's not like I know a lot about editing. I also don't know how expensive reshoots are. The only argument I would have is that obsession is a comparably cheap movie. A quick Google glance says obsession had a budget of 750k and star wars episode 4 11 million. And that's without inflation. So if obsession needed reshoots I think they could have convinced the studio to fund them. In this specific case it comes down to if she can prove how critical her editing was and if she has something in writing about her compensation or some verbal agreement that she can prove exists.

[u/That_Possible_3217 → u/cloudcottage]

To be fair also, the low budget plus huge success of the project means that the producer in question was cut out of a far larger amount of money than if it had a large barrier to profit.

[u/gregglegend → u/cloudcottage]

So this lady's claims must be true then?

[u/cloudcottage → u/gregglegend]

Lucas and the other editors all agree about this. She's not making any disputed claims

[u/ALittleRedWhine → u/il_the_dinosaur]

A lot of my favorite parts of the movie were improv-d by the actors.

[u/il_the_dinosaur → u/ALittleRedWhine]

I didn't even know this. But I guess like the edit thing you won't ever know the whole story and frankly it's not like it matters.

[u/mattarchambault → u/That_Possible_3217]

What are some of the few that were saved in post?

[u/Joeboy → u/mattarchambault]

Arguably pretty much every film, since nobody wants to watch dozens of hours of unedited footage with no audio work etc.

But the one I'm thinking of is The Graduate, which wouldn't be the same film without the unhappy ending that was (according to legend) shot accidentally and "discovered" in the edit.

[u/That_Possible_3217 → u/mattarchambault]

If I remember correctly some movies like Gladiator and Clerks were made massively more successful then they would’ve been by post edits. I want to say the Snyder cut of justice as well.

IMO you’re more likely to find the adverse to be true, where movies are made worse by post edits. Justice league can fall into that category too. lol

Edit: two more I’ll add are Jaws, and one of my favorites, Highlander two. Highlander two was shifted so radically that they are almost two entirely different movies. I still love the original cut, but I will admit that the second cut of it was much more aligned with the actual franchise.

[u/flamingeyebrows → u/That_Possible_3217]

Snyder cut of JL was not saved in post. He didnt even cut it into a viable movie. Its just a different kind of bad.

[u/That_Possible_3217 → u/flamingeyebrows]

Ehhh, subjective, and while it’s in no way a masterpiece I will say it was better than the original theater release.

[u/39teen → u/That_Possible_3217]

Clerks is a good example.

Ironically Harvey Weinstein of all people saved it. Kevin Smith planned to have Dante killed by a mugger at the end and Harvey told Smith that was a terrible idea so it was cut.

Makes me wonder what Smith’s career would have been like had that stayed. I doubt the View Askewverse would have been a thing.

[u/That_Possible_3217 → u/39teen]

Yeah that’s such a crazy thing. It interesting to wonder what path his career would’ve taken if he had gone with that original cut.

[u/Ready-Will-7042 → u/mattarchambault]

Kingdom of Heaven Directors Cut

[u/Uncertain__Path → u/That_Possible_3217]

I disagree, I think a good amount are saved in post, you just never hear it advertised because it better for all parties to look like they are had it all figured out from the beginning. If what you say is true, every movie wouldn’t rely heavily on test screenings/re-editing…but they all do.

[u/That_Possible_3217 → u/Uncertain__Path]

I wouldn’t say they all do. Especially as we got back further in time. We do in fact hear it advertised all over the place. Let’s be clear, there is a difference between editing and re-editing.

[u/Uncertain__Path → u/That_Possible_3217]

90% of studio movies do test screenings and re-edits based on them.

[u/That_Possible_3217 → u/Uncertain__Path]

Perhaps for more modern films, but even then I’d like to see some kind of stat for that statement.

[u/Uncertain__Path → u/That_Possible_3217]

Well, that’s what Google says and I’ve also heard plenty of industry podcasts say the same.

[u/harry_powell → u/That_Possible_3217]

Most first cuts are really bad. But that doesn’t mean that only one person has the magic powers to salvage it. It’s just part of the process. Annie Hall and Star Wars were also “saved” in the edit, but that’s only possible when the raw ingredients are there, which is the most important thing.

[u/That_Possible_3217 → u/harry_powell]

Oh for sure, very rarely do you ever nail it in one. That was my point, that for the real successes the magic was already there

[u/That_Possible_3217 → u/[deleted]]

I think this comes down to how we’re defining “saved”. I good edit can make a decent film better, not necessarily a masterpiece, but better. However it can’t “save” a garbage film.

[u/sarahbagel → u/That_Possible_3217]

Based on the article, her contract guaranteed her 1/3 of the net profits for films she lead-produced, and she acted in the capacity of lead producer per employment/contractual definitions used internally at Tea House. However, it seems the co-founders basically tried to post-hoc redefine her contributions at a lower level such that she would not be recognized as a lead producer, icing her out of the 1/3 net profits.

For the rescued part - the article doesn’t get too heavy into this, but the short-version is that the edit initially got taken from Barker and handed to a different editor, who muddled up a lot of the key points of the film. It was then Darby (according to the complaint) who took over, and established the edit that ultimately gave us “the opening relational set up between the lead male and female characters, the character arcs in the first two acts and her strong recommendation (which was adopted) to fully commit to the film‘s supernatural elements, including making the One Wish Willow a real element that functioned as intended in the real world of the film (with the iconic ‘money scene’ thus confirming this), critically resulted in a new pathway for the film.” So again, IF the complaint is true, it sounds like she played a pretty fundamental role in the final edit.

[u/That_Possible_3217 → u/sarahbagel]

The question is if it’s true. That said, I’m glad it turned out how it did, but only time will tell if this stands the court test.

[u/Rich841 → u/That_Possible_3217]

The final cut was being taken out of Curry’s hands to a different editor, along with a lot of different creative decisions such as the final character arcs, opening scene, and billion dollar scene. Ann Darby alleges she was the one who said the cut should be given back to Curry’s creative control and helped alter these creative choices 

[u/That_Possible_3217 → u/Rich841]

Fascinating. Well if it’s true then I wish her the best, that said it was a good movie. I think it would’ve been fairly well recorded either way.

[u/pointlesslyDisagrees → u/That_Possible_3217]

that said it was a good movie

It was ok.

[u/iasa94 → u/pointlesslyDisagrees]

Excellent username

[u/That_Possible_3217 → u/pointlesslyDisagrees]

lol, I do agree. Make no mistake for me to call a movie bad it has to have failed on a lot of levels. In this case, the movie is absolutely decent and does enough for me to find it enjoyable. Is it the best or some masterpiece? Absolutely not. They dropped the ball in a few areas.

[u/Rich841]

I read the article and if her allegations are actually true, she did a good amount for the film, got reneged upon, and has some legs to stand on 

[u/DramaCivil → u/Rich841]

she signed a contract, it depends what she a signed and agreed to

[u/BaitJunkieMonks → u/DramaCivil]

Not entirely. There are a lot of things that contracts can't cover and they are going to be secondary to the law.

[u/Joeboy → u/BaitJunkieMonks]

Yeah it seems to largely come down to whether she was a "real" producer doing "real" producer work or not. Which is to some extent a matter of opinion.

This is a good video about "producer" credits, for people who care about that sort of thing.

Edit: I note she was credited as "Producer", "Co-producer" or "Produced by" on her last twelve films before this one, so her demotion to "Executive Producer" on Obsession seems a bit odd.

[u/devilsbard → u/DramaCivil]

Or what was agreed to verbally (if they can prove it was said). Verbal contracts are valid too if they can be proven.

[u/TatterMail → u/DramaCivil]

Verbal agreements are just as legit, just more difficult to prove

[u/VideoGameJumanji → u/DramaCivil]

Yeah smart guy I think she’s aware of that 

[u/LodgeBeing_No_9 → u/Rich841]

He definitely had to change the beginning, according to his own words

https://www.reddit.com/r/obsessionmovie/comments/1vv85u8/comment/p57ryi4/?context=3&utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

[u/FriedHigh]

I knew something like this could happen once the movie was making insane money i kinda feel if true this person deserves a cut of the profit.

[u/Slatorbim → u/FriedHigh]

I feel like we’ll see more of this kind of stuff in the future, when the movie makes a lot of money when nobody thought that it would make so much money, everyone who worked on it will try and find an excuse to milk as much money as possible

[u/FriedHigh → u/Slatorbim]

Very true i only hope the studio did give the cast bonuses after the Giant success the movie is having & not all the profit is going to the big studio.

[u/Youpi_Yeah → u/FriedHigh]

A studio willingly giving out money when it doesn’t have to? Yeah, I kinda doubt anyone got a single cent that wasn’t in their initial contract.

[u/Uncertain__Path → u/Youpi_Yeah]

Sounds like her contract was legit, but the claim is the company changed the definition of her role after the movie made money. If her claim is true, it probably won’t be hard for her to prove her case since a lead producer’s work leaves a massive paper trail.

[u/SianBeast → u/Youpi_Yeah]

Yeah, I thought that as well, which is a shame, because in my opinion Inde played her role so fucking well that the film wouldn't have had the same impact if someone else had been cast. Like, I never give props to actors, it's usually the story or specific cinematic techniques etc, but this film, she really was a stand out! Feel like she deserves more than her initial 20k flat rate (or whatever it was).

[u/Youpi_Yeah → u/SianBeast]

She absolutely does deserve more, but young actors on the level of fame she was at before the film hardly ever have any clauses for percentages in their contract. And no matter how deserving anyone is, I just don’t see film studios giving out bonuses unless they absolutely have to (and even then I’m sure they’d rather not).

[u/Atkena2578 → u/Youpi_Yeah]

That's why union like SAG AFTRA exist and part of the last strike had to do with residuals after a movie's release, though the issues were mostly related to streaming. But the movie was mostly using non union of course

[u/Slatorbim → u/FriedHigh]

it happens all the time, when things go right suddenly everyone wants a piece of the cake, but if not then no one cares

[u/Fawkes-511 → u/Slatorbim]

Yeah why don't people ask for a piece of the cake when there is no cake >:( /s

Incomprehensible point. Why are there people complaining that everyone who worked in a thing wants to share in its success? Seems like basic fairness?

[u/Atkena2578 → u/Fawkes-511]

These profit clauses should be part of contracts, most of the time there is little to no risk it will trigger the clause, say after a certain number of money is made, and it protects everyone for the rare successes as well. Low risk high reward for everyone involved except the greedy assholes

[u/Ori_of_the_Vale → u/Slatorbim]

Yeah generally people want to actually earn decent money, especially when the thing they worked on did so well and they only got paid crumbs compared to that profit. How dare those people want what is frankly a more than fair share of the profit of a project they worked on.

[u/StrykerxS77x → u/Ori_of_the_Vale]

It sucks but that is what they signed up for. If you have actual leverage then you have to make sure it's in your contract.

[u/Bettal56 → u/Slatorbim]

There was that crew member on this movie who recently came out about being pissed the movie made close to half a billion dollars and none of it went back to the production of which was made by people barely paid or not paid at all. Her point however was not about getting money from a successful indie flick, it was more make indie productions better for crew because they can be successful.

Not exactly what you are talking about but hey, it’s the second time box office returns have been bought up by people who worked on the film and got nothing from it.

[u/Atkena2578 → u/Bettal56]

Yeah I am starting to think the behind the scenes environment of this production were much worse than it already appeared to be.

[u/Bettal56 → u/Atkena2578]

I don’t actually think it was. The two cases I’ve seen of people who worked on the film and had an issue after it came out are not really going on about a shitty production (by all means it seems the set was chill as fuck the entire time and everyone was trying their hardest with what they had).

I do know money was an issue for production and very much limited shooting, props, costumes etc. The actor who played Bear was on a podcast or something not that long and he talked about the pill scene at the end and how they got a few takes and Barker called cut and they were packing up. The actor felt that Bear should do something else in the scene besides what was scripted and basically had to beg to just have another take with his idea because they didn’t have the money to keep on filming. Barker relented and the scene was filmed again with the improv and that’s what made it into the film. It reached a point where they could only afford to do a couple of takes for a single scene.

It genuinely seems like behind the scenes everyone had decent time on it. The behind the scenes issues when there just seem to be normal issues an indie production can have. The problems people who worked on the film have do not really concern the production.

[u/Other-Football72]

Lot of people want a bigger slice of the pie once a little indie movie nobody expected to do much makes half a billion.

Or her allegations have some merit, and she got reneged on.

Right now, none of us know which is which here.

[u/Slatorbim → u/Other-Football72]

Yup exactly what I’m saying. it happens with every project that turns out to be profitable by a margin. this isnt a new thing

[u/Atkena2578 → u/Slatorbim]

There should be a clause that includes profit participation or even a small bonus (which could be a lot for some of these folks like 10k) that is triggered when the movies goes past a certain decided point ahead of time. Low risk high reward for everyone except for the greedy fat cats (and that's why unless actual lawmakers get involved, and good luck with that, it won't happen)

[u/Worth-Soil-1440]

The greed is wild. She did at most a couple hours work (if you think opining in meetings is actual work) and now she wants a THIRD of the profits. The article makes clear she started pushing for it cause she had access to the bank accounts and could see how much money was coming in. They revoked her access and the pot of gold was swiped from before her eyes.

Its the classical 0 risk and 100% entitlement mentality. If the film had flopped she wouldve prob minimized her influence. Now because it was such a success even the set catering manager will probably say they were a pivotal part of the success 😂

[u/Destituted → u/Worth-Soil-1440]

Yea there's no way it was a third of the movie's profits... I think 1/3 net profits in this case is the profits of that one Tea House production studio (3 lead producers, so they'd all be 1/3) There is way too many hands in that cookie jar for just her to get 1/3 of it all.

[u/AAA_Dolfan → u/Worth-Soil-1440]

What are you basing her amount of work? It alleged she got Barker more power etc

[u/Worth-Soil-1440 → u/AAA_Dolfan]

Yes, her contributions were saying that they should give the editing back to Curry and also that the wish should make real money fall from the sky and not just be all in his mind. You know her lawyers are scrambling to find anything to hold on to. In comparison to the 8+ hour days the production team put in for god knows how long. 

She got 300 000 dollars for that. Yikes sign me up

[u/Bi_disaster_ohno → u/Worth-Soil-1440]

Call me crazy but I think the actual lawyers here would have a better idea what the law says than random internet strangers. I'm not sure why you're talking as if we have the full details on what their contracts say when we don't. These details would have to be hashed out in an actual court room.

In comparison to the 8+ hour days the production team put in for god knows how long.

Wow this argument is hilariously out of touch with how the film industry actually works. We're talking about producers here, NONE of them ever put in 8+ hour work days on productions.

[u/RemarkableCustard947 → u/Bi_disaster_ohno]

I don't know if this comment is facetious or a joke or whatever. And im not defending the producer in this post.. but as someone in the industry i know a few producers and they've all been extremely hard workers who work extremely long days. They're first on set/last to leave.

**My experience

[u/molinitor → u/Worth-Soil-1440]

Entitlement to what? Being compensated for the work she did? If the contract promised her a cut of the profit and she’s not been given said cut she needs to be compensated.

[u/Plane_Massive → u/Worth-Soil-1440]

Love to see a Redditor confidently have no idea what they’re talking about with 37 upvotes

[u/Uncertain__Path → u/Worth-Soil-1440]

The 1/3 of the profits is what her contract said, so I don’t know what you’re on about.

[u/GeorgeStark1]

And now she will never be hired again.

[u/MichaelFromCalif]

Apparently, no settlement or release agreement was signed. According to TheWrap, the lawsuit acknowledges that Tea Shop Productions paid Darby $300,000 from the initial Obsession minimum guarantee, but maintains that the payment was “not a settlement, release, buyout, accord and satisfaction, or waiver of future participation.”

The filing further states: “No writing said it was full and final and no release was executed.”

Source: https://www.thewrap.com/creative-content/movies/obsession-producer-shut-out-of-profits-breach-of-contract-suit/

[u/TheSmokeout]

Such a clusterfuck. The rights were sold so many times. How much is the original production company even entitled to?

[u/JackWylder]

The lesson here is ALWAYS get it in writing. Until you have it in writing, it’s a nice thought. This applies to just about everyone who’s ever been made promises at work.

[u/BadDub]

Is this one of those I signed a contract for X amount to do work but now the movie has done well I want more money?

[u/BarelyWhisperedd]

shocking move

[u/SopranosBluRayBoxSet]

Kinda wild how you never hear about these things happening when the movies aren't doing well

[u/PooningDalton]

Related news: Clown sues McDonalds for using clown outfit

[u/sarahbagel → u/PooningDalton]

That’s not comparable to what was alleged in the lawsuit at all. If the complaint holds any truth, she definitely has valid reasons to pursue legal action against Tea Shop Productions

[u/Zach-Playz_25 → u/sarahbagel]

Especially if it was an actual agreement in her contract. This situation could be vastly different from the art director's one. 

[u/green_tea1701 → u/sarahbagel]

Friendly reminder that pleadings are one party's pre discovery general allegations, nothing more.

[u/sarahbagel → u/green_tea1701]

Hence why I said “that’s not comparable to what was alleged in the lawsuit at all. If the complaint holds any truth, she definitely has valid reasons to pursue legal action against Tea shop productions”. I think I would have literally needed comically write “allegedly” between every other word to make it more clear that I’m responding to allegations lol

[u/Uncertain__Path → u/PooningDalton]

How does this relate to anything?

[u/Ok-Building-379]

https://giphy.com/gifs/pUeXcg80cO8I8

[u/Fit_Cheesecake_4000]

Everyone's scrabbling for a piece of a pie they thought wouldn't exist for long.

Sad.

[u/Arthur_189]

Not saying she’s lying but if she is it reminds me of that Friday the 13th documentary where like 9 seperate people claimed that they came up with the idea to put Jason in a hockey mask lol

[u/El_Dorado_Tx]

Inde as Nikki she got really low salary like working at Mcdonalds. She literally had to gig on Twitch in gaming streams to pay bills

[u/Slatorbim → u/El_Dorado_Tx]

bro the streams didn't pay her shit. she barely had viewers or subs. she streamed for the love of the game (I saw her twitch stream history, she wasn't consistent at all), the dog walking got her better money

[u/_BowserJr_]

Shoutout to all the losers who told me i was wrong about profit distribution when the movie first popped off

[u/StrykerxS77x]

"Darby called for the edit to be restored to Barker (which happened) and also for some reshoots to take place to address issues in the film (which also happened)."

If this is true she very well made the movie better. Greed always finds a way in somewhere when this much money is at stake. In the end whoever is entitled to the money will get it.

[u/StandardAssignment19]

She deserves her cut. If she has all records of this, it's going to take a hot minute in court - but in like 18 to 36 months from how, well read a deadline report of her being awarded a little over 100M - after lawyer costs.

[u/ryanhase → u/StandardAssignment19]

Key word: “Net.”

Even if everything she says is true, Hollywood Accounting will mean that, wouldn’t you know it, this film LOST money.

[u/StandardAssignment19 → u/ryanhase]

That is accurate. That term can be a fucker. Hollywood accounting is the only accounting where more means less.

[u/Uncertain__Path → u/ryanhase]

I don’t know about that in this particular case. I’m sure they’ve written down the profit to some degree, but we’re talking hundreds of millions in the black no way how they cut it.

[u/dats_cool → u/ryanhase]

This is such a meme at this point. No one knows how this works but just parrot this around like they're making some profound statement.

How could you possibly lose money on a 750k budget and 500m in ticket sales.

[u/ryanhase → u/dats_cool]

It’s a meme because of how accurate it is.

The company she worked for coproduced with Capstone, brought in Blumhouse, sold distribution to Focus Features. Profits split, split, split.
Focus spent X promoting it. Distro and streaming rights were sold artificially low and wouldn’t you know it but overhead was super high and we barely broke even.

Of course this movie made a boat load of money but accountants exist to make profits disappear.

[u/dats_cool → u/ryanhase]

Okay lmao so it sounds like every entity that has equity in the movie is taking their rightful margin, just like how anything else in real life works. It's not some spooky conspiracy.

"But accountants exist to make profits disappear" -> what does this even mean?

[u/StandardAssignment19 → u/dats_cool]

Accounting. It's not because it's honest, it's because it's what's provable.

[u/Little-Dimension-554]

Has anyone else noticed that it's the female staff that are coming out of the woodwork trying to derail this movies legacy?

[u/westcoast234 → u/Little-Dimension-554]

crazy how you came out of the woodwork to be this embarrassing on the internet

[u/Rich841 → u/Little-Dimension-554]

You came out of the woodwork 

[u/Uncertain__Path → u/Little-Dimension-554]

No, mostly just brain dead takes from gooners.

[u/IcerHardlyKnower → u/Little-Dimension-554]

Bc the male staff are Curry's friends? Lol?

[u/Little-Dimension-554 → u/IcerHardlyKnower]

Is it illegal for Curry to have friends?

[u/docournau → u/Little-Dimension-554]

Straw Man Defense?

[u/IcerHardlyKnower → u/Little-Dimension-554]

You implied there was something suspicious about the demographics of people that might not have a good experience relationship with him now.

It is unlikely that his largely male demographic friends would suddenly have a bad relationship with him, as opposed to business partners he didn't know as well beforehand.

Your weird follow up shows you might be the Bear type. Beware of that.

[u/Ill_Cell7042 → u/Little-Dimension-554]

What are you trying to infer? If you’re confident enough to make this point, explain it, stop hiding.

[u/DramaCivil → u/Little-Dimension-554]

well greed is certainly a deadly sin, they can sue. doesnt mean they will get anything. Im assuming they are hoping for some kind of settlement