In Florida and other states, business litigation can involve a wide variety of breach of contract conflicts between business entities. Because there are a great number of contracts that are signed and effective during the making of a motion picture, this is an area where breach of contract complaints tend to flourish. A recent example involves a lawsuit filed in another state by filmmaker Robert Rodriguez and other entities against certain investors in two recent movies, “Sin City 2” and “Machete Kills.”
It is alleged essentially that the investors did not come up with their contractual obligations to finance the two productions. The investors are accused of having represented to Rodriguez and other promoters of the movies that they would invest funds to pay for the services of the director, writer and others. The suit alleges that the defendants failed to pay at least $7.7 million for Sin City 2 and other deficiencies relating to Machete Kills.
The complaint, filed in a California court, accuses the defendants of using fraud and acting dishonestly and in bad faith. In the law of contracts, it is a general proposition that each contract contains an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing imposed on the parties. The complaint alleges a breach of that implied covenant. The complaint also alleges fraudulent inducement and breach of contract.
The defendants say that it was Rodriguez who breached the contracts and acted with “malfeasance” and improperly. The defendants contend that they financed the productions very adequately with “tens of millions” of dollars, and in accordance with their obligations. It thus shapes up as a battle of two conflicting factual versions — the litigation will allow the parties to investigate and determine what evidence the other side relies on to make its contentions. In Florida, a breach of contract action implements the same basic procedures as all other states follow.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter, “Robert Rodriguez Lawsuit Claims Investors Withheld $7.7M for ‘Sin City 2,’ ‘Machete Kills’“, Alex Ben Block, Oct. 17, 2014
