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[Sharon007]

Michael Jackson Sued by 'Thriller' Music Video Director

John Landis, the man who directed 'Thriller' music video, files a legal document against Michael Jackson, demanding 50 percent of profit from the classic video.



Michael Jackson gets sued by John Landis, the director who once helped him filming music video for his 1983 single "Thriller". The filmmaker, whose movie "Animal House" won at 1979 People's Choice awards for Favorite Non-Musical Motion Picture, says that the singer owes him lots of cash in royalties for the classic 14-minute music video.

Saying that he hasn't been paid over profits made from the music video in the past four years, John filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles last week, seeking for compensation. Though giving no specific amount on how much Michael has to pay him, the director claims 50% of profit from the video and other related materials.

In regard of the news, Michael's representative Dr. Tohme Tohme hasn't given any comment. John's attorney Miles Feldman meanwhile told The Wrap, "I can't understand what they are doing to John Landis' company. It is such a straight ahead thing. It makes no sense at all to me."

The lawsuit news comes just after Dr. Tohme Tohme issued a statement saying that the "Thriller" music video will be brought to Broadway stage. The musical project will be produced by Nederlander Organization. "The Nederlanders and Michael Jackson represent live theater and musical excellence, so the let music begin," his representative stated.

Source:[url="http://"http://www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/00021569.html"]Ace Showbiz[/url]

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Landis sues over 'Thriller'
Director says Jackson owes profits from video

John Landis has sued Michael Jackson for allegedly failing to pay profits over the last four years from Jackson's "Thriller" video, which Landis co-wrote and directed in 1983.
Landis filed the suit last week in Los Angeles Superior Court through his company, Levitsky Prods., against Jackson and Optimum Prods.

"After a spectacular theatrical premiere, the 'Thriller' video became a worldwide megahit and an iconic pop culture phemnomemon that has continued to generate profits for defendants Optimum Prods. and Michael Jackson, who have wrongfully refused to pay or account for such profits to plaintiff," the suit said.

The action accuses Jackson of "fraudulent, malicious and oppressive conduct" in failing to pay Landis 50% of the net proceeds. The suit includes the 1983 agreement between Jackson and Landis covering the video and an hourlong documentary, which Landis also directed.
The Nederlander Organization announced Monday that it had obtained rights to produce a musical version of "Thriller," with Jackson due to be involved in "every aspect" of the creative process.

Source: [url="http://"http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117999177.html?categoryid=16&cs=1"]Variety[/url]

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Thriller: Michael Jackson Sued by John Landis



Remember that Thriller musical we told you about yesterday? Seems Michael Jackson already has a sequel in the works.

This one will be playing out not on Broadway, however, but in a Los Angeles courtroom.
John Landis, the filmmaker whose credits include Animal House, The Blues Brothers and Trading Places, is suing over another of his best known hits—Jackson's "Thriller" video. Landis says Jackson owes him big bucks in royalties for the classic 14-minute clip.

Per the complaint, filed in L.A. Superior Court last week and obtained by E! News, the 58-year-old filmmaker accuses the 50-year-old Moonwalker of "fraudulent, malicious and oppressive conduct" for failing to fork over a check.

Source: [url="http://"http://uk.eonline.com/"] E! Online[/url]

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"Thriller" video director sues Jackson for profits


LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The director of the influential music video "Thriller" has sued pop star Michael Jackson over his share of profits from the 14-minute work.

Filmmaker John Landis, who co-wrote and directed the 1983 "Thriller" video, filed a breach of contract lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court just days before Broadway producers announced this week they had bought the rights to adapt the video for the stage.

The 14-minute "Thriller" video, featuring dancing zombies and Jackson himself, was first aired in 1983 and remains one of the most influential music videos worldwide. Landis also made a documentary about the making of the "Thriller" video.

Landis, director of movies including "An American Werewolf in London" and "The Blues Brothers," said in his lawsuit that he had not received his 50 percent share of the profits from "Thriller" -- including licensing rights -- for at least the past four years from Jackson's now-defunct company Optimum Productions.

The lawsuit accuses Jackson, 50, of "fraudulent, malicious and oppressive conduct," claiming that Jackson had failed to produce full and proper accounts for the past four years "and earlier."

Jackson has led a low-profile life since his acquittal in 2005 of child sex abuse charges and his spokesman could not immediately be contacted for comment on the Jan 21 lawsuit.

He is currently living in luxury rented accommodation in Los Angeles after spending time in Las Vegas, Ireland and Dubai in the past three years.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

Source: Reuters

[SpencersGirlfriend]

http://www.thewrap.com/article/1015

EXCLUSIVE: Michael Jackson, who recently moved back to Los Angeles to be near "where the action is", has been slapped with a breach-of-contract lawsuit by the veteran Hollywood film director John Landis, who says he has not been paid his share of the profits from the iconic “Thriller” video for at least four years.

The suit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court last week. (Read full complaint here.)

It is not exactly the warm welcome Jackson had in mind for his return to southern California, and it raises new questions about his disastrous personal finances, which have generated almost as much gossip in recent years as his multiple plastic surgeries, his freakshow public appearances and his fondness for the company of pubescent boys.

In the absence of any readily identifiable attorney representing Jackson – none has emerged after six days -- the legal action also shines a light on the mysterious Los Angeles physician, Tohme Tohme, who appears to have taken charge of the singer's business and legal affairs.

Tohme and other advisers held a council-of-war meeting at the Hotel Bel-Air over the weekend to discuss the Landis suit and other matters, but they have issued no public statement.

The lawsuit comes just ahead of the news that “Thriller” will be coming to Broadway. Producer James Nederlander said he acquired the rights to do so on Monday.

It is not clear whether the suit also covers the “Thriller” stage show, which has played around Europe.

Jackson himself, who recently moved into a 19-room mansion in Holmby Hills for $100,000 a month, was not present at the meeting.

Landis and his company, Levitsky Productions, filed a complaint in the western district of the Los Angeles Superior Court last Wednesday accusing the King of Pop of "fraudulent, malicious and oppressive conduct" – essentially, failing to provide any accounting of the “Thriller” profits for the past four years "and earlier", and failing to pay Landis his 50 per cent cut of the net proceeds.

Landis co-wrote and directed the 14-minute video of “Thriller” in 1983, significantly pushing the artistic boundaries of what was then the fledgling art of music video. The popular director – previously responsible for such hits as Animal House, The Blues Brothers and An American Werewolf in London -- also directed an hour-long "making of" documentary.

A contract signed at the time states clearly that Jackson and his company, Optimum Productions, would pay Landis 50 per cent of net profits from both the video and the documentary, and also provide regular financial statements on revenues – quarterly in the first instance, and then yearly from 1986 on.

The contract, drawn up in September 1983 when production on the video was already underway, is signed by Jackson is his trademark looping handwriting, arcing up to the top of the page and swooping down to the bottom.

Landis's attorney, Miles Feldman of Liner Yankelevitz Sunshine & Regenstreif, said it was the closest thing he could imagine to an open and shut case. "I can't understand what they are doing to John Landis' company. It is such a straight ahead thing," Feldman said. "It makes no sense at all to me."

The contract includes rights to dramatic and musical works, but the extent to which any show is based on the video, as opposed to Jackson's music, may be open to interpretation -- or negotiation.

The case could be the latest in a long string of legal embarrassments for Jackson. In addition to the Landis suit, he is believed to have recently concluded private arbitration with representatives of the Sultan of Brunei over a contract believed to involve Jackson agreeing to perform and offer a percentage of rights to future projects in exchange for payment of several million dollars.

The Landis suit probably does not involve a huge amount of money – the complaint does not assert a dollar figure, but the debt is not believed to be more than about $1 million, even taking into account last year's successful 25th anniversary re-issue of the Thriller album and the new-found popularity of the video on YouTube. It does, however, raise some singularly troubling questions about the way his affairs are being handled.

Neither Feldman nor the lawyer listed by the state of California as the last known agent for Optimum Productions, Zia Modabber of Century City, said they had any clue who was now providing legal representation for the superstar. Optimum Productions suspended its operations an unknown number of years ago – possibly as far back as the 1990s. According to the complaint, it "failed to observe corporate formalities" including basic record-keeping; Jackson was the sole shareholder and "commingled his funds with those of Optimum".

The man best placed to answer these charges now appears to be Tohme, who describes himself as Jackson's official spokesman but keeps himself at arm's length from the media. (Attempts to reach Tohme for this piece were unsuccessful.)

Jackson, who has been spotted around Los Angeles in a hood and surgical mask, is attempting to pick up the pieces of his shattered career three and a half years after his trial and acquittal on child molestation charges in Santa Maria. His return to California marks the end of a period of wandering in which he spent time in Bahrain, Brunei and Las Vegas.

He narrowly averted foreclosure on the outstanding $23.9 million mortgage he owed on Neverland, his fantasy estate in the hills above Santa Barbara, by transferring the debt to a new company he has established with the Las Vegas hotel corporation Colony Capital. Jackson has vowed never to set foot in Neverland again, and the entire contents – right down to the wrought-iron and gold-leaf entrance gates – will go under the auctioneer's hammer in Beverly Hills in April.

[SpencersGirlfriend]

(The Complaint : http://www.scribd.co...7284/Complaint)

This Wednesday, filmmaker John Landis filed yet another lawsuit against Michael Jackson and Broadway producer James L. Nederlander, claiming the pair lack the proper rights to adapt a stage production based on the short film Thriller.


Nederlander had announced earlier this week that his company had acquired the rights to Thriller for a stage show. Landis’ lawsuit seeks a judge’s order that Michael Jackson lacks the adequate rights to transfer to Nederlander, and that the producer doesn’t have the authority to create a stage show based on the video or documentary that Landis directed. Landis claims Michael Jackson was paid more than $ 400,000 for the rights.


Landis’ attorney, Miles J. Feldman, said the director would seek to stop the show ‘if it becomes necessary.'


This new lawsuit came only days after John Landis’ company Levitsky Productions Inc. sued Michael Jackson, claiming they hadn’ t been paid royal ties on Thriller for at least four years.

[HanabiChick]

There is a thread already posted about this, so I'm going to merge them. Please make sure there already isn't a thread about the same thing before posting

[Sharon007]

Thriller director sues Michael Jackson over profits

It was a defining moment in pop culture. The biggest pop star on the planet teaming up with the hippest film director in Hollywood to make a 14-minute video that promised to change the music industry.

More than a quarter of a century later, those dreams have landed in the tawdry setting of a Los Angeles law court. John Landis, the director of the Grammy award winning Thriller video, is suing its star, Michael Jackson, for failing to hand over his share of the profits.

"After a spectacular theatrical premiere," the suit, filed this week, reads, "the Thriller video became a worldwide megahit and an iconic pop culture phenomenon that has continued to generate profits for defendants Optimum Prods and Michael Jackson, who have wrongfully refused to pay or account for such profits to the plaintiff."
The suit accuses Jackson of "fraudulent, malicious and oppressive conduct" for failing to pay Landis 50% of the proceeds. Although a sum is not specified, it is thought that Jackson may owe Landis $1m (£700,000) for failing to pay over the last four years.

The lawsuit comes amid Jackson's latest attempt to revive his career. He recently moved back to Los Angeles, renting a 19-room mansion, and this week announced plans for a Thriller musical for Broadway.

Jackson's life remains as bizarre as ever. The $100,000 monthly rent on his new home has been financed by a new loan taken out on the Neverland ranch he still owns. Jackson transferred his $23.9m mortgage on the property to Colony Capital, a Las Vegas hotel group, having left Neverland soon after his acquittal in 2005 on child sex abuse charges vowing never to set foot there again. Its contents – minus the menagerie of exotic animals, which were taken into care – are to be sold at auction in Beverley Hills in April.

The new loan on Neverland comes shortly after Jackson settled a $7m lawsuit brought against him by his former friend, Prince Abdullah of Bahrain.

With Jackson borrowing against assets he barely owns, and with his 50% share in the Sony/ATV music catalogue, including the rights to many Beatles songs, leveraged to other creditors, there is speculation that the "king of pop" may have to declare bankruptcy.

After a succession of aborted live performances and album deals, the proposed Thriller musical may provide much-needed income. Although a press release issued by the group behind the project insists that Jackson will have a creative input, details remain sketchy.

"This musical will be the exclusive Michael Jackson authorised version of Thriller, and Jackson will participate in every aspect of the creative process," the Nederlander Organisation, which acquired the rights to the musical, said.

Jackson's latest representative – a suitably mysterious Los Angeles doctor named Tohme Tohme – got in the mood, declaring: "The Nederlanders and Michael Jackson represent live theatre and musical excellence, so let the music begin."
But whether video success from the 1980s will translate into a Broadway hit is uncertain. Recent shows based on the music of Elvis Presley, the Beach Boys, John Lennon and Bob Dylan all flopped.

Source; Guardian
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Landis Seeks to stop Thriler Musical


The director of Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' music video has filed legal papers seeking to prevent the singer from bringing the song to the stage.

Theatre veteran James L. Nederlander has secured the musical rights to Jackson's Thriller album and is planning to use Landis's promo as inspiration for a Broadway production.

However, according to E! News, the director has asked for a court declaration that will stop Jackson from negotiating a deal without his approval.

Earlier this week, Landis sued the singer for breach of contract, claiming that he was owed 50% of the net profits from the 14-minute 'Thriller' video which he co-wrote and co-directed.

He is also claiming royalties from an hour-long 'making of' documentary that he directed.

Jackson's representatives have declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Source: Digital Spy

[Sharon007]

Jacksons Thriller could resurrect Broadway

It’s close to show time, and something evil’s lurking on the stage. Under the spotlight, you see a man who almost stops your heart. You try to scream, but terror takes the sound before you make it. You start to leave, as Jackson looks you right between the eyes. Youre paralyzed.

‘Cause this is Thriiiiiilller The Musical.

No, I havent been drowning my sorrows in Jesus Juice you read correctly. Thriller the Musical.

That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, none other than Michael Jackson could eventually be coming to Broadway with a stage rendition of his classic 1983 Thriller music video.

Jackson is an international superstar whose many faces (and noses) can be recognized by millions worldwide. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, has won 13 Grammy Awards and recorded 13 No. 1 hits. His prior fame and musical genius could be just what an aging Broadway needs to resurrect itself.

With Broadway and other musical theater productions in New York already experiencing record low profits, and with near-empty performances going on for only the most die-hard of “Cats” fans, staples like Hairspray and Grease have already failed in their fight to survive.

What better way to resurrect the industry than for Michael Jackson to revolutionize it all over again with his new rendition, full of dance moves that are sure to inspire an entirely new generation of drunken white guys nationwide for decades to come?

We all have our own classic Jackson references and memories, so if we can get over the fact that Jackson could potentially be personally interviewing young men in very tight pants to play the role of himself in the play, and all the other creepiness that there might actually be, this could potentially be huge.

I mean, honestly, who wouldnt be interested in this?

I can personally tell you that I have never seen a Broadway play and probably will not anytime in the near future. I simply have no interest in seeing something that my mother and grandmother would have wanted to see if they were given the chance. It just wouldnt appeal to me.

But hell, Im 21, Ive had a few too much to drink myself from time to time and have tried to dance my ass off when Thriller has come on in a crowded bar on a Thursday night. If you say that you havent, you are kidding yourself even the most sober of music listeners simply cannot help but tap their toe. So, a 2-hour theatrical show, complete with lights and extremely elaborate set designs? It couldnt be that bad.

When the show comes out, I suggest you cancel your trip to Neverland Ranch, zombie-walk yourself all the way down to theater and watch as all the tiles presumably light up as you walk through the lobby as they did in Billie Jean. While youre at it, bring Macauley Culkin and Norm from Cheers to sit next to you, and buy up these tickets quick.

Im no theater critic, but if the King of Pop can do for Broadway what he did for the music video, Im sure were all in for a real treat.

Alex reminds you to Dont Stop Till You Get Enough at alex.bolt@asu.edu

Source: ASU Web Devil