All articles by Ross Johnson
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Samaha files for new trial against Baeres, Intertainment
Elie Samaha, the filmproducer who lost a $106m jury verdict last June in Los Angeles federal courtin a fraud and breach-of-contract suit filed by Germany's IntertainmentLicensing, has filed for a rematch.On Monday this week,attorneys for Samaha filed a motion for a new trial, claiming thatIntertainment's former chairman Rudiger "Barry" Baeres ...
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Court orders Samaha, Franchise to pay $121.5m
A federal judge in Santa Ana, California, entered judgmentyesterday (17 Aug) against Elie Samaha, Franchise Pictures, and 18 Franchiseone-off production companies for $121.5m.Thejudgment, pending post-trial motions and appeals, marks the conclusion of the four-yearlegal battle between Franchise and its former co-production partner,Intertainment Licensing GmbH.Judge Alicemarie Stotler ruled that Franchise, Samaha, ...
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Samaha's personal liability to increase in Intertainment case
On Friday in aSanta Ana, California federal courtroom, what may be the biggest bomb in amovie career filled with them was aimed squarely at Franchise Pictures CEO ElieSamaha.That's whenJudge Alicemarie Stotler issued tentative rulings pertaining to next week'sformal judgments in the matter of German rights broker Intertainment GmbH'slawsuit against Franchise.In ...
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Samaha, Franchise stung with $29m punitive damages in Intertainment case
Make no mistake:Last week's jury verdict victoryfor Intertainment Licensing CEO Rudiger"Barry" Baeres over Franchise Pictures CEO Elie Samaha in their epic budgetpumping fraud lawsuit was a total annihilation of Franchise, and could suck upwhat's left of Samaha's personal war chest.On Wednesday ina Santa Ana, California federal courtroom, Intertainment was awarded ...
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More bad news for Samaha in Intertainment case
Today in the Santa Ana,Calfornia courtroom where Elie Samaha and his Franchise Pictures lost itsbattle with Intertainment AG earlier this week, the jury came back with thepunitive damages verdict, and it's more bad news for Samaha.The Jury awarded BarrieBaeres and Intertainment $29m in punitive damages in addition to the $77.1m ...
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Baeres celebrates stunning court victory over Samaha
In the end, it was personal.Wednesday's jury verdict infavor of Intertainment Licensing versus Franchise Pictures was a stunningvictory for Intertainment CEO Rudiger "Barry" Baeres in his nearly four yearbattle with one-time close friend turned courtroom adversary, Franchise CEOElie Samaha.The front page stats willshow that the seven week federal civil trial ...
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BREAKING NEWS: Verdict returned in Intertainment v Franchise case
The jury returned a verdicttoday in the matter of Intertainment vs Franchise Pictures and Elie Samaha in aSanta Ana courtroom today.The jury found in favour ofIntertainment on fraud and breach-of-contract claims. They ruled againstIntertainment on the charges of conspiracy and found Elie Samaha not guilty ofRICO.They dismissed Franchise'sbreach-of-contract claims against ...
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Jury begins deliberations in Franchise/Intertainment lawsuit
The jury retired yesterdayin the Intertainment vs Franchise lawsuit which has become one of the longestand most high-profile spats in the history of the international film business.The nine largely retiredand/or unemployed jurors from Orange County, California will now attempt tofind the truth among the arcane intricacies of loan documents and ...
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Baeres wouldn't put a production auditor on Franchise movies, says Williamson
While charging his employees for office coffee, IntertainmentLicensing CEO Rudiger "Barry" Baeres spurned repeated requests to put aproduction auditor on film sets where the budgets were being fraudulentlypumped for tens of millions of dollars, said his former co-managing director ina federal courtroom Tuesday in Santa Ana, California.On the day both ...
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Intertainment lawsuit takes a new twist
One of the longest andugliest legal fights in independent film business history took yetanother stunning turn on Thursday when the former co-managing director and leadcounsel for Intertainment Licensing attempted to virtually destroy the case ofhis one-time boss, Intertainment CEO Rudiger 'Barry' Baeres."I'm here to make sure justice is done", said ...
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Baeres 'had to destroy' Intertainment
The wild ride ofIntertainment Licensing CEO Rudiger "Barry" Baeres took a solemn turn onTuesday as Baeres described the collapse of his company to a jury in a SantaAna, California federal courtroom.Testifying inIntertainment's $100m film-budget fraud lawsuit against Franchise Pictures andits CEO, Elie Samaha, Baeres recounted how he became a pariah ...
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Samaha faces heat in Intertainment lawsuit
FranchisePictures CEO Elie Samaha's unique defense in his marathon litigation withIntertainment Licensing was put to the test Tuesday in a Santa Ana, Californiafederal courtroom, and his explanations for why he admittedly pumped thebudgets on Franchise films were akin to his own analogy comparing making filmsto making souffles: Some rose, some ...
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Defiant Samaha steps into witness box
Yesterday, five years andthousands of miles away from the hotel room in Cannes where they formed whatwas supposed to be one of the most lucrative alliances in independent filmfinancing history, Elie Samaha and Rudiger "Barry" Baeres finally facedtheir moment of truth.That's when Samaha steppedinto a witness box in a Santa ...