19.06.04 DGAP-Ad hoc: Intertainment AG <DE0006223605> deutsch - 500 Beiträge pro Seite

[ad_hoc [wO]]

Intertainment: Jury gewährt zusätzlich „Punitive Damages“ in Höhe von 29 Million

Ad-hoc-Mitteilung übermittelt durch die DGAP.
Für den Inhalt der Mitteilung ist der Emittent verantwortlich.
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Jury gewährt zusätzlich „Punitive Damages“ in Höhe von 29 Millionen Dollar

Im Betrugsprozess gegen Franchise Pictures wurden Intertainment damit insgesamt
106,1 Millionen Dollar zugebilligt

Ismaning bei München, 19. Juni 2004 – Im Betrugsprozess des Medienunternehmens
Intertainment AG, Ismaning bei München, gegen den US-Filmproduzenten Franchise

Pictures und andere hat die zuständige Jury Intertainment am Freitag „Punitive
Damages“ in Höhe von 29 Millionen US-Dollar zugesprochen. Bereits am Mittwoch
dieser Woche hatte sie alle von Intertainment verklagten 18 Parteien des Betrugs
für schuldig befunden und einen Schadensersatz in Höhe von 77,1 Millionen
Dollar angesetzt. Damit billigte sie Intertainment in dem Prozess insgesamt
106,1 Millionen Dollar zu.

Die Jury teilte die 29 Millionen Dollar Punitive Damages folgendermaßen auf: Auf
Elie Samaha, den CEO von Franchise Pictures, entfallen 4 Millionen Dollar, auf
Franchise Pictures eine Millionen Dollar sowie auf 16 Produktionsgesellschaften
von Franchise Pictures jeweils 1,5 Millionen Dollar.

Bei Punitive Damages handelt es sich um zusätzliche Zahlungen aufgrund der
Verwerflichkeit der Tat. Sie gehen über den eigentlichen Schadensersatz hinaus
und sollen eine bestrafende und eine abschreckende Wirkung haben.

Der Schadensersatzprozess gegen Franchise Pictures, Elie Samaha und die
Produktionsgesellschaften fand vor dem Federal District Court in Santa Ana bei
Los Angeles statt. Intertainment hat darüber hinaus die Comerica Bank sowie die
Versicherungsgesellschaften Film Finances und World Wide Film Completion
verklagt. Sie hatten die überhöhten Budgets gegenüber Intertainment bestätigt
und abgezeichnet. Die Klage von Intertainment gegen die Bank und die
Versicherungs-gesellschaften soll im Spätherbst im Rahmen eines
Schiedsgerichtsverfahrens verhandelt werden.



Ende der Ad-hoc-Mitteilung (c)DGAP 19.06.2004

Informationen und Erläuterungen des Emittenten zu dieser Ad-hoc-Mitteilung:

Kontakt:
Intertainment AG, Dr. Marietta Birner, Investor Relations, Osterfeldstraße 84,
85737 Ismaning
Telefon: [phone], Telefax: (0 89) 2 16 99-11,
Internet: www.intertainment.de , E-Mail: [e-mail]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WKN: 622360; ISIN: DE0006223605; Index:
Notiert: Geregelter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr in Berlin-
Bremen, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover, München und Stuttgart


Autor: import DGAP.DE (© DGAP),09:06 19.06.2004

[SirHillary]

und im Spätherbst gibt es noch einen kleinen Bonus

[Neo 600]

Die guten Nachrichten reißen nicht ab.

[VolkervonAlzey]

Ist ja ideal, im Herbst läuft meine Spekufrist ab! Dann wollen wir uns mal auf den Spätherbst freuen!


V v A

[jojobada]

Guten Morgen wünsch ich dir,
lass gut sein, denn ich bin hier,
ganz in deiner Nähe, näher als
ich mir. Du bist in meinem Herzen,
ganz tief in mir und ich denke immer
wieder, wann kommst auch du, zu mir!


Und seid Ihr auch alle ausgeschlafen??

mfg jojo

[siam123]

Witzbold.

[denkidee]

Wer kennt die Namen der 16 Produktionsgesellschaften, die je 1,5 Millionen $ bezahlen müssen?

[jojobada]

Guten Morgen siam!
sorry wenn ich Dich verwirrt haben sollte, aber es war keine Absicht. Wollte gerne in einem unbefleckten Thread weitermachen! Außerdem haben wir jetzt was zum suchen!
Die 16 Firmen die 1,5 MIO leisten müssen!! Wie mögen diese
wohl heißen?? Wo sind diese Firmen?? Welche größe haben sie? Sind sie sehr bekannt? Werden sie ohne weiteres zahlen? Hat deren Image unter dem Gerichtsurteil gelitten?

Dann mal ran! Google wird es wohl schon finden!



mfg jojo

[jazzmusik]

#5und 8

kein witzbold sondern krank.
jazzmusik

[Dalle]

Ich bin auch drauf reingefallen, obwohl das Datum vorne steht, nehmts locker

[jojobada]

Sorry das war keine Absicht. Ihr seid doch nicht seid gestern an der Börse, wir sollten doch rausfinden welche die 16 Firmen sind, die zahlen müssen. Ich sag Euch auch dann worum es geht. Siam hat die Mail bekommen, und Jazzmusik auch! Und da ist meiner Meinung nach auch etwas überlegenswertes dran!

mfg jojo
verzeiht mir bitte noch einmal!!

[jojobada]

Producer Must Pay Punitive Damages
Elie Samaha has to give a film partner $4million of a $29-million punitive award in a budget spat.


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more >









SUITS

INTERTAINMENT COMPANY

FRANCHISE PICTURES COMPANY

FRANCHISE PICTURES COMPANY INTERTAINMENT COMPAN

PUNITIVE DAMAGES

ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY

SETTLEMENTS











By James Bates, Times Staff Writer


A German film distributor Friday was awarded $29 million in punitive damages on top of the $77 million it was granted by a jury that found it had been bilked by a Hollywood producer who inflated his movie budgets.

The U.S. District Court jury in Santa Ana decided that producer Elie Samaha personally should pay $4 million of the punitive damages to distributor Intertainment. Samaha`s Franchise Pictures is responsible for $1 million. The damages stemmed from Intertainment`s financing of films for Franchise.

The remaining $24 million of the award was divided into separate chunks of $1.5 million each, covering 16 films to be paid by production companies Samaha organized for each movie. They included "Get Carter" and "Driven" with Sylvester Stallone, "3000 Miles to Graceland" with Kevin Costner, "The Art of War" with Wesley Snipes and "Battlefield Earth" with John Travolta.

A former dry cleaner and owner of trendy nightclubs, Samaha briefly became a top player in Hollywood, making scores of movies, most of which flopped. The films featured top Hollywood stars and were distributed by Warner Bros.

Under its film financing deal with Samaha, Intertainment had committed to pay 47% of a movie`s budget.

But Intertainment later sued Franchise Pictures and Samaha, alleging that Samaha secretly inflated budgets so Intertainment would be on the hook for most, if not all, of each movie`s cost.

On Wednesday, the jury awarded Intertainment $77 million in compensatory damages, all to be paid by Franchise Pictures.

Samaha lawyer Bill Price said his client should not have to personally pay the punitive amounts because the jury did not find he should pay compensatory damages. Price also called the verdict flawed because the jury was not allowed to hear evidence that Intertainment had a history of being involved with inflated film budgets.

But Intertainment lawyer Scott Edelman expressed confidence in the jury`s decision and in the company`s ability to collect the $106 million awarded.

The production entities, though temporary companies, have assets in the form of film rights, Edelman said. In addition, he said, Intertainment can try to recover funds from banks, insurance companies and bond firms involved with Samaha.

Intertainment initially alleged it overpaid Samaha by $115 million. That amount was partly offset by a settlement with its bank reducing its out-of-pocket costs.

[jojobada]

Von Hollywood-Reporter.com

June 19, 2004


Franchise jury adds on $29 mil in punitive damages


By Jesse Hiestand
A federal jury has hit Elie Samaha and his Franchise Pictures for $29 million in punitive damages, compounding an earlier $77 million verdict for defrauding German distributor Intertainment Licensing by inflating the budgets on 16 co-productions.

Intended as a form of extra punishment, the punitive damages were apportioned across all defendants -- $4 million against Samaha, $1 million against Franchise and $1.5 million for each of the one-off companies formed for each feature.

Friday`s result marked the end of the complex, four-year trial but only the beginning of what is likely to be a protracted effort to collect those funds. In testimony Thursday, Samaha claimed to have a negative net worth of $10 million while Franchise was said to be in the red by about $120 million. The case could also get tied up in appeal.

"There`s no question that we`re going to have to ferret out Mr. Samaha`s assets," Intertainment attorney Scott Edelman said. "(Samaha) tried to plead poverty but by rendering this award the jury said they did not accept that his financial statements were accurate."


Defense attorney Bill Price said he thinks the verdict would have been different had the jury been allowed to hear alleged evidence that Intertainment CEO Barry Baeres was regularly inflating film budgets before he and Samaha went into business in May 1999.

"This verdict doesn`t mean that the jury agrees that Mr. Baeres was innocent," Price said. "In fact, Intertainment specifically argued to the jury that even if (Baeres) knew about (the budget inflation), Franchise was still liable."

The damages are already a source of contention.

U.S. District Court Judge Alicemarie Stotler allowed the jury, sitting in Santa Ana, Calif., to award the $77 million compensatory damages in a lump sum. They did so, placing the burden entirely on Franchise even though all the defendants were found to have committed fraud and breach of contract.

Price said the jury did not find conspiracy to defraud, so it was required to dole out the damages only to those defendants who deserved it. Since Samaha and the individual production companies were spared of those damages, Price argued that they could not be targeted for further punitive damages.

Intertainment`s Edelman told the jury that they could clear up the confusion by hitting all of the defendants with punitive damages, which they did.

"The jury has now shown that that was their intent all along," Edelman said.

The judge will have the final say but only after the two sides have an opportunity to argue the matter.

Intertainment had asked the jury for $115 million, roughly the amount it claimed to have overpaid on the inflated budgets for such films as "Get Carter," "The Whole Nine Yards" and "3000 Miles to Graceland."

Under the multipicture agreement, Intertainment was supposed to pay 47% of the budgets in return for European and other distribution rights. The five year, 55-picture production-distribution deal with Franchise was reached shortly after Intertainment, a niche distributor founded by Baeres, went public on the German markets with an overnight value of $800 million.

Baeres testified that he hoped to take advantage of Samaha`s contacts in Hollywood and his ability to produce star-driven features for cheap.

Franchise acknowledged throughout the trial that the budgets were inflated but said Baeres was a willing participant so he`d have a guaranteed pipeline of major features to help sustain Intertainment`s stock price.

Baeres insisted he trusted Samaha until he discovered that Intertainment was unwittingly funding 70% or more of these films, all of which have been box office disappointments except for "The Whole Nine Yards."

Intertainment has also accused Comerica Bank and the completion companies Worldwide FilmCompletion and Film Finances of being complicit in the fraud and hopes to prove that at arbitration this fall.

[werauchimmer]

@jojoba

Danke für den Artikel!

Das sieht doch ziemlich gut aus.

Wenn ich das richtig verstehe, so gab es nach dem ersten Urteil (77 Mio) Unklarheit, da dieses Geld sozusagen "in einem Stück" als Schadensersatz festgestellt wurde und Price/Samaha daraufhin meinten, sie wären aus dem Schneider, da dieser Brocken ausschließlich von Franchise Pictures aufgebracht werden müsse.

Edelmann/ITN forderten daraufhin die Jury auf, durch eindeutige Zuordnung der punitve damages für Klarheit zu sorgen, was diese auch tat´, indem sie die 29 Mio aufteilte in Teile zu 4 / 1 / und 16x1,5 Mio = 29 Mio.

Möglicherweise kann man ja die comparitive damages den punitive damages im gleichen Verhältnis zuordnen!?

Samaha: 10,62 + 4 = 14,62 Mio
Franchise Pictures: 2,65 + 1 = 3,65 Mio
Produktionsfirmen: 63,72 + 24 = 87,72 Mio

Korrigiert mich bitte, wenn ich etwas falsch interpretiert habe!

[jojobada]

Hallo@all

es geht doch nicht darum Artikel zu lesen, es geht darum zwischen den Zeilen zu lesen. Wenn wir alle zusammen halten, und bei google etwas suchen unter Franchis & Co
dann werden wir sicherlich auch fündig. Ihr solltet nicht vergessen, dass in USA verhandelt wurde! Was hier so rüberschwappt ist doch nur die Hälfte von dem was wir zu lesen bekommen.

Hat jemand die Adresse der Hompage von samaha und co??
Wie mögen die angeschlossenen Firmen wohl heißen?
Und nicht vergessen, es gibt noch mehr Suchmaschinen.
Diese können auch mehr als nur suchen. Gebt mal 400x200 ein! Gebt mal E-mail samaha ein!


Elie Samaha est président-directeur général de Franchise Pictures. Associé d’Andrew Stevens, il dirige également le département Franchise Classics. Franchise Pictures est devenu en très peu de temps l’une des sociétés de production et de cofinancement les plus prolifiques de l’industrie cinématographique. La société financera et distribuera plus d’une dizaine de films cette année.
Franchise Pictures a conclu un arrangement de distribution aux Etats-Unis avec Warner Bros. Pictures, qui a commencé par MON VOISIN LE TUEUR de Jonathan Lynn, dont Elie Samaha était producteur exécutif, et s’est poursuivi avec L’ART DE LA GUERRE de Christian Duguay, GET CARTER de Stephen Kay, avec Sylvester Stallone, THE PLEDGE de Sean Penn, et BRAQUAGES, écrit et réalisé par David Mamet.
Parmi les autres films distribués par Franchise à travers Warner Bros. Pictures figurent ANGEL EYES de Luis Mandoki, DESTINATION : GRACELAND de Demian Lichtenstein, THE WATCHER de Joe Charbanic, CITY BY THE SEA de Michael Caton-Jones. En 2003 sortiront THE IN-LAWS d’Andrew Fleming, SOUND OF THUNDER de Peter Hyams et ALEX AND EMMA de Rob Reiner.
Elie Samaha a supervisé une longue liste de films pour Franchise Pictures, notamment comme producteur de ZIGZAG de David S. Goyer, MISSION ALCATRAZ de Don Michael Paul et PRINCESS OF PARADISE PARK de Michael Seitzman.
Parmi les films Franchise Classics figurent THE CAVEMAN’S VALENTINE de Kasi Lemmons, GREEN DRAGON de Timothy Linh Bui, CE QUE JE SAIS D’ELLE… D’UN SIMPLE REGARD de Rodrigo Garcia, et THE BIG KAHUNA.
Elie Samaha a été le producteur exécutif de la comédie 20 DATES de Myles Berkowitz et celui de BALLISTIC : ECKS VS. SEVER de Wych Kaosayananda.




Janet Shprintz



Title: Los Angeles Reporter
Email: [e-mail]




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Next

[jojobada]

The Runelords: Franchise Pictures has partnered with Story Island Entertainment, Origin Entertainment LLC (who will operate under the new trademark Canyonlight Entertainment), and Entertainment Business Group (EBG) for the production of the $80 million epic-adventure franchise “The Runelords,” the first of three films based on the internationally best-selling novels by David Farland. The companies have entered into a co-production and distribution agreement with Franchise Pictures.

Stated John J. Lee, Jr., CEO for EBG: “Elie (Samaha) and the entire Franchise team bring highly beneficial creative and distribution power to these pictures.”

W. David McBrayer of Canyonlight Entertainment, stated, "Canyonlight is pleased to be part of such a great team to produce an epic-adventure motion picture of this scope. ‘The Runelords’ will capture the imagination of audiences worldwide with its unique storyline and visual style."

“The Runelords” is scheduled to commence principal photography in Prague, Czech Republic in June, with negotiations presently being finalized with a top director to helm the film. In addition to producing, EBG is directing international sales, electronic games and merchandising.

Elie Samaha is executive producing and Joseph Merhi is producing for Franchise Pictures for the three films’ series. In anticipation of “The Runelords” being a breakout action-adventure franchise, they plan a major P&A launch and release campaign.

Published in 1997, “The Runelords” was the first novel in the series and was followed by “Brotherhood of the Wolf” and “Wizardborn.” All were best-sellers in North America and the major European territories, and are presently published in eight languages. The latest installment, “Lair of Bones,” was published in Fall 2003, by Tor, a division of St. Martin’s Press.

“The Runelords” series author and creator David Wolverton (pka David Farland), is deeply experienced in major motion picture and electronic game franchise creation. He has written more than twenty best-selling fantasy and science fiction novels, including novels for the “Star Wars” and “The Mummy” franchises, as well as designs for some of the most successful electronic games, including “StarCraft: Brood War.”

The first installment of “The Runelords” epic fantasy series weaves a mixture of magic and myth, romance, valor, wonder and bravery. Wolverton commented that the tale combines the power, action and moral depth of “The Matrix” with the audience demographics of “Spiderman.”

Wolverton adds: “When I first conceived of the Runelords novel series, I saw immediately that it was a great property and a powerful motion picture, games and merchandise platform. It’s a story that takes us to another world, a place where we enjoy being. We will want to develop the story in a variety of mediums which connect to the most important facets of our lives.”

EBG is presently discussing potential global licensing and merchandising deals for multi-platform electronic games and a host of toy, publishing, apparel and other licensing agreements on behalf of the franchise.

Emmy Award-winning visual effects pioneer, Grant Boucher, has been providing creative and artistic direction for the franchise with initial help from Academy Award winner John Nelson (Gladiator, I Robot). Nelson comments: "It`s a very strong story where attributes can be traded, so the currency of the realm are things like strength, beauty and other human attributes which are much more valuable than money."

The Runelords is a co-production between Franchise Pictures, who has a standing domestic distribution deal with Warner Bros., Wolverton’s Story Island Entertainment, David McBrayer’s and Richard Shaw’s Canyonlight Entertainment and EBG, which is helmed by Rob Holt and John J. Lee, Jr. with Development and Production President Anne Marie Gillen.

[werauchimmer]

@all

Trotzalledem noch einmal die Frage: gibt es eine Relation zwischen punitive und comparative damages, so wie ich es oben ausgerechnet habe, oder hat das Eine mit dem Anderen nichts zu tun?

[Dalle]

@werauchimmer

Ich denke genau dieser Punkt wird am 01.07. durch die Richterin geklärt werden

[Thinktool]

Das wäre doch die Lösung: Franchise tritt das Projekt "Runelords" an Intertainment ab und die ziehen das gemeinsam mit Openpictures durch. Dagegen erhalten sie "Schuldenerlass" bei den 77 Mio.

[jojobada]

nix mehr los hier, viele schweigen denn so kann der Kurs sich erholen und langsam nach Norden ziehn.

Bald werden einige zuschlagen fette Order werden bald auftauchen! Und dann wird der eine oder andere überrascht werden vom Anstieg, und dem Kurs hinterherlaufen.

mfg jojo

so ist die Börse

[ravemaster]