Sudanese Refugee Sue Moviemakers

09:18 PM Feb, 24 2015
Sudanese Online
SudaneseOnline News-Khartoum Sudan
My Library at SudaneseOnline








By COURTNEY WALTERS 



ATLANTA (CN) - "The Good Lie," a well-received film starring Reese Witherspoon, used the life stories of dozens of survivors of Sudanese genocide without paying them, the Foundation for Lost Boys and Girls of Sudan claims in a federal lawsuit.
     The foundation and 54 refugees sued six productions and three people on Feb. 19, alleging fraudulent inducement, unjust enrichment, breach of faith, breach of contract, commercial appropriation, conversion and breach of fiduciary duty. They also want an accounting.
     The movie, directed by Ron Howard, was released on Oct. 3, 2014. It depicts the civil tension and genocide that took the lives of 2.5 million Sudanese people.
     Named as defendants are Alcon Entertainment, Imagine Entertainment, Good Lie Productions, Black Label Media, Reliance Big Entertainment, Outlaw Productions, Deborah Jelin Newmyer as executrix of the Estate of Robert Newmyer, Jeffrey Silver and Margaret Nagle.
     Silver is a partner in Outlaw, as was Newmyer's estate, according to the 101-page lawsuit. Nagle is a screenwriter.
     Neither Howard nor Witherspoon are parties to the lawsuit.
     The foundation describes itself as a nonprofit in Georgia, where the refugees live.
     It claims the 54 "Lost Boys" partnered with the defendants to help create a screenplay to "raise public awareness of the plight of Sudanese refugees" through depiction of their "traumatic personal stories."
     The children were forced from their villages in South Sudan to travel for months in search of refugee camps, burying their fallen friends along the way.
     After meeting with film producer Robert Newmyer, three of the Lost Boys negotiated a deal with Newmyer and Nagle, according to the complaint.
     The foundation claims that Newmyer and Nagle "would not allow the script to be used for a film unless and until the Contributing Lost Boys consented after reaching an agreement as to compensation with the future filmmakers/studios."
     "Newmyer and Nagle further promised that they would facilitate using the telling of the Contributing Lost Boys' stories as a catalyst to raise funds for a new foundation to be organized and operated by the Contributing Lost Boys," the complaint states.
     The foundation claims that under terms of a joint venture, the Lost Boys participated in interviews recorded by audio or video in Atlanta in 2003 as Newmyer and Nagle developed a screenplay based on the stories.
     After Newmyer's unexpected death in December 2005, Nagle tabled the screenplay until 2013 when Paramount Pictures purchased its production rights from Outlaw without the knowledge or consent of the Lost Boys, according to the complaint.
     Reliance Big Entertainment, Imagine Entertainment, Alcon Entertainment, Black Label Media, and Good Lie Productions obtained rights and associated together as the production team that began filming "The Good Lie" in Atlanta in early 2013, the foundation says.
     It claims that the production team was aware of its obligations and responsibilities under the joint venture agreement during the various transfers of ownership and production interests.
     The foundation claims that the Contributing Lost Boys spoke with the movie director Philippe Falardeau, Black Label Media producer Molly Smith and Imagine Entertainment producer Karen Sherwood in a videotaped meeting on April 15, 2013.
     According to the lawsuit, Smith addressed the Contributing Lost Boys' concerns at the meeting, saying: "The most important thing that was said here today was you asked a question, 'Do you feel we should be compensated for your story?' And, the answer I can say, because it's my company and my studio, is absolutely."
     But over the next few months, counsel for the production companies rejected efforts to cooperate or mediate, and "denied the existence of any agreement with the Contributing Lost Boys or the foundation," according to the lawsuit.
     Noticing material from their interviews used in the 2-minute trailer released in June 2014, the Contributing Lost Boys assigned intellectual property rights to their stories and claims to the Foundation for Lost Boys and Girls of Sudan, according to the complaint.
     The lawsuit describes multiple refugee stories that appear in "The Good Lie," including one about a brother who lied to rebel forces to save a group of younger boys hiding in the grass.
     The foundation seeks damages for 18 causes of action.
     It and the 54 Lost Boys are represented by Jason Graham, with Graham and Jensen in Atlanta. https://www.courthousenews.com/HomePDF/Payment.aspx?FullTextUploadId=2112003&



Topics related to the subject or the author


• China announces that it will continue to support South Sudan peace process 02-24-15, 04:04 PM, SudaneseOnline News
• Three die in militia attacks in South and North Darfur 02-24-15, 04:03 PM, Radio Dabanga
• Sudan and Kuwait negotiate help Zain repatriate $280 million worth of Sudanese pounds 02-24-15, 04:02 PM, SudaneseOnline News
• Darfur displaced invite US Deputy Secretary of State to visit their camps 02-24-15, 04:00 PM, Radio Dabanga
• Egypt never stopped communicating with Nile basin countries: Egyptian Ambassador to Sudan 02-24-15, 03:18 PM, SudaneseOnline News
• Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia receive offers for Nile dam studies 02-23-15, 05:35 PM, Ahram Online
• Offers from firms to conduct technical studies on the Ethiopian dam 02-23-15, 05:32 PM, SudaneseOnline News
• Mass deportation starts at new dam sites in eastern Sudan 02-23-15, 05:32 PM, Radio Dabanga
• Boko Haram on agenda of IGAD Inter -Parliamentary Union in Khartoum 02-23-15, 05:29 PM, SudaneseOnline News
• Sudan activists to take action against Tabit mass rape 02-23-15, 05:29 PM, Radio Dabanga
• Talks between Khartoum and Washington on human rights and democracy 02-23-15, 04:22 PM, SudaneseOnline News
• Kuwait hands out payments to Sudanese orphans 02-21-15, 04:16 PM, SudaneseOnline News
• Darfur rebels kill soldiers in central Jebel Marra 02-21-15, 03:23 PM, Radio Dabanga
• Darfur authority stresses that improvement of U.S-Sudanese relations will bring peace 02-21-15, 03:22 PM, SudaneseOnline News
• Central Darfur's displaced without shelter after fire 02-21-15, 03:21 PM, Radio Dabanga
• Sudan’s president addresses the Speakers of Parliaments of IGAD 02-21-15, 03:19 PM, SudaneseOnline News
• UNAMID prepares for a safe exit from Sudan’s Darfur 02-20-15, 02:18 PM, SudaneseOnline News
• Sudanese hospital medics strike over non-payment 02-20-15, 02:16 PM, Radio Dabanga
• Sudan’s Vice President warns the young of extremism and terrorism 02-20-15, 02:08 PM, SudaneseOnline News
• Talks in Sudan on Unamid exit strategy 02-20-15, 02:06 PM, Radio Dabanga
• China stresses it will support Sudan in all international forums 02-20-15, 02:02 PM, SudaneseOnline News
• South Sudan Warns Media Not to Publish Rebel Interviews 02-17-15, 04:29 PM, Voice of America
• Sudan denounces beheading of 21 Egyptians by Islamic State in Libya 02-16-15, 04:01 PM, SudaneseOnline News
• Israel’s hard stance to get Sudanese asylum seekers to leave 02-14-15, 04:05 PM, Haaretz Daily Newspaper
• Sudan denies rumors that it closed its Embassy in Yemen 02-14-15, 04:02 PM, SudaneseOnline News
• Political delegation in Tabit scares residents 02-14-15, 03:16 PM, Radio Dabanga
• IGAD's Inter-Parliamentary Union convenes its meeting in Khartoum 02-14-15, 03:12 PM, SudaneseOnline News
• Sudan’s president to meet the opposition forces on February 21 02-11-15, 03:57 PM, SudaneseOnline News
• Two more militiamen die after army, militia clashes in Darfur’s East Jebel Marra 02-11-15, 03:56 PM, Radio Dabanga
• Sudan welcomes any U.S help to solve the Two Areas crisis 02-11-15, 03:53 PM, SudaneseOnline News
• Sudan and Kuwait sign a number of agreements to upgrade the level of relations 02-10-15, 04:54 PM, SudaneseOnline News
• Kuwaiti, Sudanese FMs mull bilateral relations 02-10-15, 04:52 PM, KUNA-Kuwait News Agency
• Launch of Sudanese electronic gateway project 02-09-15, 05:15 PM, SudaneseOnline News
• Sudanese-Kuwaiti Ministerial Committee meets tomorrow in Kuwait 02-08-15, 03:53 PM, SudaneseOnline News
• Sudan’s president supports the Arab Parliament efforts 02-06-15, 01:39 PM, SudaneseOnline News
• Sudanese displaced by Merowe Dam demand compensation 02-06-15, 01:29 PM, Radio Dabanga
• Sudanese official commends Kuwait's relentless support to Sudan 01-28-15, 04:12 PM, KUNA-Kuwait News Agency
• Sudanese-Kuwaiti Ministerial Committee meetings held in February 01-25-15, 03:24 PM, SudaneseOnline News
• Sudan hosts the joint ministerial committees with Arab Gulf countries 01-24-15, 05:51 PM, SudaneseOnline News
• Ministry has spent donor money: angry MPs in eastern Sudan 12-20-14, 03:27 PM, Radio Dabanga
• Sudan vows more facilities to target Kuwaiti investments 11-16-14, 02:44 PM, SudaneseOnline News
• Saudi Arabia provided financial support to Sudan: Sudan’s Investment Minister reveals 10-22-14, 04:53 PM, SudaneseOnline News
• Presentation by the Independent Expert on the Situation of Human Rights in Sudan 09-24-14, 04:52 PM, تقارير سودانيزاونلاين
• Sudanese FM receives message from Kuwaiti counterpart 09-07-14, 00:17 AM, KUNA-Kuwait News Agency
• 18 million EU grant for primary education in Sudan 08-27-14, 08:10 PM, Radio Dabanga
• Kenana holds general assembly meeting without Managing Director 07-17-14, 11:02 AM, SudaneseOnline News
• MPs express discontent over Sudan Airway decline 06-17-14, 05:52 PM, SudaneseOnline News
• 500 surgical operations to be undergone for children in Wad Medani for free 05-27-14, 09:00 AM, SudaneseOnline News
• Sudan eyes more Kuwaiti investments 04-23-14, 03:54 PM, KUNA-Kuwait News Agency
• Kuwait's Amb, Sudanese Vice Pres. discuss bilateral ties 04-22-14, 04:50 PM, KUNA-Kuwait News Agency
• Sudan requests information on 4 persons from facebook 04-15-14, 03:37 PM, SudaneseOnline News
• Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood leader visits Khartoum 04-05-14, 02:56 PM, The Middle East Monitor
• Sudanese, Djiboutian officials hail outcome of deliberations 03-20-14, 04:47 PM, KUNA-Kuwait News Agency
• Experts: Arab countries to consider as terrorist Muslim Brotherhood 03-12-14, 02:00 PM, SudaneseOnline News
• Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled meets Sudanese FM 03-09-14, 06:53 PM, SudaneseOnline News
• Publication of Constitutional Proetction of Human Rights in Sudan 02-10-14, 05:37 PM, SudaneseOnline News
• Zain not interested in Sudanese telco Canartel 12-04-13, 01:52 PM, SudaneseOnline News
• Sudan appreciates the role played by Kuwait in all fields 09-24-13, 08:00 PM, SudaneseOnline News
• Sudan's First Vice President praises the depth of relations between th 09-03-13, 03:11 PM, SudaneseOnline News
• First Vice Presidents Lauds Sudanese - Kuwaiti Relations 09-02-13, 04:59 PM, SudaneseOnline News
• Kuwait''s amb. delivers HH Kuwait Amir''s invitation to Sudan''s press 09-02-13, 04:22 PM, SudaneseOnline News

Arabic Forum