Bill Block, QED Settle Legal Dispute
QED and Bill Block have resolved the legal dispute from an April lawsuit that the company filed in federal court against its former CEO.
Details of the settlement were not announced Wednesday evening.
QED Holdings sued Block for trademark infringement and unfair competition, alleging he illegally used QED’s assets for personal gain — an allegation that Block’s attorney strongly denied.
QED Holdings alleged the financier and producer — who had exited as CEO several months earlier — had surreptitiously taken control of the Bruce Lee biopic “Birth of the Dragon” and Robert De Niro comedy “Dirty Grandpa.”
Block’s attorney Martin Singer of Lavely and Singer said at the time that the suit was “ridiculous” and stemmed from the plaintiffs becoming dissatisfied with the terms of their settlement agreement with Block after QED Holdings ran out of money.
A joint statement said: “QED, a leading independent motion picture production, financing and distribution company, and Bill Block announced today that they have resolved their legal dispute to the mutual satisfaction of all parties. Bill Block and QED look forward to the release on January 22nd of Dirty Grandpa, a QED Production with Bill Block producing and Sasha Shapiro and Anton Lessine executive producing. Details of the settlement have not been disclosed.”
Block’s departure from QED — a company he founded in 2002 — took place in late 2014 as he and Kevin Frakes had teamed with hedge fund Merced Capital L.P. to launch a $500 million slate of films under the Merced Media moniker.
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