Producer Drops Lawsuit Over Unpaid Commissions On Trio Of Films Starring Chris Pine, Anna Kendrick & Kate Beckinsale – Update

Tom Tapp
·5 min read
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UPDATED, 3:10 p.m.: Matthew Dwyer and Rescue Dog Productions LLC have dropped the suit brought against a second producer and his company. On Thursday, the plaintiffs’ attorney filed court papers with Judge Christopher Lui in Los Angeles requesting dismissal of the suit “without prejudice,” meaning it can be refiled later. The papers were not clear whether a settlement was reached or if the case was not being pursued for other reasons.

After the ruling a representative for one of the defendants, Jeff Elliott of Bricknell and Broadbridge International, gave a statement to Deadline that reads, in part: “This suit lacked merit and was a desperate effort by Mathew Dwyer and Rescue Dog Productions to extort money from Brickell and Broadbridge…This is the second time in four months that Dwyer has withdrawn a lawsuit against Brickell and Broadbridge for the same false allegations without receiving any settlement.”

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Read details of the case below.

PREVIOUSLY, December 26: A producer and aspiring actor, as well as a production company with which he is a principal, are suing a second producer and his firm in a dispute over alleged unpaid commissions and other promises concerning financing of three films with the likes of Chris Pine, Annette Bening, Danny DeVito, Anna Kendrick and Kate Beckinsale.

Matthew Dwyer and Rescue Dog Productions LLC brought the lawsuit against producer Jeff Elliott as well as Chad Moore, Elliott’s associate executive with their company, Bricknell and Broadbridge International, alleging fraud and breach of contract. The plaintiffs seek unspecified compensatory damages and restitution in the suit brought Friday.

The films at issue are Poolman, which is Pine’s directorial debut; The Dating Game, which is Kendrick’s directorial debut and Canary Black, which stars Beckinsale.

“It is clear to plaintiffs now that they fell victim to a shell game-type con perpetrated by defendants, one in which defendants moved from film to film, making more and more promises to plaintiffs, having plaintiffs raise more and more financing based on those promises, only to take the funds plaintiffs raised and run, without honoring their end of the bargain,” reads the suit.

Representatives for Elliott and Moore could not be immediately reached for comment.

According to the suit, the plaintiffs were introduced to Elliott earlier this year and Elliott indicated that he was urgently trying to raise money for Poolman, a feature film starring Chris Pine, Susan Sarandon, Annette Bening and Danny DeVito.

“Elliot told plaintiffs that he needed to raise the $1.1 million for the film in two days,” the suit states.

In exchange, Elliot allegedly promised Rescue Dog 12% to 12.5% commission on funds raised, 3.5% equity in the film, executive producer credits for both Dwyer and his fellow Rescue Dog executive, Michael Hollingsworth, along with news releases in the entertainment media announcing Rescue Dog, Dwyer and Hollingsworth as producers.

The defendants also promised Dwyer, an aspiring actor, a role in Poolman as a waiter serving Pine and other actors in a scene, the suit alleges.

Ultimately, Rescue Dog was paid only $150,000 in commissions for its work, Dwyer and Hollingsworth did not receive producing credits or mention in the trade media and Dwyer did not get his acting role, according to the suit. Elliott told Dwyer he had a better role awaiting him in Netflix’s The Dating Game, which was to star Anna Kendrick, the suit states.

Elliott began talking to the plaintiffs in June about raising money for The Dating Game and agreed to pay the plaintiffs a 10% commission on any monies raised by the plaintiffs for the film, the suit states. Elliott also allegedly told Dwyer that the plaintiff’s acting role in The Dating Game was assured and that he would be paid $37,500 for four to six scenes in the film, including a “juicy role across from Anna Kendrick.”

Dwyer and Rescue Dog raised $1.1 million for The Dating Game, but some of the money was later allegedly allocated to production of Canary Black, the suit states.

Dwyer and Rescue Dog were never paid the promised commissions, nor was Dwyer given any role in the film, even though production went ahead in October, according to the suit.

In late August and early September, Elliott allegedly made some of the same commission, publicity and acting promises to the plaintiffs concerning the Kate Beckinsale film Canary Black, saying he needed $4.4 million in financing.

“Elliott went so far as to offer up five or six potential roles in Canary Black for Dwyer and told him that he could take his pick,” the suit indicates.

A lawyer for the defendants told Deadline in a statement that Dwyer’s legal action is “completely without merit. In fact, this lawsuit is one more step in a desperate effort to extort money from my clients.”

Indeed, the plaintiffs were only able to raise $2.05 million for Canary Black, but complain they again did not get the compensation for which they had bargained, according to the suit, which alleges the defendants used a “bait and switch” method to obtain the plaintiffs’ assistance with fundraising, only to renege on all the promises that the plaintiffs relied on in return for their assistance with fundraising.

The defendants’ counsel argues that “Mr. Dwyer admits in the lawsuit that my clients voluntarily paid him a substantial finders fee by my client for an introduction, as is typical in the film industry. Plaintiffs also admit in the lawsuit that they raised far less than the $4.4 million dollars that they had repeatedly promised to raise, yet still apparently expected to be paid as if they had.”

The statement ends with, “We intend to vigorously defend this lawsuit and fully expect that it will be dismissed and that Mr. Dwyer will be sanctioned for filing it.”

The lawsuit aleges that, after the last funds raised by the plaintiffs for Canary Black reached the defendants’ bank account, Elliott and Moore “stopped returning Dwyer’s phone calls, going radio silent for several weeks.”

City News Service and Erik Pedersen contributed to this report.

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