The production of a film about internationally acclaimed music icon Fela Kuti has gone up in smoke after two multinationals, which signed an agreement to finance it pulled a fast one on the producers.
Universal Music South Africa (Umsa) and Universal Music Group (UMG) in the Netherlands bailed out on financing the flick, which was supposed to be produced by French entity, Productions Faire Bleu (LPFB), and its boss Jaques Sarasin.
This became known after LPFB and Sarasin dragged Umsa and UMG to the Johannesburg High Court, where they are demanding hundreds of thousands of euros for breach of contract, damages and loss of income.
In the court papers, which we have seen, Sarasin said in May 2020 LPFB entered into an agreement called the 2020 Film Rights Agreement with Kuti’s children in their capacity as the administrators of the singer’s estate to produce the film, which is based on his life.
On March 25, 2021, in Johannesburg and Paris, LPFB entered into a memorandum of understanding for Umsa to finance and produce the film in exchange for acquiring the rights to exploit it. LPFB and Umsa reached an agreement to pay the former €112 600 as
reimbursement for the costs it incurred in developing the script for the film.
LPFB and Umsa then appointed Sarasin to direct the film. They also agreed that the expenses already incurred by Sarasin for the unpaid work prior to the memorandum of understanding shall be allocated as a line item in the film’s budget.
Sarasin’s rights relating to his role in authoring the script, together with the rights of the co-authors of the script, shall be settled in a future agreement, they agreed. They also agreed that Umsa would contribute an amount of up to €4-million towards the financing of the film.
They later concluded an agreement called the 2021 Film Rights Agreement stipulating that Umsa would have the exclusive option to acquire the rights to produce and exploit the film within a period of sixteen months from May 31, 2021, after which the rights holders, if requested by Umsa, may extend the option.
On April 8, 2022, in Johannesburg, Umsa, UMG, and LPFB entered into written deal terms to collaborate on the production of the film with a budget of €4-million and agreed to pay Sarasin a director fee of 5% of the budget of the film with a minimum of €220 000 and a maximum of €400 000 of which 10% of the fee would be paid on the date of the execution of the deal terms, and the remaining fee would be paid on the completion of predefined milestones in the production process.
They further agreed to pay him €20 000 for his scriptwriting work, pay LPFB an amount of €80 000 for the work done to develop the film to the stage it was at the time of the conclusion of the deal terms and pay an additional amount of €47 642 for costs it incurred in respect of the scriptwriting.
These payments were supposed to have been effected by June 30, 2022.
They agreed further that both Sarasin and LPFB shall be paid a combined total of 12% in net profits collected from the distribution of the film. They also agreed to pay the legal fees incurred by Sarasin and LPFB in respect of the work done in the production and development of the film.
They also agreed to pay Sarasin the first 10% in director fees in an amount of €22 000.
“Despite demand, the remaining amounts payable to LPFB and Mr Sarasin under the deal terms UMG and/or Umsa have failed to pay to the plaintiffs the amounts due and payable to them under the deal terms,” read the papers.
As a result of their actions, UMG was liable for the amount of €80 000 payable to LPFB to reimburse it for work already done on the development of the film, prior to the conclusion of the deal terms
They are also liable for an amount of close to €48 000 payable to LPFB for costs incurred in respect of the scriptwriting of the film; €20 000 payable to Sarasin in respect of his script writing work. They should also pay Sarasin a €300 000 director’s fee and €20 000 legal fees he incurred.
“As a result of the conduct of Umsa and UMG, alternatively Umsa, including the non-payment of the outstanding amounts, the plaintiffs have suffered a loss in the amount of at least €467 000 plus interest a tempore morae, which remains outstanding, due and payable by the defendants, jointly and severally,” read the papers.
