A judge said Thursday she sympathizes with the growing impatience of Kevin Costner as he continues awaiting payment of a settlement of a breach-of-contract suit he filed against a film production company.
Costner, 63, alleges Kylin Pictures Inc. used his name to attract investor interest in the film “Shanghai Sojourners” at the Shanghai International Film Festival in 2016, then later fired him.
“I understand why they are frustrated,” Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Holly Kendig during a hearing in which Costner’s lawyer, Sevan Gobel, said Kylin failed to make an $885,000 installment on the settlement with money invested in China as expected on Feb. 15. “I was trying to be optimistic that this would get done in February, but maybe I was a little naive.”
Gobel said the only money Kylin paid was $21,000 in interest.
Kylin attorney Bennett Bigman said he was hoping the funds would have been released by now on Kylin’s behalf by the Chinese government, which he said is waiting for a more favorable exchange rate. He said he could not give a specific date for payment because the market is subject to “a whole lot of variables.”
Bigman said that entering judgment at this point against Kylin would only give Costner “an empty piece of paper.”
Kendig said she could understand when Bigman asked for additional time during a hearing in January, claiming that his client needed another month to gather the money. But she said she sees little progress getting made.
“I don’t know if your client will ever get the money out of China,” Kendig said, adding that it might be unwise to invest money in Chinese banks if someone is doing business in the United States.
Kendig rescheduled Thursday’s status conference until April 23 to await any further motions by Costner.
The two sides reached a conditional settlement in September, but Kylin’s lawyers stated in their court papers that a complete resolution still required the completion of some remaining terms. Costner, along with production company Treehouse Films LLC, sued Kylin Pictures in October 2016. The actor and his lawyers maintain the settlement agreement is for $1.4 million, but Bigman said in January that his client is willing to pay $1,085,000, plus interest, and that full payment would be made by June.
Kendig said in January that if she granted a judgment against Kylin at that time, it would only have been for $1,085,000 because Costner’s court papers did not sufficiently state why he is entitled to $1.4 million.
According to the complaint, Treehouse and Beacon Films signed a deal in April 2016 to produce “Shanghai Sojourners,” the story of a Chinese woman who falls in love with a Jewish man during World War II and tries to help him escape the Nazis. Costner and producer Armyan Bernstein were set to receive a combined producing fee of $3 million, the lawsuit states.
On top of that, Treehouse and Beacon were to receive a $1 million overhead fee and a share of profits, the complaint alleges.
During the Shanghai International Film Festival in the summer of 2016, Kylin promoted the film and highlighted the involvement of Costner and Treehouse, resulting in investments in the film. According to the suit, Kylin had already decided to fire Costner and Treehouse, but waited until August 2016 to tell them.
–City News Service