Investor Sues For $1.5M Over Film Flop

A French executive who invested $1.7 million with Voltage Pictures in 2014 has sued the firm for selling distribution rights for well below the agreed-upon “take” price, and deliberately failing to sell the rights to certain territories. Gerard Barba filed the $1.5 million suit. He claims to have only received about $200,000 in proceeds from the film, “Good Kids,” a teen comedy. “Defendants have placed their goals and financial interests ahead of those of their financing partners and investors, including Plaintiff, and in direct conflict with their contractual obligations, by telling or convincing their foreign distributors and licensees not to license or buy the picture,” the lawsuit states. The suit claims Voltage engaged in “secret side deals” with international distributors. Barba also says he was deliberately misled about the potential for foreign sales prices to induce him to invest.