Back in January,Gilmore Girlsfans got the news they had been waiting nine years for, that arevivalof the series is happening on Netflix. Production is already under way, with the series set to be comprised of four 90-minute movies that will give the series a proper ending. Today we have word fromDeadlinethat original producerGavin Poloneis suing Warner Bros. Television, claiming they owe him nearly $200,000 in compensation for theGilmore Girls Revival Event Series. Here’s an excerpt from the lawsuit, which was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday.
“Upon learning thatproductionhad begun on the Subsequent Episodes, plaintiff’s representative reached out to defendant regarding plaintiff s compensation under the Operative Agreement. Defendant refuses to compensate plaintiff in any way for the Subsequent Episodes of Gilmore Girls. Defendant argues that the Subsequent Episodes do not fall under the terms of the Operative Agreement, making the absurd claim that the Subsequent Episodes are derivative works based on the television seriesGilmore Girls. Defendant also appears to erroneously believe the Subsequent Episodes are not considered a’television series’because they are being produced forNetflix, rather than a traditional broadcast network.”
UnderGavin Polone’s original “Operative Agreement” with Warner Bros. Television, the producer is entitled to $32,500 for each original episode ofGilmore Girls, produced after the year 2003. He is also entitled to a specific percentage of the Modified Adjusted Gross," along with the Executive Producer credit in front of every episode. The lawsuit claims the producer is owed $195,000 for the four90-minuteepisodes, at an adjusted rate of $48,750 per-episode, one and a half times the agreed-upon rate, since the episodes are 90 minutes long when the original episodes were 60 minutes long.
Gavin Polone’s lawsuit does not name Netflix as a defendant, and the producer is not trying to stop production on the revival series. The new episodes will take place nine years after the series went off the air in 2007, bringing the entire cast of the original series back, includingLauren Graham,Alexis Bledel, Kelly Bishop,Scott Patterson,Melissa McCarthyand many more. Production is currently under way, with the series slated to debut later this year on the Netflix streaming service.
Amy Sherman-Palladino is the creator and executive producer of Netflix’sGilmore Girls Revival Event Series. Daniel Palladino is also an executive producer, who is writing and directing the series alongside Amy Sherman-Palladino. You can visitDeadlineto check out the full copy of the lawsuit filed last week byGavin Polone, and stay tuned for more updates.
