Crowd of LOTR actors sue NL

check this out:

New Zealand actors sue New Line
'Rings' players question merchandising revenue
By LINDSAY CHANEYFifteen Kiwi actors who appeared in various installments of "Lord of the Rings" got a lesson in Hollywood accounting when they opened royalty statements from New Line and found that despite millions of dollars in sales of lunchboxes, T-shirts, caps and other LOTR gimcrack, there was -- gasp! -- zero "net merchandising revenue."
The actors contacted attorney Henry Gradstein, who filed a lawsuit on Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court to recover money the actors figured they are owed under paragraph 11 of their contracts.

Based on the paragraph, the actors believed they would receive 5% of "net merchandising revenue" split among all actors whose characters are portrayed on the merchandise.

What the actors didn't realize is that gross merchandising revenue apparently became "net merchandising revenue" after certain unexpected expenses were deducted.

The biggest of these was a 50% distribution fee that the actors had never seen mentioned anywhere in their contract, according to the lawsuit.

There were also other payments and fees that the actors felt were not "related to the generation of the relevant merchandising revenue."

After looking at all the fees that were being deducted from the gross revenues, the actors figured it would be impossible to ever have any "net merchandising revenue" no matter how much merchandise was sold.

Actors filing the lawsuit are: Noel Appleby, Jed Brophy, Mark Ferguson, Ray Henwood, Bruce Hopkins, William Johnson, Nathaniel Lees, Sarah McLeod, Ian Mune, Paul Norell, Craig Parker, Robert Pollock, Martyn Sanderson, Peter Tait and Stephan Ure.

A New Line rep said the company does not comment on pending litigation.

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It looks like Peter Jackson has a great deal of company in his financial complaints against Bob Shaye and New Line Cinema.

Who are all those actors?

pixletwin said:

Who are all those actors?

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I recognized Haldir, Gamling, Rosie Cotton, Gorbag/Grishnakh, and the King of the Dead. The others likely had similar background roles, yet still likely significant enough to warrant a paycheck.

Well, right off the top of my head I see Gamling, Rosie Cotton, Sharku/Snaga, Grishnákh and Gil-Galad !

Here you go:

Noel Appleby: Everard Proudfoot
, Jed Brophy: Snaga/Sharku
, Mark Ferguson: Gil Galad
, Ray Henwood: Man from Rivendell
, Bruce Hopkins: Gamling
, William Johnson: Old Noakes
, Nathaniel Lees: Ugluk
, Sarah McLeod: Rosie Cotton
, Ian Mune: Bounder
, Paul Norell: King of the Dead
, Craig Parker: Haldir
, Robert Pollock: Mordor Orc
, Martyn Sanderson: Gatekeeper (Bree)
, Peter Tait : Shagrat
and Stephan Ure: Grishnakh/Gorbag

Is any those suing Newline the ear-picking hobbit?

If there's one actor that deserves his dues, it's "Ear wax hobbit".

Thanks for clarifying that. I guess their images have been reproduced in one way or another... STICK IT TO NL!

Ah I love doing research.

Everard Proudfoot/Noel Appleby



Snaga/Jed Brophy



Gil-galad/Mark Ferguson



Erland/Ray Henwood



Gamling/Bruce Hopkins



Old Noakes/William Johnson



Ugluk/Nathaniel Lees



Rosie Cotton/Sarah McLeod



Bounder/Ian Mune

King of the Dead/Paul Norell



Haldir/Craig Parker



Orc/mordor Orc/Robert Pollock Could find a picture of which orc



Gatekeeper at Bree/Martyn Sanderson



Shagrat/Peter Tait



Grishnakh/Stephen Ure

Welcome to Hollywood accounting. It's the norm for net anything to be nonexistant no matter how successful a movie is. I'm sure all the main characters have some sort of adjusted gross definition for profit participation.

Yeah, they all look like they will never work in Hollywood again so this is their one big chance to get paid.

dekadentdave said:

Yeah, they all look like they will never work in Hollywood again so this is their one big chance to get paid.

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Who are they?

pixletwin said:

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OMG - why ain't she a major star? She's georgous!

Oxfordian said:

OMG - why ain't she a major star? She's georgous!

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The reason Sam wanted to get home Rosie Cotton

Not knowing too many details about either case, it sounds very similar to PJ's complaint about accounting practices designed to keep from paying out revenue shares.

Yep...the rich get richer....and the rest can please themselves.

Oxfordian said:

OMG - why ain't she a major star? She's georgous!

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I agree...she's a knockout!

i don't see how actors in non-starring or even co-starring roles can even get revenue shares. isn't that reserved for the major players and director? unless new line was offering a very small percentage in lieu of salary.

Darthrazz said:

I agree...she's a knockout!

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'...and she had ribbons in her hair. if i were to marry, it would have been her.'