NOTORIOUS - PRODUCER LADD BEATS HOLLYWOOD'S ACCOUNTING SYSTEM

PRODUCER LADD BEATS HOLLYWOOD'S ACCOUNTING SYSTEM

In the latest blow to Hollywood's notorious accounting system, a Los Angeles jury on Thursday awarded veteran producers Alan Ladd Jr. and Jay Kanter $3.2 million on their claims that they were cheated by Warner Bros. The studio's attorneys immediately announced plans to appeal unless the judge throws out the verdict. "I'm thrilled," Ladd told the Los Angeles Times following the decision. "I hope that other people will start doing the same thing -- taking on the studios instead of being afraid of the big, bad bosses." Separately, he told the Hollywood Reporter: "I hope it makes a difference in the accounting process in this business. ... The studios should stop being corrupt. When they start being honest, this business will change."

03/08/2007