James Bond star Eva Green has emerged victorious in a legal battle over a $1 million (£810,000) acting fee for the never-made science fiction film A Patriot.
The 42-year-old French actress had sued UK-based production company White Lantern Film at the High Court in London for the fee. But it countersued, saying she derailed the £4 million project by making “unreasonable demands”.
Judge Michael Green ruled in Green's favour, finding that she had not breached her contract with the company and was therefore entitled to the fee, and dismissed the counterclaim.
“In particular, I find that Ms Green did not renounce her obligations under the artist agreement; nor did she commit any repudiators breaches of it,” the judge said.
In a 71-page judgment in the actress's favour, the judge highlighted the “overinterpretation” of private messages in the case.
He said both sides accused each other of pretending to be in a position to make the film at the end of September 2019, but neither side was prepared to make the movie the other wanted to make.
He later added that the case has been complicated by convoluted and overtechnical theories as to what happened and the purportedly malign strategies being adopted by the other side at the time.
The case centred on a dispute over the direction of the film, with Green arguing that she was not comfortable with the way the project was being handled by the producers.
She also accused the producers of cutting corners and not providing her with adequate training for the role.
In his ruling, the judge said that he found Green's evidence to be “credible and reliable” and was satisfied that she had not acted unreasonably in her dealings with the producers.
He also found that the producers had failed to provide her with adequate training for the role, which he said was a “significant breach” of their contract with her.
As a result of the ruling, Green is now entitled to the full $1 million fee that she was originally contracted for.
In a statement issued after the ruling, Green said: “I have won my claim against the financiers of the proposed film — and all the allegations which they made against me have been wholly rejected by the judge.
“My professional reputation has been upheld. The judge has found that I was never in breach of my contractual obligations. The judgment is clear. I am grateful to the court, to the judge, to my legal team and to my valiant agent, who is my strength and my shield.”
She added: “I am an actor and I am passionate about my work. I want to make films that are of the highest quality and that I can be proud of. I am grateful to the court for upholding my right to do that.”
The case has drawn attention to the issue of gender inequality in the film industry, with Green's supporters arguing that she was unfairly targeted by the producers because she is a woman.
Green has said she faced sexism throughout her career.
“I have been told that I am too old, too fat, too thin, too pretty, too ugly,” she said in an interview. “I have been told that I am not good enough, that I will never make it. But I have never given up. I have always fought for what I believe in and I will continue to do so.”
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What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
- Grade 9 = above an A*
- Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
- Grade 7 = grade A
- Grade 6 = just above a grade B
- Grade 5 = between grades B and C
- Grade 4 = grade C
- Grade 3 = between grades D and E
- Grade 2 = between grades E and F
- Grade 1 = between grades F and G
Key changes
Commission caps
For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:
• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• On the protection component, there is a cap of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated.
• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.
• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.
Disclosure
Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.
“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”
Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.
Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.
“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.
Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.
