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From Legal Briefs 'The Bible Experience' released this past fall exists as the #1 selling audio Bible in history, selling a quarter of a million copies in only a few months. Mega-celebrities that leant their voices for the audio Bible's characters include Denzel Washington, Samuel Jackson, Blaire Underwood, Angela Bassett, Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Star Jones-Remolds, to name a few. The producers of the audio bible are now facing a lawsuit from Paula Neiman, a woman who says she wrote the script for the star-studded audio version and claims she was cheated out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in payment. The Cochran Firm, founded by Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr. is representing Neiman. According to the lawsuit, the agreement provided that she would receive 5% of the gross receipts and everything that arose out of the project. The majority of the compensation and other points listed on the agreement never came into fruition for the writer. "I worked fulltime plus overtime-hours for months; committing myself to the terms of the agreement," says Neiman.  Neiman still has the original script, which she registered with the Writers Guild of America in 2004. After Neiman turned over her completed material in October of the same year, she was told by executives that the project had been abandoned and she was therefore, entitled to nothing. Neiman believes that as the marketing of the "Bible project" gained momentum with the use of her script within the industry, and as Hollywood A-listers began to show interest in the project, its executives became acquainted with the amount of money that could actually be made from this project "Taking a back-end focused deal during a time when no money or talent was attached was a move completely inspired by faith on my part," says Neiman. Neiman who saved work materials, such as emails and correspondence items exchanged with the project's executives, considers how so many people eventually wanted "in" once The Bible Experience was well underway. The lawsuit claims Neiman's script brought flesh and blood to what was before just an idea; especially when it was just a couple of unknowns attempting to create a monumental project from a simple proposal and a desire. "One of the key reasons I got involved in this project is because of its potential to motivate and inspire people; myself included. I have become sadly disenchanted by they way I have been treated by people I trusted on a project that I believed in," says Neiman. "The business people behind a project; even a faith-based project, are ultimately still business people. When a great deal of money is involved, even for a lovely project, people might not be immune to corruption." Neiman's attorney, Randy McMurray of The Cochran Firm-Los Angeles states that they only want what was promised to Neiman; that "she should be compensated for her work based upon what was agreed to when she signed onto this project. She put her heart into this and they saw dollar signs, then decided to cut her out." © Copyright 2003 by blacktalentnews.com |
