This story first appeared in the April 18 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. For eight years, Craig Piligian held his tongue. Like many top reality TV producers, he had been sued over allegations that his production company, Pilgrim Films & Television, stole the idea behind a hit show, in this case Syfy's Ghost Hunters. In fact, when the lawsuit was filed by parapsychologist Larry Montz and publicist Daena Smoller in 2006, Piligian thought it was a joke. "Why am I in this lawsuit?" he remembers asking himself. "They may have pitched something to NBC, but I never met them."
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- 4/10/2014
- by Eriq Gardner
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
After more than seven years of litigation, including at one point a bad setback that NBCUniversal attempted to bring to the Supreme Court's attention, the entertainment giant has finally beaten a lawsuit that claimed it had stolen the idea behind the hit Syfy reality show Ghost Hunters. This week, a California appeals court ordered a lower court to grant the studio summary judgment because the plaintiffs hadn't brought their claims in a timely fashion. The ruling follows a vindication several months ago for series producer Pilgrim Films & Television. The case was originally filed in 2006 by Larry Montz, a parapsychologist, and Daena Smoller, a
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- 4/4/2014
- by Eriq Gardner
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
A real-life parapsychologist and his producing partner claim they turned pale as a ghost when the Syfy channel began airing the show "Ghost Hunters" -- because they say they pitched the idea to the channel years earlier.Larry Montz and Daena Smoller claim in a lawsuit they filed against NBC Universal -- which owns Syfy -- they hatched the idea for a show about paranormal investigators way back in 1981 and registered their treatment with the Writers Guild and the U.
- 12/31/2011
- by TMZ Staff
- TMZ
There’s nothing paranormal about this case, but a pair of producers are nonetheless continuing their hunt for compensation, alleging NBCUniversal stole their idea for the network’s long-running Ghost Hunters franchise.
Parapsychologist Larry Montz and publicist Daena Smoller, who first sued the network five years ago, claim in the new suit, obtained by EW, that the network produced Ghost Hunters based off pitches made to those named in the suit between 1996 and 2001. Citing breach of implied contract and breach of confidence, the pair is seeking damages and compensation.
Only 2 months ago, the network was denied an appeal by the U.
Parapsychologist Larry Montz and publicist Daena Smoller, who first sued the network five years ago, claim in the new suit, obtained by EW, that the network produced Ghost Hunters based off pitches made to those named in the suit between 1996 and 2001. Citing breach of implied contract and breach of confidence, the pair is seeking damages and compensation.
Only 2 months ago, the network was denied an appeal by the U.
- 12/30/2011
- by Sandra Gonzalez
- EW - Inside TV
It's one of the last news days of 2011, and just about everyone has already checked out for the year. You know what that means, right? A slow news day. Really slow. Slowest of the year. As a result we've dug through some headlines and scared up a couple of news bits that we normally wouldn't have paid any attention to. At least for the most part.
First out of the gate, according to the Film Music Reporter, Marco Beltrami has signed on to score the post-apocalyptic horror thriller World War Z. The movie is directed by Marc Forster (Finding Neverland, Monster’s Ball, Quantum of Solace) and stars Brad Pitt as a U.N. employee who scours the world, interviewing survivors of a zombie apocalypse. Mireille Enos, James Badge Dale, Bryan Cranston,mand David Morse are co-starring. Beltrami will also be handling the music for Paradise Lost.
Next up, according to Deadline,...
First out of the gate, according to the Film Music Reporter, Marco Beltrami has signed on to score the post-apocalyptic horror thriller World War Z. The movie is directed by Marc Forster (Finding Neverland, Monster’s Ball, Quantum of Solace) and stars Brad Pitt as a U.N. employee who scours the world, interviewing survivors of a zombie apocalypse. Mireille Enos, James Badge Dale, Bryan Cranston,mand David Morse are co-starring. Beltrami will also be handling the music for Paradise Lost.
Next up, according to Deadline,...
- 12/30/2011
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
There is a new chapter in the five-year legal battle between two producers and NBCUniversal over the hit Syfy franchise Ghost Hunters, which went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The producers, parapsychologist Larry Montz and publicist Daena Smoller, have filed a new breach of implied contract lawsuit against NBCUniversal claiming that Ghost Hunters is based on a concept they originally pitched to the company between 1996 and 2003. Along with NBCU and its cable networks division that includes Syfy, the complaint also names Ghost Hunters executive producer Craig Piligian and star/producer Jason Hawes. (Copy of the lawsuit can be found here.) The new lawsuit, filed yesterday in Los Angeles Superior Court, comes less than 2 months after the U.S. Supreme Court denied an appeal by NBUniversal to review a lower court ruling that reinstated a complaint by Montz and Smoller alleging that Syfy stole the idea for Ghost Hunters.
- 12/30/2011
- by NELLIE ANDREEVA AND KINSEY LOWE
- Deadline TV
The U.S. Supreme Court denied an appeal by NBUniversal to review a lower court ruling that reinstated a complaint alleging that the company’s NBC network stole the idea for its Syfy series Ghost Hunters. Parapsychologist Larry Montz and publicist Daena Smoller had claimed in a 2006 suit that between 1996 and 2003 they had pitched the idea of paranormal investigators using technology to investigate claims of haunted properties to entertainment companies including NBC and its subsidiary, then called the SciFi Channel. They lost in district court on the issue of copyright, but the case was reinstated on appeal on grounds of implied breach of contract. NBCUniversal, with the backing of the MPAA, argued to the Supreme Court that federal copyright law trumped state contract law. The high court on Monday declined to review the appeals court ruling, which allows the suit by Montz against NBCUniversal, Pilgrim Films & Television (which produces Ghost Hunters...
- 11/8/2011
- by THE DEADLINE TEAM
- Deadline TV
NBCUniversal failed to scare up a high-court victory in a case alleging it lifted the idea for the Syfy Channel series "Ghost Hunters." According to court documents obtained by TheWrap, the U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a request from the conglomerate to review the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling on Montz v. Pilgrim Films & Television, a 2006 lawsuit alleging that NBCU stole the idea for the paranormal reality series. The case, which was filed by parapsychologist Larry Montz and publicist Daena Smoller, was originally dismissed, but received a second chance...
- 11/8/2011
- by Tim Kenneally
- The Wrap
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