By Joe Flint
21st Century Fox on Friday filed a lawsuit against Netflix Inc.,
accusing the streaming-video giant of illegally hiring two of its
executives who were under contract.
The suit, filed in California Superior Court in Los Angeles by
Fox units Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. and Fox 21 Inc., alleges
that Netflix has run a "brazen campaign to unlawfully target,
recruit, and poach valuable Fox executives by illegally inducing
them to break their employment contracts with Fox to work at
Netflix."
The two executives are Tara Flynn, who was hired last week as a
drama programming development executive from TV production unit Fox
21, where she was vice president of creative affairs; and Marcos
Waltenberg, a Twentieth Century Fox Film promotion executive who
took a similar role at Netflix in January.
In both cases, Fox said, it warned Netflix that it was illegally
tampering with executives under contract but the streaming company
nevertheless hired the pair and indemnified them against potential
charges of breach of contract, according to the suit.
"As a direct and proximate result of Netflix's conduct, Fox has
suffered great and irreparable harm," the suit said. Fox is seeking
a permanent injunction prohibiting Netflix from interfering with
executives under contract as well as compensatory and punitive
damages.
In a written statement, a Netflix spokesperson said: "We intend
to defend this lawsuit vigorously. We do not believe Fox's use of
fixed-term employment contracts in this manner are enforceable. We
believe in employee mobility and will fight for the right to hire
great colleagues no matter where they work."
21st Century Fox and News Corp, parent company of The Wall
Street Journal, share common ownership
A tampering suit is rare in Hollywood. Industry leaders who
compete with each other during the week often golf or play tennis
together on the weekend or are involved in the same charities. In
addition, executives frequently jump from one studio or network to
another, often while still under contract. Usually some sort of
accord is reached between the two companies to avoid ill will or
legal action.
Sports broadcaster Al Michaels was famously released from his
contract at Walt Disney Co.'s ESPN to join NBC Sports in return for
the rights to a cartoon rabbit named Oswald that Walt Disney
himself had created but belonged to NBC's Universal Studios.
The lawsuit is the latest sign of how Netflix's rise as an
entertainment behemoth has created tensions within the entrenched
Hollywood community.
On the one hand, Netflix's appetite for licensing content and
its willingness to spend heavily for it has provided a much-needed
boost to the bottom lines of the major television and movies
studios. On the other, Netflix has emerged as a major competitor to
traditional broadcast and cable networks.
Besides becoming the one of the go-to places to catch up on
network television, it produces a large slate of original
programming such as "House of Cards" and "Orange is the New Black."
Netflix received 54 Emmy nominations this past TV season, trailing
only Time Warner Inc.'s HBO and Fox's FX Network.
While Mr. Waltenberg and Ms. Flynn are the only two Fox
employees under contract who jumped to Netflix, an additional 19
Fox executives without contracts have also joined the streaming
service over the past two years, according to a person familiar
with the matter.
Fox is hardly the only company from which Netflix has recruited
talent. In building a production company that now makes scores of
original shows, Netflix has hired executives from many major
studios and networks.
The hiring of Ms. Flynn, who had one year left on her deal with
an option for Fox to pick up two additional years, touched a nerve
at Fox, the person familiar with the matter said. She had been with
the company for many years, starting as the assistant to Bert
Salke, the head of Fox 21.
Fox had a conflicted relationship with Netflix well before
Friday's suit. John Landgraf, the chief executive of Fox-owned
cable unit FX Networks, has criticized Netflix in the past,
comparing its spending to that of the New York Yankees.
At the semiannual Television Critics Association last month when
asked about Netflix's growing clout, Mr. Landgraf said, "I think it
would be particularly bad for storytellers and for our culture if
any one company, and I don't care what company that is, were able
to seize a 40% or 50% or 60% market share within storytelling."
Mr. Landgraf has previously chastised Netflix for not releasing
viewership data for its shows.
Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos has typically
dismissed such jabs as a sign of envy. "The only reason we have
shock-and-awe spending...is because we get shock-and-awe viewing,"
he said last January. Netflix has also said it doesn't need to
release ratings because it doesn't sell advertising.
Despite the acrimony, Netflix is one of the biggest buyers of FX
content. It spent around $50 million for the rerun rights to the
acclaimed miniseries "The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime
Story," people familiar with the deal said.
Write to Joe Flint at joe.flint@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 17, 2016 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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