Rockland film investor says moviemakers misused $13 million
A Rockland investment company that poured nearly $13 million into four movie projects wants its money back.
Hudson Private LP of Pearl River accused acclaimed producer Jason Cloth, his Creative Wealth Media Finance Corp. and Bron Studios USA of misusing Hudson’s investment, in an Oct. 6 complaint filed in U.S. District Court, White Plains.
Hudson is demanding $14.3 million and an accounting of how its money was spent on the film projects.
Cloth, of Toronto, has produced more than 70 feature films for Bron, including critical and box office hits such as “Joker” starring Joaquin Phoenix, the latest James Bond movie, “No Time To Die,” and “Fences” with Denzel Washington and Viola Davis.
Bron Studios, of Henderson, Nevada, has received 27 Academy Award nominations and won six.
Hudson Private is the film-funding division of Hudson Companies, a financial planning and wealth management firm founded in 2008 by Christopher Conover.
The firm depicts films as “a one of a kind investment opportunity,” according to its website, that provide “consistent and attractive returns with little volatility.”
Hudson invested $12,976,250 in four film projects from 2018 to 2019:
- “Bombshell,” with Charlize Theron and Nicole Kidman as women who take on Fox News executive Roger Ailes and a toxic workplace. Released in 2019.
- “Capone,” with Tom Hardy as the title character Al Capone and Matt Dillon as his right-hand man. Released in 2020 as a video on demand.
- “Greyhound,” with Tom Hanks as an inexperienced U.S. Navy commander leading a World War II convoy that is being stalked by a German submarine wolf pack. Released in 2020.
- “The Survivor,” about a post-World War II boxer haunted by his memories of surviving concentration camps by fighting prisoners. Released 2021.
Hudson says it loaned money to Creative Wealth and Bron that was then passed on to Bron affiliates that produced the films. In return, Hudson was to get back the loan principal or a fixed amount, interest and a percentage of box office profits for three projects.
Cloth allegedly said that Creative Wealth and Bron were “well-funded and possessed sufficient security to ensure that the film loans would be repaid,” according to the complaint.
But Creative Wealth defaulted on the loans, the complaint states, and has refused to account for Hudson’s share of profits.
Hudson also claims that Cloth admitted that Creative Wealth used the money for purposes unrelated to the films and for unidentified recipients.
For example, he allegedly said that $3 million for “Greyhound” never went to the production company, Sony Pictures, and that he double-sold the same interest in “Bombshell” to Hudson and to a Creative Wealth affiliate.
The complaint does not explain the time or circumstances in which Cloth made the purported admissions.
Attorneys Joshua Stricoff and Shivani Poddar, who represent Creative Wealth and Cloth in a similar lawsuit filed this past March in federal court, Manhattan, did not respond to an email requesting Cloth’s side of the story.
In that case, a Memphis, Tenn. company is demanding $2.8 million it claims it is owed for loaning money to Creative Wealth for “Bombshell.”
Cloth’s attorneys argue that the Memphis money was not actually a loan to Creative Wealth. Rather, the Memphis investor had purchased a “participation interest” in a loan that Creative made to a third party to produce the film.
The investor received the right to a share of gross receipts, provided that certain conditions were triggered, but the film was not commercially successful, according to Creative Wealth’s defense, and neither Creative Wealth nor the investor were entitled to any payment.
In the Hudson case, the company accuses Cloth, Creative Wealth and Bron of breaches of contract and conversion, and it is demanding $14,321,870.
Hudson is represented by Manhattan attorneys Mitchell Schuster and Kevin Fritz.