European Film Bonds A/S & anr (claimant/respondent) –v- Lotus Holdings LLC & ors (defendant/appellant)
19th – 20th May 2021
The First and Second Defendants (`Lotus’) seek permission to appeal the order of Andrew Hochhauser QC dated 22 May 2020, sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge, made after the trial of the Claimants’ Part 8 claim and the Third Defendant’s (Larkhall) counterclaim.
The order followed his judgment dated 11 May 2020 and consequentials rulings on 22 May 2020.
The dispute concerns sums potentially payable by the Claimants under a Completion Guarantee dated 25 April 2016 relating to a Film (Starbright). Alleged failure by D1-D3 to comply with a timetable in Schedule 2 to the Completion Guarantee for “return” of certain material. The amount at stake is equivalent to c 17.5 million US Dollars. The Claimants are a group of entities that guaranteed completion and delivery of the Film. D1/D2 (Lotus) is the sales agent for the Film in certain territories and D3 is the financial producer of the Film and financed the Film’s budget.
There was also a Sales Agent Interparty Agreement dated 25 April 2016 which is said by the Defendants to be the master agreement governing the parties’ relationship and took precedence over any other agreements in case of conflict. Arbitration proceedings in the US are currently stayed.
Lower Court Judgment:
View hearing: