A Rockland investment firm that has invested nearly $ 13 million in four film projects wants its money back.
Pearl River’s Hudson Private LP has accused acclaimed producer Jason Cloth, its Creative Wealth Media Finance Corp. and Bron Studios USA for abusing Hudson’s investment, in an October 6 lawsuit filed in White Plains US District Court.
Hudson is asking for $ 14.3 million and an account of how his money was spent on film projects.
Cloth, of Toronto, has produced over 70 feature films for Bron, including critical and box office hits such as “Joker” with Joaquin Phoenix, the latest James Bond film, “No Time To Die” and “Fences. “with Denzel Washington and Viola Davis.
Bron Studios, of Henderson, Nevada, received 27 Oscar nominations and won six.
Hudson Private is the film financing division of Hudson Companies, a financial planning and wealth management firm founded in 2008 by Christopher Conover.
The company describes the films as “a one-of-a-kind investment opportunity,” according to its website, which offer “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 face Fox News director Roger Ailes and a toxic workplace. Released in 2019.
- “Capone”, with Tom Hardy as main character Al Capone and Matt Dillon as right-hand man. Released in 2020 on video on demand.
- “Greyhound”, with Tom Hanks as the inexperienced commander of the United States Navy leading a WWII convoy that is hunted down by a pack of German underwater wolves. Released in 2020.
- “The Survivor”, about a post-WWII boxer haunted by memories of concentration camps surviving fighting prisoners. Release 2021.
Hudson says he loaned money to Creative Wealth and Bron, which was then passed on to the Bron affiliates that produced the films. In return, Hudson was to recover the principal of the loan or a fixed amount, interest and a percentage of the box office profits for three projects.
Cloth reportedly said that Creative Wealth and Bron were “well funded and had sufficient security to ensure that the film loans would be repaid”, according to the complaint.
But Creative Wealth defaulted on loans, the complaint says, and refused to report Hudson’s share of profits.
Hudson also claims Cloth admitted that Creative Wealth used the money for non-movie purposes 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 twice sold the same stake in “Bombshell” to Hudson and a subsidiary of Creative. Wealth.
The complaint does not explain when or under what circumstances Cloth made the alleged confession.
Lawyers Joshua Stricoff and Shivani Poddar, who represent Creative Wealth and Cloth in a similar lawsuit filed last March in Manhattan federal court, did not respond to an email asking for Cloth’s side of the story.
In this case, a Memphis company, Tenn., Is claiming $ 2.8 million it claims is owed for loaning Creative Wealth money for “Bombshell.”
Cloth’s lawyers argue that the Memphis money was not in fact a loan to Creative Wealth. Rather, the Memphis investor had purchased a “stake” in a loan that Creative had made to a third party to produce the film.
The investor was entitled to a share of the gross proceeds, provided certain conditions were met, but the film was not commercially successful, according to the Creative Wealth defense, and neither Creative Wealth nor the investor did. were entitled to any payment.
In the Hudson case, the company charges Cloth, Creative Wealth and Bron with breach of contract and conversion, and demands $ 14,321,870.
Hudson is represented by Manhattan attorneys Mitchell Schuster and Kevin Fritz.