Reel Good, Inc. d.b.a. Reel Good Motion Picture Rawstock; and Ralph Barnett v. Giants Entertainment, Inc. and David Dadon
Published: Sep. 17, 2002 | Result Date: Jul. 22, 2002 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: BC223834 Verdict – $226,808
Facts
Plaintiff Reel Good Inc. operated as a supplier of raw film stock to film producers. Plaintiff Ralph
Barnett, the owner of Reel Good, entered into two separate agreements with defendant David
Dadon of defendant Giants Entertainment Inc., a film production company, to supply film stock
for defendants' use on a motion picture. The total price to be paid by defendants for the two lots
of film stock was $26,800. After issuing a $20,500 check to pay for the first order, Giants placed
a stop payment on the check, alleging the film was defective. Notwithstanding, Giants requested
delivery of a second order of film in return for a promissory note from Dadon, agreeing to pay
$6,300. Unaware of the previous stop payment, Reel Good complied. When Giants and Dadon
refused to pay for any of the film stock, Reel Good instituted this lawsuit for breach of contract
and fraud.
Result
The trial court granted plaintiffs' motion to strike defendants' answer and cross-complaint for failure to adequately comply with discovery requests and court orders. The resulting default judgment, entered in favor of Reel Good and Barnett against Giants and Dadon, awarded $26,808 in actual damages, $100,000 in emotional distress damages and $100,000 in punitive damages, plus $6.031.80 in interest and $5,603.45 in costs. The total recovery was $232,839.80. The defendantsÆ appeal was unsuccessful, but their subsequent writ on the ruling granting the plaintiffsÆ motion to strike is pending.
Other Information
The plaintiffs noted that the defendants' former in-house counsel, Tristam Buckley, who was counsel in this action, has filed a verified complaint against the defendants exposing their fraudulent tactics. Buckley v. Hollywood Partners.com, BC251414.
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