Jenni Rivera Movie 'Filly Brown' Faces Lawsuit
The Sundance film festival success Filly Brown, starring Gina Rodriguez and the late Jenni Rivera, and the studio behind it are facing a lawsuit over allegations that the film violates the rights of the owners of a popular Latino radio program.
Silent Giant Entertainment (also known as Por Los Rios) is suing Liongate for breach of contract. SGE president Edward "E-Dub" Rios and host of the radio show "Pocos Pero Locos" Lisa "Kool Aid" Seltzer claim that they signed a contract to co-produce the film, and claim that they say that they are entitled to a third of the net income from the film.
Fily Brown was shown at Sundance in 2012, and was acquired by The Indomina Group, which went broke, and the film was picked up by Pantelion (the Latino division of Liongate). According to the radio show owner and host, that violated their contract and decreased the amount of money that was owed to them.
Cima Productions contacted the two about the film in 2010, and were asked to provide their expertise on the Latin Hip-Hop world. They claim that they assisted with the, both, the film and the soundtrack, ensuring that the film would be as authentic as possible. So, when they discovered that Pantelion had the project, they informed Liongate that the film didn't have all rights cleared, as Seltzer appeared in the film, but didn't have a talent contract.
Rios and Seltzer have filed separated lawsuits. Seltzer is suing for the unlawful use of her name, voice, image and likeness. And, Rio is suing because he co-wrote five compositions, and film sampled the work without proper license. Also, Filly Brown repeatedly mentions the Pocos Peros Locos program throughout the film.
In addition to monetary relief, the two are also seeking an injunction on the film, which is currently available on Netflix.