According to TheWrap, Leonora Ann Darby, who served as executive producer on the film, alleges in a California state lawsuit that Tea Shop Productions and its co-founders James Harris and Mark Lane reneged on an agreement to give her “one third of the net profits for the films she produced as the lead, as well as participation in the film’s collection account arrangements.”
That “lead” producer credit is key to Darby’s lawsuit, as in the filing she alleges that she not only served as Obsession‘s executive producer, but “rescued” the film from a contentious editing process. According to the suit, the film’s edit had been taken away from director Barker, leading to a cut “mired in an edit that was not working” before Darby stepped in to return editing duties to the director. “Darby then stepped in and provided fundamental and critical creative and structural notes that changed the course of the film,” the suit claims, adding that Darby was instrumental in calling for reshoots that “greatly enhanced the film.”
Representatives for Tea Shop Productions and Barker have not yet publicly responded to the allegations, but Darby’s suit goes on to imply that Obsession‘s themes of misogyny and manipulation echoed through the production as well. As the suit states, “This action arises from a seven-year pattern of unequal treatment and broken compensation promises by two older male film producers to a younger female producer whose labor was material to the growth of their company and who rescued their biggest film, the global hit.” In addition, Darby alleges that she was deliberately not invited to the film’s Los Angeles premiere and denied public recognition for her contributions to the film’s artistic—and financial—success.
Darby is not the first woman associated with Obsession to claim that the film’s production shorted her contributions. Art director Sally Choi posted in Instagram back in June about the fact that she’s received only around $7,000 for her work on the film, with her compensation on the indie film not even including gas mileage.
Keep scrolling for more great stories.