UCLA alumnus suing ‘The Disaster Artist’ for unfulfilled agreement
By Raunak Devjani
March 1, 2018 6:08 p.m.
A UCLA alumnus is suing “The Disaster Artist,” alleging its production company did not fulfill its agreement with him as an uncredited screenwriter on the film.
Ryan Moody filed his complaint Wednesday in the Los Angeles County Superior Court, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday. The lawsuit alleges that Rabbit Bandini Productions, the production company owned by “The Disaster Artist” director James Franco, pressured Moody into selling his screenplay uncredited for $5,000. Moody alleges that in exchange for the screenplay, the agreement promised him credit as an associate producer and a role as writer and director on a future film titled “On The Bus,” which would have a budget of about $5 million to $10 million.
However, according to the lawsuit, Moody alleges that Rabbit Bandini Productions lowered the future film’s budget to $50,000, breaking their agreement. Moody’s lawsuit demands punitive damages and the rescinding of the initial purchase agreement.
Moody took courses Franco taught at UCLA and later worked as his teaching assistant. The lawsuit claims Moody submitted multiple drafts of the film’s screenplay between 2013 and 2014, but Franco notified him in 2014 that he was hiring more established writers for the project. Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, the credited writers for “The Disaster Artist,” have since been nominated for an Academy Award.
