Credit: Bryan Bedder/Bravo
Left Hook Media filed a breach of contract lawsuit against Bravo production companies Truly Original LLC and Endemol USA Holding Inc. on August 19, claiming the entities owe it at least $1 million in cash and credits for its work on a couple of Summer House spinoffs.
According to its case, Left Hook Media, along with Scott Teti and Matt Odgers, was denied compensation and executive producer credits for two spinoffs they worked on with the companies, including Summer House: Martha’s Vineyard and In the City, and faced retaliation for mentioning its complaints.
“Betrayal, iniquity and villainy are some of the most common themes in reality television,” the Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit states, via a report from My News LA. “While viewers have come to anticipate that their favorite reality television personalities will sometimes engage in ruthless [backstabbing], the same cannot be said for what hard-working, creative producers should expect from their business partners.”
Over a decade ago, Scott and Matt created Summer House after making a deal with Endemol on behalf of Left Hook Media and True Entertainment LLC. In turn, they were to receive 50 percent of Truly’s production fee for each season and executive producer credits. However, as the lawsuit claimed, Truly “knowingly and unapologetically breached” its “clear and indisputable contractual obligations.”
The lawsuit also stated that Truly had “taken the absurd position” that Summer House: Martha’s Vineyard and In the City weren’t actually Summer House spinoffs, which would mean that Scott and Matt were not deserving of compensation or credits.
In addition to stating that the funds and credits were contracted and “indisputably earned,” Left Hook Media said it believed it did not receive its full 50 percent of Truly’s production fee for Summer House. Instead, it claimed the entities “surreptitiously charged” some of its production costs to Left Hook to reduce the amount.
Left Hook Media then said that after fighting for what it was owed, Truly removed Scott and Matt’s executive producer credits on Summer House for seasons nine and 10, thus cutting them out of the series’ Emmy nomination.
“Imagine [Scott and Matt’s] surprise and embarrassment when they began receiving messages congratulating them on the Summer House Emmy nomination by people who had been involved with the show in the past — who were sending congratulations because [Scott and Matt] created the series — only to find out they had been rendered ineligible to be considered,” the lawsuit stated, noting that Truly refused to add Scott Matt’s credits back in time for them to be eligable for the award.