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Not much `Wiggle' room for investors in Oz
kidpic.(Brief Article) Author/s: Mark Woods Issue: July 10, 2000 SYDNEY Investors in 1997's Oz kidpic "The Wiggles Movie" are wondering where their returns are -- and they're looking to Australian film sales agent Beyond, the pic's Oz distributor 20th Century Fox and the film's producers, for an explanation. Investors say they sank more than A$1.6 million ($960,000) into the film but have seen just 13% of their original investments returned to them even though the pic grossed approximately $1.3 million at the Oz box office, secured overseas distribution and became one of Oz's most popular children's videos ever. Consequently, the investors have appointed legal counsel and are threatening legal action. According to press reports, the investors, who received 96% tax deductions for amounts invested, say Beyond generated $750,000 million in foreign sales and that gross video sales should equal $2.8 million. They demand an audit to see whether the pic has earned enough to cover their original investment and to determine if they can re-coup, as the original prospectus promised, 50% of the "proceeds of the exploitation of the film." But there may not be that much money to fight over: Box office and video revenues are split among distribs, exhibs, retailers and producers; foreign sales and TV sales incur commission fees; and foreign distribs have been slow in paying Beyond. Hopes fell Wiggles rep Hilton Fatt told reporters "we didn't get the box office that we hoped to get," adding that investors were confusing gross with net figures. While the film was, indeed, popular, the problem is that most of the musical group's target audience is under the age of 5, a group that often gets into cinemas for free. Wiggles, a singing quartet often referred to as the "fab four for the under-fives," plays an average of 500 concerts a year and has sold more than 2 million CDs and videos. The group has TV shows in Oz, Europe and the U.S., while Dallas-based Lyric Studios has a five-year pact to distribute the Wiggles' CDs and videos Stateside. |