From: alforno-@aol.com (ALFORNOS)
Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files
The Sept. 3 Entertainment Weekly features "Summer's Winners & Losers!"
(Ricky Martin, Julia Roberts, etc.) on the cover. Above the masthead is a
photo of DD with the headline: EXCLUSIVE! Duchovny Talks About His Bitter
X-Files Fight
page 15
[large color illustration of DD]
It's Fox vs. Fox
In an exclusive interview, David Duchovny accuses Twentieth Century Fox of
bilking him out of X-Files profits and alleges that creator Chris Carter is
in on the conspiracy. by Joe Flint
It's got all the makings of a great XFiles episode. Conspiracy-minded FBI
agent Fox Mulder takes on a shadowy corporation, gets betrayed by the one
man he thought he could trust, and finds himself alone searching for the
truth.
Unfortunately for David Duchovny, this isn't TV. In a multimillion-dollar
lawsuit against Twenteith Century Fox Film Corp. (a subsidiary of Rupert
Murdoch's News Corp., which produces The X Files for corporate sibling the
Fox Network), the actor claims the company cheated him out of millions in
X-Files-related profits. On top of that, Duchovny's suit alleges that
X-Files creator Chris Carter (who is not a defendant) conspired with Fox to
keep silent about the depleted profit sharing.
"I'm not looking to win the lottery," Duchovny tells EW in his first
interview since he filed the suit on Aug. 12. "I've fulfilled my contract
and I want them to fulfill theirs."
In a nutshell, Duchovny says he's a victim of synergy. He contends Fox
intentionally undersold X-Files' rights to its own affiliates (such as
reruns to its cable network FX and its local stations, as well as book
rights to Harper-Collins) in an effort to fatten the corporate bottom line
at the expense of all those with a percentage in the series.
Of course, proving Duchovny's charges could be harder than verifying an
alien-autopsy video. Yes, Fox did sell reruns of The X Files to FX in
1996, but at the time it was for a cable record price of close to $600,000
per episode. However, Peter Martin Nelson, one of Duchovny's lawyers,
claims that Fox never seriously shopped the show to other bidders. Indeed,
a former USA net exec says the company was willing to pay more for The X
Files but was shut out of the bidding.
Duchovny's suit is the latest example of the contentious relationship
between the creative and corporate sides of the business. In 1998, M*A*S*H
star Alan Alda brought a similar suit against Fox, accusing the studio of
selling reruns of his hit sitcom at below-market rates (the case was
recently settled in Alda's favor for an undisclosed sum). And it's not
just Murdoch's company that's coming under scrutiny. Earlier this year,
the Walt Disney Company also settled a suit with Home Improvement's Wind
Dancer Production Group, which charged the studio with cutting its sister
network ABC a sweetheart deal on the show's last two seasons. And get
this: It's probably no coincidence that the same litigator - Stanton L.
Stein of the L.A. firm Alschuler Grossman Stein & Kahan - is the man behind
all three of these suits. "It's a growth industry," cracks Stein.
He's got a point: As the entertainment industry continues to consolidate,
actors, producers, writers, and others, with a piece of a show's profits
are going to have to keep a sharp eye on this kind of in-house dealing.
"This stuff goes on every single day," says Derek Baine, a senior analyst
for Paul Kagan Associates. "But there are very few people who have the
money and wherewithal to file suit."
In Duchovny's case, the thing that surprised him most about Fox's fancy
financial footwork was Carter's apparent role as a willing dance partner:
Duchovny's legal team believes Carter has received a new-series commitment
and in excess of $30 million in "advances" - all at the expense of the
actor's own cut.
"I was dismayed and disappointed," Duchovny says of Carter's alleged
involvement. He hasn't talked with Carter since filing the suit but did
give the exec producer a heads-up that it was coming. And although he's
showing up at work every day and says his legal battle has nothing to do
with his feelings for the show, the suit has left a sour taste in his
mouth. "We're talking about something I've devoted the last seven years of
my life to. All my time, all my energy. And that turns me off about the
whole affair," says Duchovny. As for his relationship with Carter,
Duchovny says he hopes "Chris will be my friend personally and
professionally when this is all over."
Carter declined to comment, and all a Fox spokesperson would say is "We
have nothing but respect and appreciation for David and his talents and his
contributions to the success of The X Files. To see that he's apparently
being led by his own advisers into believing that Fox acted inappropriately
in its exploitation of the show is saddening."
Regardless of what happens, this is Duchovny's last season on The X Files.
Although he was wavering a few weeks ago, he now says: "As much as I love
the show, I think for me this will be the end. I always thought five years
was enough. Seven years is definitely enough."
As for costar Gillian Anderson, it's unclear whether she too has a piece of
the show (the actress' business manager declined to comment) - though her
contract calls for an eighth year if Carter and Fox decide to carry on
without Agent Mulder.
Duchovny says he hasn't discussed his suit with Anderson, reiterating the
point that although the two are onscreen partners, off screen they aren't
particularly close.
"The kind of illusion that everybody is best buddies and has no other cares
in the world *is* an illusion," he says. "We are separate individuals with
separate agendas, and we're all taking care of ourselves." Ain't that the
truth. #
[photo of Mulder in Little Green Men; photo of CC]
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