It is the week of the lawsuits! Just ask Ricky Martin … and now Justin Timberlake too!
Film director John Urbano is suing the ‘Mirrors’ singer for not paying him for his work on a never-released documentary. It chronicled Timberlake’s time in the studio as he worked on his comeback album The 20/20 Experience.
Apparently, the singer hired Urbano to shoot and edit the film but the payment arrangement is what did him dirty. Justin promised him to give him a cut of the profits of the film. In most cases, directors get some money upfront and then some after. But with this deal, Timberlake opted to never release the footage which allowed him to avoid paying Urbano. Just a sneaky way of doing business.
Here is an excerpt from TMZ on what the director claims money-wise:
The director says if he had been paid on the front end for the project, his filming and editing fees would have reached $2,450,000 … but he says the only money he’s seen out of Justin is a modest $20,000 upfront fee, plus reimbursements for expenses incurred while filming. According to his math, Urbano’s been paid just $7 per hour for the project.
That’s some big time losses there.
It is kind of hard not to side with the director on this one. However, he is now asking for more than just money. He also wants the rights to the footage. I doubt Timberlake wants to give him any money (as messed up as it sounds) but I’m more doubtful that he wants to give him that footage.
The only film to come out of the 20/20 Experience was the concert film on Netflix.
