Grosso v. Miramax Film Corporation, et al., California Supreme Court

On December 14, the California Supreme Court denied Jeff Grosso’s petition for review in this idea submission case. We reported in September that the California Court of Appeal affirmed summary judgment for defendant movie producers and screenwriters on an implied-in-fact contract claim involving the plaintiff’s script The Shell Game and the Miramax film Rounders. Plaintiff mailed his script to Gotham Entertainment Group in 1996 when Gotham had a first look deal with Miramax; he received no reply but claimed that the movie Rounders which was released in 1998 was based on his script. The California Court of Appeal held that the script was not solicited by defendants, that there were no communications between the plaintiff and the defendants, and that there was no evidence that defendants said or did anything prior to the unsolicited submission to indicate a willingness to pay for the disclosures. In a two-line order the California Supreme Court denied Grosso’s petition for review and denied the request to have the Court of Appeal decision published.