Grey matter deal
Settlement reached in Shandling lawsuit
According to statements released by both sides, each party acquired from the other certain interests in various television programs under the settlement. Details were not provided, but sources said Grey bought out Shandling's litigation claim that he was entitled to a 2.5% profit share in the series "NewsRadio," while Shandling bought out Grey's interest in "The Larry Sanders Show" and an earlier series, "It's Garry Shandling's Show."
Although the amount of the settlement was not disclosed, sources said it was a small fraction of the $100 million in damages alleged in the complaint. Some sources have speculated that Columbia Pictures, which had lobbied the two sides for a quick resolution, will contribute to the settlement. But Col topper John Calley denied that in a published report. The studio is currently shooting the $56 million film "What Planet Are You From?" Shandling, who wrote the script, is starring in and producing the pic.
Quick work
Commenting on the 11th hour settlement, Grey's attorney Bert Fields said he sat down early last week with David Boies, the famed antitrust lawyer who serves as Shandling's lead attorney, and worked out an agreement in about two hours.
"David arrived at my office around 9 p.m. With good will, a sense of humor and a little Chardonnay, we were able to find a solution that both sides could not only accept but feel good about," Fields said.
The paperwork took quite a bit longer. The parties did not have a signed deal until after midnight on Thursday.
In a statement, Boies said, "Mr. Shandling and I are very pleased that an amicable settlement has been achieved without the necessity of a trial."
In a year of almost unprecedented trial activity, Fields, who is currently representing Jeffrey Katzenberg in his breach of contract suit against Disney, had announced that his partner Chuck Shephard would try the case.
Boies, who has been virtually invisible in the case, recently announced that because of a break in the Microsoft trial (he leads the government's team), he would be able to try the Shandling case.
Logjam loosens
The case was set to go to trial before L.A. Superior Court Judge Ralph Dau by July 15. But several recent events probably contributed to loosening the logjam. Columbia made an unsuccessful bid to get Dau to put off the trial, after Grey, an exec producer on "What Planet," refused to agree to a postponement.
If interference with the filming of "What Planet" gave Shandling an incentive to wrap up the case, a recent court victory after a long string of adverse rulings gave him a much-needed bargaining chip. Dau reversed himself and reinstated Shandling's claim that he was entitled to a share of the profits from Brillstein-Grey's 1994 deal with ABC to produce TV programming.
Dau also let stand several of Shandling's other major claims, including one for a portion of profits from a 1995 deal in which MCA acquired an interest in Brillstein-Grey for $79 million. In addition, Dau refused to dismiss a claim that Grey had unfairly taken a 50% interest in Shandling's HBO series "The Larry Sanders Show."
Finally, an ugly trial with mudslinging by both sides was expected. Grey had alleged that Shandling's erratic and abusive conduct drove away writers and producers on "The Larry Sanders Show." Court papers indicated that the circumstances surrounding a sexual harassment suit filed by actress Linda Doucett, who claimed she was fired from the show after her relationship with Shandling ended, would have been rehashed in excruciating detail. (That case ultimately was settled.)
Potential embarrassment
As for Grey, who has experienced a meteoric rise both as a personal manager -- his client list includes Nicholas Cage, Brad Pitt and Adam Sandler -- and an executive producer (he recently shifted his production company from MCA to Columbia TriStar TV), the case was at the least a huge headache with the potential for embarrassing scrutiny. The central assertion of Shandling's case was that his manager and friend had improperly taken fees from him, failed to advise him to get his own lawyer and put his own interests first when he made a series of lucrative television deals.
Shandling filed his conflict-of-interest suit in January 1998, marking the bitter end of an 18-year relationship. Shandling alleged that Grey used his dual position as Shandling's manager and executive producer of the comedian's HBO series "The Larry Sanders Show" to "triple dip" by taking excess commissions and fees out of the show. He also alleged that as Grey's cornerstone client, he should have been included in a series of TV production deals Grey made with Columbia, ABC and MCA and was entitled to a portion of profits from those deals.
The case quickly became a referendum on the hot-button issue of whether there is a fundamental conflict when a personal manager also serves as a producer. A legislative debate over whether managers should be regulated and former agent Mike Ovitz's announcement that he was starting a management company all contributed to the furor surrounding the case.
