Hollywood Film Distributor, Vision Films Inc Refuses To Pay Commission on "Eagle Wings" To Nigerian Agent
Lise Romanoff, the Managing Director and CEO of Vision Films Inc, California, USA is presently in dispute with Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima, an international agent for film and TV acquisition and distribution over her refusal to pay him the finder's fees and commission on the multiple award winning, Nigerian war film, "Eagle Wings" she acquired through him in 2022.
"She acquired the film after I pitched the film to her for acquisition."
Michael Chima, who is the Publisher and Editor of the NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series, a publication on Nollywood and the Nigerian film industry said that Lise Romanoff threatened to terminate the global distribution contract with the filmmaker, Paul Apel Papel if he insisted on requesting for his finder's fee and commission for the film widely distributed on VODs and cable TV channels.
The "Eagle Wings" on the war on the Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists in northern Nigeria has been showing on M-NET cable TV channels on DStv and streaming on Showmax of the MultiChoice Group, Africa's biggest multimedia entertainment company.
Lise Romanoff said there was no agreement between Vision Films and Michael Chima. But he dismissed her statement.
"If she did not have any agreement with me, then why did she send me the contract agreement before it was signed by the filmmaker, Paul Apel Papel in the first quarter of 2022 and later sent me the updates on the global distribution of the film she acquired through me? And Vision Films sent me the latest update by email yesterday."
All discussions and transactions between Lise Romanoff and Michael Chima have been by emails without any formal contracts; from the theatrical release of "The American King" in Nigeria by the Silverbird Film Distribution through the recommendation of Michael Chima and she paid him for the publicity and also paid him commission on the box office revenue in July, 2022. She also paid him a minimum guarantee for recommending her to Wiflix, a VOD streaming service based in the Netherlands that is currently streaming several movies distributed by Vision Films Inc.
Therefore, Michael Chima has insisted that his finder's fee and commission on the global distribution of the "Eagle Wings" must be paid as Vision Films paid him for getting them the theatrical release of "The American King" in Nigeria and acquisition of the rights for the streaming of a catalog of their content by Wiflix.
Lise Romanoff, the Managing Director and CEO of Vision Films Inc, California, United States of America, is a member of The Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA).
