Producer Countersues Allen Over Contract

Woody Allen’s longtime friend and movie producer Jean Doumanian claims the director overspent on films that failed to make money, according to a countersuit the producer filed Monday.

Responding to Allen’s breach-of-contract suit filed against her last month, Doumanian denied ever cheating Allen. Instead, he engaged in “self-indulgent conduct and profligate spending, all of which resulted in a vast increase of the cost of making the pictures,” said the suit filed in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan.

Doumanian, according to her suit, was betrayed by the friend she trusted and steadfastly supported during his darkest hours--someone who was paid $1.5 million for one film and $2.5 million in advance for the seven other films she made with him.

“This is a story that begins when Woody Allen was having all kinds of troubles,” said Doumanian’s New York attorney Peter Parcher. “This is not the way that friends should treat friends.”

Doumanian’s suit also asks for permission to terminate her contract with Allen and for him to pay back all the money she says she and her production firm are owed.

In return, Doumanian offers to relinquish her interest in the films.

Allen declined to comment on the latest twist in the legal saga he initiated with his lawsuit in May.

Instead, Allen’s New York publicist issued a statement saying Allen’s lawsuit was based on a report by a respected auditing firm.

In his suit, Allen alleged that Doumanian and her production company, Sweetland Films, refused to give him regular and accurate revenue information.

“Common sense would tell you that if the defendants actually believed in their positions on the merits, they would not need to resort to smears or distractions that have nothing to do with this accounting dispute,” the statement said.

Doumanian agreed in 1993 to produce three of Allen’s films, during his well-publicized split from Mia Farrow, custody battles and his affair with Farrow’s adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn, whom he later married. At the time, Tri Star Pictures was hesitant to produce another Allen picture, according to Doumanian’s suit.

In all, Doumanian produced eight of his films. The original written agreement covered only the first three pictures, “Bullets Over Broadway,” 1994; “Mighty Aphrodite,” 1995; and “Everyone Says I Love You,” 1996. That contract was extended several times, and, Doumanian contends, the deal required that losses from one movie would be covered by profit from another.

The only picture not part of the cross-collateralization deal was the 1997 documentary “Wild Man Blues.” The other four pictures produced by Doumanian were “Deconstructing Harry,” 1997; “Celebrity,” 1998; “Sweet and Lowdown,” 1999; and “Small Time Crooks,” 2000.

Both sides concur that the agreements call for Allen’s company, Moses Productions Inc., to receive half the “adjusted gross proceeds” that Doumanian’s company collected.

In the last year, Allen received about $3 million in advances on expected film profits, Parcher said.

The two parties ended their partnership last year, and DreamWorks SKG signed a three-picture deal with 65-year-old Allen. His last picture produced by Doumanian’s Sweetland Films, “Small Time Crooks,” was distributed by DreamWorks.