Stylist, lighting company claim Leibovitz owes combined $778,000
By Steven J. Barry
steven@askthephotographer.com
Famed photographer Annie Leibovitz has become embroiled in two legal battles–one stemming from a dizzingly pricey celebrity portrait marathon for Disney–with companies who claim in separate filings that Leibovitz owes them a combined $778,503, according to documents filed in New York State Supreme Court.
Between July and December of 2007, Italian-born fashion consultant Nicoletta Santoro–represented in New York by an agency called The Art Department–billed Leibovitz some $6,000 each day she worked, plus an additional 20 percent commission for her agency as well as “standard out-of-pocket costs, including the wages of her own assistants.”
Santoro’s total bill to Leibovitz: $515,017.72. The filing claims Leibovitz has paid “$129,450.00 against these invoices, leaving a balance due of $386,467.72.”
The vast majority of that amount was racked up during Leibovitz’s work for Disney as part of the “Disney Dream Portrait Series” which includes major celebrities–movie stars, singers and athletes–portrayed as characters in classic Disney films. Among the models are David Beckham, Rachel Weisz, Jessica Biel, Roger Federer, Tina Fey, Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Lopez, Beyonce and Michael Phelps.
Above: Annie Leibovitz in San Francisco earlier this year. (Photo by Robert Scoble, used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License)
According to the lawsuit, filed Nov. 9, Leibovitz retained Santoro as the stylist throughout the series. Santoro has also worked with Leibovitz on campaigns for American Express, Ann Taylor and Paul Mitchell, according to her Web site.
In a separate lawsuit filed in March but first reported today by Photo District News, New York-based Briese Productions, a lighting equipment company, claims Leibovitz owes them $392,036.53.
More than $220,000 of that is for services rendered during 2006 and 2007, the lawsuit says. Additionally, it alleges Leibovitz asked for “substantial discounts in the costs of the equipment and services” in exchange for “a certain level of business on a continuing basis.”
“Liebovitz breached her agreement and did not provide the ongoing level of business to Briese,” the lawsuit claims. For that, they’re asking for $165,227.
The company–itself caught in a separate battle in California courts over the use of the name “Briese”–also alleges Leibovitz damaged more than $5,000 in equipment and failed to pay for it.
Leibovitz’ attorney, Rachel E. Williams, filed in August a request to have the lawsuit dismissed on the grounds that it didn’t contain specific enough detail regarding the nature of the contract between Leibovitz and Briese USA, and that it failed to enumerate the material costs they claim she accumulated.
Born in 1949, Leibovitz has spent decades building an international reputation for herself as one of the world’s premiere celebrity portrait photographers. From the beginning of her career, she has been known for the often-provocative nature of her images, including the famous Polaroid of a naked John Lennon curled around Yoko Ono, taken just hours before Lennon was killed.
Interesting and looking at Nicoletta Santoro website shows she’s not to above using the images from the Disney shoot for her own promotional gain despite claiming these damages. All fair in Love & War
http://www.nicolettasantoro.com/. Anne does a mean Disney shoot - gotta hand it to her she is worth the $.
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