‘Daredevil’ Showrunner Steven DeKnight Claims Disney And Netflix Owe Him Unpaid Residual Checks
In response to She-Hulk: Attorney at Law‘s scriptwriter Cody Zigler revelation of only receiving a meager $396 from the house of mouse, Daredevil showrunner Steve DeKnight has claimed they have not been paid by Disney or Netflix since the Marvel show’s 2015 debut.
RELATED: ‘She-Hulk: Attorney At Law’ Writer Cody Ziglar Claims He Received A Residual Check For $396
Several actors and writers including Zigler and DeKnight are responding to The Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger’s recent comments with David Faber on CNBC’s Squawk Box while attending the Sun Valley Conference in Idaho.
During the interview, Iger was asked, “Speaking of content, we’re in the midst of a writer’s strike and very likely it would seem to have a actors’ strike. How is that going to impact things and what are your expectations there?”
“This is the worst time in the world to add to that disruption,” said Disney CEO. “I understand any labor organizations’ desire to work on the behalf behalf of its members to get, you know, the most compensation and to be compensated fairly based on the value that they deliver.”
“We managed as an industry to negotiate a very good deal with the Directors Guild that reflects the value that the directors contribute to this great business,” he continued. “We wanted to do the same thing with the writers and we’d like to do the same thing with the actors. There’s a level of expectation that they have that is just not realistic and they are adding to a set of challenges that this business is already facing that is quite frankly very disruptive and dangerous.”
When the CNBC host asked the Disney CEO why he believed the writers and actors were being unrealistic, Iger punted the question, “I can’t, I can’t answer that question. I, again, I respect their right and their desire to get as much as they possibly can in compensation for their people, You know, I completely respect that.”
“I’ve been around long enough to understand that dynamic and to appreciate it,” he acknowledged. “But you also have to be realistic about the business environment and what this business can deliver. It is and has been a great business for all of these people and it will continue to be even through disruptive times. But, you know, being realistic, is imperative here.”
In response to Culture Crave’s tweet covering Cody Ziglar’s residual woes, Steven DeKnight, showrunner for season 1 of Netflix’s Daredevil, claimed that neither Netflix nor Disney have paid him for his time working on the series.
Until Daredevil transferred to Disney+, DeKnight had seemingly given up on getting paid for his work. After Disney’s acquisition of Daredevil, the Pacific Rim Rising writer joined a grou p of writers to file a joint audit to get Disney and Netflix to fulfill their financial contractual obligations.
RELATED: SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher Suggests The Walt Disney Company Lock Bob Iger “Behind Doors”
“So speaking of Daredevil, as showrunner of S1, part of my deal includes a little sliver of the backend,” he revealed. “Never expected to see any on Netflix. But then Marvel/Disney pulled it and it ended up on Disney +. Now I’m part of an audit to try to get the money they owe me and others.”
“And here’s the thing about auditing to get what’s owed to you: YOU have to pay for it (divided up among the backend participants),” he acknowledged, before claiming, “The last time I had to do this, it cost me alone 17K and took over two years.”
DeKnight then added, “Entertainment Corporations will do ANYTHING to keep from paying you what you’re contractually owed.”
In a follow-up tweet, responding to a Twitter user who asked what the point of contracts was, DeKnight did not waste an opportunity to smear former President Donald Trump, declaring, “It’s the Trump strategy. Force those you owe money to into settling for penny’s on the dollar.”
“If not, drag it out in court and hope they run out of money and give up,” he concluded.
What do you make of Steven DeKnight’s claim? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section down below.
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