Film Producer Sues Johnny Mercer Foundation

LOS ANGELES (CN) - A film producer claims in court that The Johnny Mercer Foundation owes him $30,000 for his work on a documentary about the late songwriter.

Howard E. Green sued The Johnny Mercer Foundation in Superior Court.

Mercer, who died in 1976, wrote lyrics for more than 1,500 songs, including "Days of Wine and Roses" and "Moon River" (music by Henry Mancini), "Lazy Bones" and "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening" (music by Hoagy Carmichael), "Come Rain or Come Shine," "This Time the Dream's on Me" and "One for my Baby and One More for the Road" (music by Harold Arlen).

Mercer, a co-founder of Capitol Records, was one of Frank Sinatra's favorite lyricists.

Howard Green is credited on industry website IMDB.com as one of the producers of "Johnny Mercer: The Dream's On Me," a production of nonparty Rhapsody Productions, and The Johnny Mercer Foundation, of Santa Monica.

Executive produced by (nonparty) Clint Eastwood, the Emmy-nominated television documentary aired on cable channel TCM on Nov. 4, 2009.

Green claims in his lawsuit that The Johnny Mercer Foundation breached a written and verbal agreement to pay him $30,000 for raising funds for the film and securing interviews, musicians, and film and music licenses.

"The value of plaintiff's contributions was worth far more than $30,000," the complaint states.

Green says he billed the foundation in early 2010, and did not take legal action because it told him it would pay him later.

However, "In a November 29, 2012 letter to counsel for Mr. Green, the foundation rescinded its earlier statements and, for the first time, claimed that Mr. Green is not entitled to any compensation for his work as co-producer," the lawsuit states.

Green demands $30,000, damages for breach of contract, and costs.

He is represented by John Peterson with Riley Warnock & Jacobson of Nashville.

The Johnny Mercer Foundation did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Email *

Submit