‘Ninja Turtle’ Writers Demand $200,000

LOS ANGELES (CN) - Two writers and the estate of the producer of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" say Singel Films owes them a total of $280,000 for their share of profits from the hit movie.

Todd Langen and Bobby Herbeck were the two credited writers on the film. They are joined as plaintiffs by Anna Cottle and Peter Jacovich, co-executors of the estate of Graham Cottle, producer of the first "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" film.

Defendant Singel, of the Netherlands, is successor in interest to Golden Harvest Films, and in 2004 was assigned all money payable by New Line Pictures, the original domestic distributor of the film, according to the Superior Court complaint. New Line's rights and obligations have been assumed by its corporate parent, Warner Bros., from whom the plaintiffs demand an accounting and money.

Langen says his contract gave him 2.5 percent of the film's net profits; he says he rewrote Herbeck's first draft. He says the defendants have refused to pay him since the early 1990s. He believes he is owed about $200,000.

Jacovich's estate says it is owed $80,000.

Langen and Herbeck say the Writer's Guild was awarded $110,000 on their behalf in arbitration. They want that too.

The plaintiffs are represented by Richard Rosen of Woodland Hills.

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