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Friday, March 29, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Shut Up Those Damn Birds!

LOS ANGELES (CN) - Quentin Tarantino sued his neighbors, claiming they "installed an exotic bird menagerie" where macaws "emit blood-curdling screams at random intervals for 7 to 8 hours each day. ... The macaws' obnoxious pterodactyl-like screams ... are not only startling, but have also seriously disrupted Mr. Tarantino's ability to work as a writer in his home."

Tarantino, an award-winning filmmaker, sued his neighbors Alan Ball and Peter Macdissi in Superior Court.

"Ironically, defendant Alan Ball is also an Academy Award-winning screenwriter," Tarantino's complaint states. "However, since he and his partner, defendant Peter Macdissi know that their birds issue blood-curdling, prehistoric sounding screams, they do not maintain the macaws in their residence, but place them in the outdoor aviary. Though one might assume that, as a fellow writer, Mr. Ball would understand and respect a writer's need for peace and quiet while he is working, that assumption would be wrong. Despite plaintiffs' efforts to amicably resolve this matter, defendants have done little to eliminate the macaws' daily cacophony. Unwilling to tolerate this nuisance any longer, plaintiffs were left with no alternative but to commence this action."

Tarantino and the property owner seek an injunction for abatement of nuisance, and costs. They are represented by Martin Singer with Lavely & Singer.

Macaws, the largest parrots, have a loud, grating call, and are particularly noisy at dawn and sunset. Bird publications claim that a macaw's call can, and does, reach the decibel level of a rock concert or a jumbo jet engine.

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