Moshe Barkat, founder of Modern VideoFilm, ran the once-famous post-production house into the ground by systematically “looting” it into insolvency, according to court papers filed by Medley Capital, its main creditor and defendant in a $100 million fraud suit brought by Barkat that’s set for trial next month.
“Like many entrepreneurs, Barkat was an effective salesman but an incompetent, undisciplined and ultimately self-destructive manager,” Medley claims in a complaint filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court (read it here). “Over time, Barkat’s corporate mismanagement and serial looting of the corporate till rendered Mvf insolvent.”
Once an industry leader, the Burbank-based Modern VideoFilm provided postproduction and distribution services to the film and TV industry for more than 33 years. But Barkat lost control of the company in 2014 to Medley Capital, a billion-dollar investment fund that had loaned the company $50 million in 2012. When the company allegedly defaulted on the loan, Medley brought in...
“Like many entrepreneurs, Barkat was an effective salesman but an incompetent, undisciplined and ultimately self-destructive manager,” Medley claims in a complaint filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court (read it here). “Over time, Barkat’s corporate mismanagement and serial looting of the corporate till rendered Mvf insolvent.”
Once an industry leader, the Burbank-based Modern VideoFilm provided postproduction and distribution services to the film and TV industry for more than 33 years. But Barkat lost control of the company in 2014 to Medley Capital, a billion-dollar investment fund that had loaned the company $50 million in 2012. When the company allegedly defaulted on the loan, Medley brought in...
- 5/30/2018
- by David Robb
- Deadline Film + TV
The founder of a postproduction house that has worked on hit series like Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead and Modern Family is headed to trial next month in a dispute with a financier who he claims ruined his company, after a California appeals court on Wednesday denied a request to stay proceedings.
Moshe Barkat in 2015 sued the lenders who took control of Modern VideoFilm, claiming Medley Capital Corporation ruined his business. After his claims were thrown out on a demurrer motion in 2016, Barkat filed a derivative complaint through Mvf Holdings.
The 2nd Appellate District on Wednesday denied Medley's petition requesting ...
Moshe Barkat in 2015 sued the lenders who took control of Modern VideoFilm, claiming Medley Capital Corporation ruined his business. After his claims were thrown out on a demurrer motion in 2016, Barkat filed a derivative complaint through Mvf Holdings.
The 2nd Appellate District on Wednesday denied Medley's petition requesting ...
- 5/18/2018
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Modern VideoFilm Trial: Appeals Court Denies Medley Capital’s Motion To Stay $100 Million Fraud Suit
The California Court of Appeal has denied an emergency motion by Medley Capital to stay the trial of a $100 million lawsuit filed by Moshe Barkat, founder of Modern VideoFilm, who claims he lost his company due to fraud.
Once an industry leader, Modern VideoFilm provided postproduction and distribution services to the film and TV industry for more than 33 years. But Barkat lost control of the company in 2014 to Medley Capital, a billion-dollar investment fund that had loaned the company $50 million in 2012. When the company allegedly defaulted on the loan, Medley brought in the Deloitte Corporate Restructuring Group to manage it, ousted Barkat and sold the company. Barcat then filed suit for fraud and breach of fiduciary duty.
Superior Court Judge Daniel Murphy recently denied Medley’s motions for summary judgment, ruling that there are enough triable issues to proceed to trial, which is set for June 12. Medley asked the appellate...
Once an industry leader, Modern VideoFilm provided postproduction and distribution services to the film and TV industry for more than 33 years. But Barkat lost control of the company in 2014 to Medley Capital, a billion-dollar investment fund that had loaned the company $50 million in 2012. When the company allegedly defaulted on the loan, Medley brought in the Deloitte Corporate Restructuring Group to manage it, ousted Barkat and sold the company. Barcat then filed suit for fraud and breach of fiduciary duty.
Superior Court Judge Daniel Murphy recently denied Medley’s motions for summary judgment, ruling that there are enough triable issues to proceed to trial, which is set for June 12. Medley asked the appellate...
- 5/17/2018
- by David Robb
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: The legal battle over the dissolution of what had once been one of Hollywood’s leading post-production houses is headed for trial. Bankruptcies, changing technologies and runaway postproduction have taken a major toll on La-based post facilities in recent years, but Moshe Barkat, founder of Modern VideoFilm, alleges that he lost his company to fraud. A judge today dismissed a motion for summary judgment, and a trial of his claims now is set for June 12 in Los Angeles Superior Court.
Once an industry leader, Modern VideoFilm provided postproduction and distribution services to the film and TV industry for more than 33 years, working on many high-profile film and TV shows including Avatar, Modern Family, Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Sons of Anarchy, House of Cards, Falling Skies, How I Met Your Mother, The Grand Budapest Hotel, There Will Be Blood and Slumdog Millionaire.
But Barkat lost control of the company in 2014 to Medley Capital,...
Once an industry leader, Modern VideoFilm provided postproduction and distribution services to the film and TV industry for more than 33 years, working on many high-profile film and TV shows including Avatar, Modern Family, Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Sons of Anarchy, House of Cards, Falling Skies, How I Met Your Mother, The Grand Budapest Hotel, There Will Be Blood and Slumdog Millionaire.
But Barkat lost control of the company in 2014 to Medley Capital,...
- 5/14/2018
- by David Robb
- Deadline Film + TV
At its height, Modern VideoFilm was worth more than $100 million, handling postproduction for Oscar winners and franchise tentpoles from nearly every major studio — but that success was shattered by an uncouth lender, according to a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
Mvf founder Moshe Barkat sued Medley Capital for $100 million last year, claiming he was wrongfully terminated from his own company and Medley and its leadership “through bad faith misconduct, corruption and gross incompetence — effectively destroyed [his] life’s work.” (Read his full complaint here.)
In June, judge Daniel Murphy sustained ...
Mvf founder Moshe Barkat sued Medley Capital for $100 million last year, claiming he was wrongfully terminated from his own company and Medley and its leadership “through bad faith misconduct, corruption and gross incompetence — effectively destroyed [his] life’s work.” (Read his full complaint here.)
In June, judge Daniel Murphy sustained ...
- 8/31/2016
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
At its height, Modern VideoFilm was worth more than $100 million, handling postproduction for Oscar winners and franchise tentpoles from nearly every major studio — but that success was shattered by an uncouth lender, according to a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
Mvf founder Moshe Barkat sued Medley Capital for $100 million last year, claiming he was wrongfully terminated from his own company and Medley and its leadership “through bad faith misconduct, corruption and gross incompetence — effectively destroyed [his] life’s work.” (Read his full complaint here.)
In June, judge Daniel Murphy sustained ...
Mvf founder Moshe Barkat sued Medley Capital for $100 million last year, claiming he was wrongfully terminated from his own company and Medley and its leadership “through bad faith misconduct, corruption and gross incompetence — effectively destroyed [his] life’s work.” (Read his full complaint here.)
In June, judge Daniel Murphy sustained ...
- 8/31/2016
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Moshe Barkat, the founder and former longtime president and CEO of Modern VideoFilm, has filed a $100 million fraud and breach of fiduciary duty lawsuit against Medley Capital, the company that took over the venerable postproduction house in 2014. The suit, filed today in Los Angeles Superior Court (read it here), claims that Medley "ran Mvf into the ground and destroyed it." At one time, Modern VideoFilm employed more than 500 people, but the suit claims that the company…...
- 8/30/2016
- Deadline TV
Moshe Barkat, the founder and former longtime president and CEO of Modern VideoFilm, has filed a $100 million fraud and breach of fiduciary duty lawsuit against Medley Capital, the company that took over the venerable postproduction house in 2014. The suit, filed today in Los Angeles Superior Court (read it here), claims that Medley "ran Mvf into the ground and destroyed it." At one time, Modern VideoFilm employed more than 500 people, but the suit claims that the company…...
- 8/30/2016
- Deadline
Moshe Barkat, founder of the industry-leading film and video post-production house Modern VideoFilm (Mvf), has filed a $100 million lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court against Medley Capital Corporation, consulting firm Deloitte Corporate Restructuring Group, and Mvf board member Charles Sweet. The suit alleges “bad faith misconduct, corruption, and gross incompetence,” and that the parties violated their fiduciary duty to Mvf and breached Barkat’s employment contract with Mvf. The suit claims further that that the defendants “destroyed Barkat’s life work, valued at more than $100 million at the time of their wrongdoing.” According to his lawsuit, in 2012, Barkat wanted to...
- 6/1/2015
- by Joe Otterson
- The Wrap
Deloitte Corporate Restructuring Group, which specializes in reorganizing troubled companies, has taken over day-to-day operation of Modern VideoFilm. Scott Avila, a principal of Deloitte Crg, has been named CEO of the postproduction facility. He replaces Moshe Barkat, the company’s founder, who was ousted as CEO and President by the board of directors in September. Cooper Crouse, a director of Deloitte Crg, has been named President of Modern Video/Film.
Avila and Crouse’s previous job for Deloitte Crg, a subsidiary of the giant professional services and accounting firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd, was to manage the affairs of the financially distressed Culver Studios before its sale to Hackman Capital Partners this year. Roxanna Sassanian, a former financial officer at the Culver Studios, has been named Modern Video/Film’s CFO, replacing the ousted Hugh Miller.
Asked about Deloitte Crg, Avila told Deadline: “I can’t comment on that. I...
Avila and Crouse’s previous job for Deloitte Crg, a subsidiary of the giant professional services and accounting firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd, was to manage the affairs of the financially distressed Culver Studios before its sale to Hackman Capital Partners this year. Roxanna Sassanian, a former financial officer at the Culver Studios, has been named Modern Video/Film’s CFO, replacing the ousted Hugh Miller.
Asked about Deloitte Crg, Avila told Deadline: “I can’t comment on that. I...
- 10/22/2014
- by David Robb
- Deadline
There’s been a shakeup of senior management at one of Hollywood’s top postproduction facilities. Modern VideoFilm founder Moshe Barkat is out as president and CEO, as is Hugh Miller, the company’s CFO and second-ranking officer.
Both men’s names have been removed from the company’s website listing of its management team. Before Barkat was removed, the site listed him as “the driving force behind the growth and success of the company for more than three decades.” Ironically, the site also states that “our record for stability in management and staff is reflected in our longstanding client relationships.”
Modern VideoFilm, which has provided postproduction and distribution services to the film and TV industry for more than 33 years, employs more than 500 artists, engineers, producers, technicians, client representatives and support personnel at its facilities in Burbank, Glendale, Santa Monica and Arizona.
The company has worked on high-profile film and TV shows including Avatar,...
Both men’s names have been removed from the company’s website listing of its management team. Before Barkat was removed, the site listed him as “the driving force behind the growth and success of the company for more than three decades.” Ironically, the site also states that “our record for stability in management and staff is reflected in our longstanding client relationships.”
Modern VideoFilm, which has provided postproduction and distribution services to the film and TV industry for more than 33 years, employs more than 500 artists, engineers, producers, technicians, client representatives and support personnel at its facilities in Burbank, Glendale, Santa Monica and Arizona.
The company has worked on high-profile film and TV shows including Avatar,...
- 10/3/2014
- by David Robb
- Deadline
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