Spanish producer Onza Partners claims the NBC series is a ripoff of El Ministerio del Tiempo, the story of a three-person government team who travels to time to change the past, according to the complaint filed Tuesday.
Onza principal Gonzalo Sagardia met with Gersh partner Roy Ashton at an international television conference in April 2015, seeking his help in packaging an American version of the show. Sagardia gave Ashton a DVD and other promotional materials with the understanding that, if the agent liked the series, he’d facilitate the deal.
“[I]t was understood by all concerned that any persons or entities being given access by Ashton or Gersh to the Original Series DVD … would be given such access solely for the purpose of assisting Onza in developing and exploiting Onza’s American Version,” states the complaint filed by attorney Devin McRae. “While precise financial terms relative to any American Version were to be worked out among Onza and the other parties brought into the deal by Gersh, no American Version was to be made without Onza’s consent.”
Source and more: THR
The suit cites an August 2015 Deadline report that NBC had bought a project, then titled Time, from Kripke and Ryan — both of whom were under overall deals with Sony — with a pilot production commitment. Sony and John Davis’ studio-based Davis Entertainment were set to produce.
“According to the Deadline Release,” the suit says, “[Kripke] and Davis ‘reached out’ to Ryan, who was also working at Sony, and “within weeks crafted [stole] the storyline and characters for Time” (emphasis added). Obviously, it does not take a lot of time to put together a ‘new’ and creative product ripped off from someone else. Oddly, at the moment of the August 26, 2015 publication of the Deadline Release, Sony abruptly and without any warning terminated all negotiations relative to Onza’s American Version.” Time was picked up to pilot in January and landed a series orderas Timeless four months later.
Source and more: Deadline
Stay tuned as we continue to monitor the cancel/renew status of Timeless…
Jill Jacobs says
It was a great show!! Renew immediately!!