United States, Superior Court of the State of California for the County of San Francisco - Case # CGC-08-479088
This lawsuit is still active.
Below is a summary of the public information contained in the court records and published articles.
On January 10, 2004, Plaintiff invested in an independent film Jay Rothstein and China Venture Films was producing in China in return for:
- A feature role in the film and acting credit for Plaintiff's performance.
- 6.5% of the net income on all U.S. proceeds from any and all media and distribution of the film.
- Executive producer credit.
Jay Rothstein agreed to the following with the Plaintiff:
- Jay Rothstein personally guaranteed full repayment of Plaintiff's investment by January 9, 2006 if the film began shooting by June 20, 2004.
- If the film did not commence photography by August 20, 2004, Jay Rothstein promised to repay Plaintiff the full amount of Plaintiff's investment by September 1, 2004.
- Plaintiff to receive first money back in repayment of her investment prior to any other distributions from U.S. income to any other investors or partners.
Jay Rothstein completed the production of Milk & Fashion in 2008 and had not fulfilled any of his contractual obligations over 3 1/2 years with the Plaintiff:
- Plaintiff was not offered a role in Milk & Fashion even though Jay Rothstein had already accepted Plaintiff's investment many years earlier.
- Since September 2004, Jay Rothstein ignored Plaintiff's repeated requests for Jay Rothstein to fulfill his personal guarantee and repay the Plaintiff's investment and Jay Rothstein ignored settlement agreements submitted by Plaintiff and tried to string the Plaintiff along with false promises of future repayment.
On August 25, 2008, Plaintiff filed a lawsuit against Jay Rothstein and China Venture Films for:
- Fraud, Deceit and Concealment
- Breach of Contract
- Unjust Enrichment
- Conversion
- Negligent Misrepresentation
This case is still active.
Based on Jay Rothstein's quotes in the press he later deemed Plaintiff unsuitable for a role in Milk & Fashion because Plaintiff was not proficient in Mandarin Chinese. This raises the following about Jay Rothstein's intentions:
- How did Jeremy Miller land a leading role if he does not speak Mandarin Chinese either?
- If being a Mandarin Chinese speaker was a prerequisite, why did Jay Rothstein, knowing the Plaintiff does not speak Mandarin Chinese, solicit Plaintiff's investment including his promise to give the Plaintiff a role in his China movie?
- If Milk & Fashion was not the movie Jay Rothstein was talking about while soliciting Plaintiff's investment, then either:
- Jay Rothstein never made the movie which formed the basis of discussions with the Plaintiff and Jay Rothstein still defaulted on fulfilling his personal guarantee to repay the Plaintiff; and/or
- Jay Rothstein never had any intention of making a movie with a role for the Plaintiff nor of repaying the Plaintiff.
- After spending the Plaintiff's money, why did Jay Rothstein not proactively seek out Plaintiff to keep Plaintiff updated on how he was going to fulfill his commitment and personal guarantee, and instead forced Plaintiff to file a lawsuit against Jay Rothstein to recover the investment?
Unknown at the time of the lawsuit filing, Plaintiff has since learned:
- Jay Rothstein promised 100% of the profit points available in Milk & Fashion to himself, his son Kyle Rothstein, and the other investors. There was nothing left over for the Plaintiff.
- Jay Rothstein did not disclose to the other investors in M&F of his contractual commitment to repay the Plaintiff before any of them from U.S.-derived income, or that Plaintiff was even entitled to a share of the income.
For more information, please see the following website operated by San Francisco's Superior Court of the State of California:
To read the August 28, 2008 San Francisco Chronicle article by John Coté, "Mayor Newsom's wife sues film producer", please click on the following link:
To read the Chinese version on Sina of the August 28, 2008 San Francisco Chronicle article by John Coté, "Mayor Newsom's wife sues film producer", please click on the following link:
Certain important court documents are also attached for convenient downloading.