Leonora Darby sues Tea Shop founders over Obsession profits
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Producer Leonora Ann Darby has sued Tea Shop Productions co-founders James Harris and Mark Lane, accusing them of cutting her out of profits from Obsession, one of the highest-grossing horror films ever made, after she stepped in to salvage the project. The breach of contract complaint, filed on 28 August in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges a "seven-year pattern of unequal treatment and broken compensation promises" and centres on a 2024 agreement that Darby claims Harris and Lane failed to honour, denying her a promised share of net profits from a film that grossed nearly $510 million worldwide.
The 135-page filing states Darby joined the "failing" and "fledgling" company in 2019 on the understanding she would become an "equal producer" in pay and decision-making, and that in 2024 she was promised 33.33% of net profits on films she lead-produced, including Obsession, made on a budget of under $800,000. She says she was instrumental in reinstating director Curry Barker and getting the film ready for a $16.2 million sale to Focus Features at Toronto in 2024, yet received only a single $300,000 payment and was otherwise sidelined and demeaned. The lawsuit, brought via Beverly Hills firm Singh, Singh & Trauben, seeks a jury trial, unspecified damages and an accounting across several other Tea Shop titles; it names Harris and Lane individually but not Focus Features or fellow producer Jason Blum.
- Producer Leonora Darby sues Tea Shop Productions co-founders over Obsession profits
- Claims broken promise of 33.33% net profit share despite film's $510m gross
- Suit filed 28 August in LA, seeks damages and accounting on other Tea Shop films
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Leonora Ann Darby, a producer, has filed a breach of contract lawsuit against James Harris and Mark Lane, co-founders of independent studio Tea Shop Productions, in Los Angeles Superior Court. Darby, who joined the company in 2019, says the pair agreed in 2024 to give her a third of net profits on films she led as producer, but that she has since received only a fraction of what she was promised.
At the centre of the dispute is Obsession, a horror film made for under $800,000 that went on to earn nearly $510 million worldwide after its release in May. Darby says she played a key role in the film's success, including helping to secure its sale to distributor Focus Features, and argues she was still paid a single $300,000 sum despite the scale of the film's returns.
The case matters beyond one payment dispute: Darby's complaint describes a broader pattern of unequal treatment over several years and asks the court to examine profits across a number of other Tea Shop-produced films. It raises wider questions about how profits are shared and how women are treated in independent film production, an industry where such arrangements are often informal and hard to enforce.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Advocates for Darby's position argue that verbal or informally documented promises of profit participation are common and binding in independent film, and that a producer instrumental in reviving a stalled project, reinstating its director and securing a major festival sale deserves the share she says she was promised. They would emphasise that receiving a single $300,000 payment on a film that cost under $800,000 to make and grossed roughly $510 million looks starkly disproportionate, and that the lawsuit's broader claim of a "seven-year pattern" speaks to a legitimate and widely discussed concern about how women's contributions are credited and compensated in independent production.
The case against
Those sympathetic to Harris and Lane would note that a lawsuit's allegations are one side's characterisation and remain unproven, and that "net profit" participation in film finance is notoriously complex, often defined by contractual formulas that leave little residual even on commercially successful titles once distribution fees, marketing costs and other deductions are applied. They might also point out that Darby was reportedly paid $300,000, suggesting some agreement existed whose precise terms are now in dispute rather than a simple case of nothing being paid, and that founders of a small, previously "fledgling" company deserve the chance to have the actual contractual terms tested before being publicly framed as having exploited a colleague.
Full account
Leonora Ann Darby, a producer who worked her way up through the independent outfit Tea Shop Productions, has filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit against the company's co-founders, James Harris and Mark Lane, alleging she was denied a promised share of profits from the horror hit Obsession. The suit, lodged in a Los Angeles court, accuses the two men of reneging on an understanding that she would be treated as an equal partner in the business, including in matters of pay, decision-making and access to opportunities, despite her having done the work of a senior producer on several of the company's titles.
According to the complaint, Darby joined Tea Shop in 2019 as a development and production executive at a time when the company was still finding its feet, and progressively took on greater responsibility until she stood alongside Harris and Lane as one of its three producers, working on titles including A Banquet, The Surfer and Tornado. In 2024, she says the pair agreed she would receive a third of the net profits on any film she lead-produced, along with a direct stake in the associated collection account arrangements that govern how a film's earnings are distributed. Darby claims that despite living up to her end of that arrangement, the promise was not honoured once real money was on the table.
Central to her case is the making of Obsession, directed by Curry Barker, which she says had run into serious trouble when editing duties were taken away from Barker and given to someone else, to the detriment of the film. Darby says she pushed for the original director to be reinstated and for additional reshoots, both of which took place, while also shaping key creative decisions, including how the central relationship and character arcs were handled and a push to lean fully into the film's supernatural premise. She went on to help steer the production through to completion in time for its festival premiere, after which it was picked up for distribution. Although formally credited only as an executive producer, she argues that, in practical terms within the company, her role amounted to that of lead producer — a distinction she says should have entitled her to profit participation once the low-budget film went on to become one of the most commercially successful independent releases in recent memory.
Darby's lawyer said she was confident in a case built on a detailed factual record and intended to pursue it fully, while the film's backers have yet to respond publicly to the claims. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and back pay, along with a formal accounting of the film's earnings, and has been brought as a ten-count filing with a request for a jury trial.
Where outlets differ
One outlet reports the suit was filed 'on Monday' in California state court without giving an exact date, while the other specifies it was lodged on 28 August in Los Angeles Superior Court and runs to 135 pages with ten claims.
Figures for Obsession's budget and box office takings vary slightly between reports — one cites a $750,000 budget and takings 'recently crossing' $500 million, the other says the budget was 'less than $800,000' and worldwide earnings were 'nearly $510 million'.
The two accounts differ markedly in tone: one is measured and procedural, quoting Darby's lawyer directly and noting that comment was sought from the production company and director; the other leans into more pointed, editorialised language from the complaint itself, foregrounding allegations that Darby was treated in a 'demeaning and gendered manner' by 'older male' producers and describing Tea Shop's early years as a 'failing' and 'fledgling company'.
Only one report names the film's stars (Inde Navarrette and Michael Johnston) and details the full range of Darby's producing credits and her specific creative contributions (e.g. the 'One Wish Willow' element and the festival sale to a distributor); the other focuses more on the broader pattern of alleged mistreatment over a seven-year period and the mechanics of the legal claim, including the request for an equitable accounting.
Coverage
- The Hollywood Reporter — ‘Obsession’ Producer Files Lawsuit Claiming She Was Cut Out of Profits Despite “Rescuing” Cut
- Deadline — ‘Obsession’ EP Sues Over Allegedly Being Scammed Out Of Promised Profits From High-Grossing Horror Hit