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'Black Swan' at Center of $10M Lawsuit Over Producer Credit

By DNAinfo Staff on December 23, 2010 6:22pm

Natalie Portman arrives at the 'Black Swan' closing night gala during AFI FEST 2010.
Natalie Portman arrives at the 'Black Swan' closing night gala during AFI FEST 2010.
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Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for AFI

By Mariel S. Clark

DNAinfo News Editor

MANHATTAN — The movie "Black Swan" is at the center of a lawsuit after the film's original production company sued its former president saying he cost the company a producer's credit on the film, according to reports.

The independent film company Overnight LLC filed a $10 million lawsuit in Manhattan Federal Court on Thursday alleging that its former president, Aaron Kaufman, used contract demands to hold the movie "hostage" and entered the company into bad financing deals, according to the Daily News.

Kaufman, who started working for the film company in 2009, made such a mess of the movie's financing that Overnight had to give up its producer credit while other production companies finished the financing, the suit said, according to the New York Post.

"By the end of October 2009, Kaufman simply stopped working for Overnight altogether, and stopped returning calls from the artists representatives associated with 'Black Swan' who were anxious to know when financing for the film would be completed, since principal photography was due to begin immediately," the suit said, according to the Post.

The loss of the credit would mean Overnight wouldn't be named on any awards the movie receives.

“Black Swan," starring Natalie Portman as an up and coming ballet dancer who is trying to unseat a rival, has been nominated for four Golden Globe awards, including best drama.