Operation: Heroes, Ltd. v. Procter & Gamble Productions, Inc.

903 F. Supp. 2d 1106, 2012 WL 4891707, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 147118
CourtDistrict Court, D. Nevada
DecidedOctober 11, 2012
DocketCase No. 2:12-cv-00214-MMD-GWF
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 903 F. Supp. 2d 1106 (Operation: Heroes, Ltd. v. Procter & Gamble Productions, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Nevada primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Operation: Heroes, Ltd. v. Procter & Gamble Productions, Inc., 903 F. Supp. 2d 1106, 2012 WL 4891707, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 147118 (D. Nev. 2012).

Opinion

ORDER

(Defendants’ Motion to Transfer Venue to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Western Division — dkt. no. 31)

(Defendant Procter & Gamble Productions, Inc.’s Motion to Compel Arbitration and Motion to Stay — dkt. no. 32)

MIRANDA M. DU, District Judge.

Before the Court are Defendants Procter & Gamble Productions, Inc. (“Productions”), The Procter & Gamble Company (“Company”) (collectively, the “P & G Defendants”), and TeleNext Media, Inc.’s (“TeleNext”) Motion to Transfer Venue to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Western Division (dkt. no. 31), and Defendant Productions’ Motion to Compel Arbitration and Stay Proceedings (dkt. no. 32). For the reasons discussed below, the Motion to Transfer (dkt. no. 31) is denied and the Motion to Compel Arbitration is granted. Defendant Productions’ Motion to Stay (dkt. no. 32) is granted in part and denied in part, as described below.

I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff Operation: Heroes created and developed the idea for an awards show entitled “Operation: Heroes.” (Dkt. no. 25 at ¶ 8.) The show was initially planned to take place in Las Vegas, Nevada, and would recognize and award members of the American military, police force, and firefighter units for “acts of valor committed in the line of duty.” (Dkt. no. 38 at 4.) Columbia Broadcasting System (“CBS”) agreed to televise the Awards Show. Plaintiff planned for celebrity vocalist Wayne Newton to host/emcee the event, and for several other celebrities to present during the ceremony. (Dkt. no. 25 at ¶ 9.) The plan was to produce a live, two-hour prime-time television special over Memorial Day weekend 2010. (Id. at ¶ 8.) This broadcast was to be followed by a national media bus tour, the production of a television documentary, as well as sales of event-related merchandise. (Id.) Plaintiffs intent was to make the Awards Show and subsequent related events an annual event. (Id.)

Plaintiff, through its principal R.C. Foster, contacted Company in August 2009 regarding the possibility of sponsoring Operation: Heroes. Company directed Plaintiff to its production company, Productions, and informed Plaintiff that Productions would consider its proposal. Representatives from Productions and Plaintiff met on or about August 25-26, 2009, in Las Vegas, Nevada regarding the proposal. (Dkt. no. 38-1 at ¶ 3.) Defendants claim that Plaintiff made several misrepresentations about its resources, experience, and ability to produce a television awards show in order to convince Productions to participate in the show. (Dkt. no. 31 at 3-4.)

Productions signed an agreement to participate in October 2009. The agreement states: “legal disputes resolved by binding arbitration.” (Dkt. no. 32 at 14.) Plaintiff alleges that the agreement was for Productions to sponsor the event in the amount of $1,425,000. $125,000 of that was to be paid directly to Plaintiff; the remainder Productions would pay directly to CBS. (Dkt. no. 25 at ¶ 11.) Productions hired TeleNext, a television production company, to assist in the production.

The parties dispute what happened after this point. Plaintiff alleges that Defendants exerted pressure on it to expand its production budget and transform the awards show into a “garish Hollywood spectacle” rather than the “tasteful, sol[1111]*1111emn tribute” Plaintiff originally envisioned. (Dkt. no. 38 at 4.) Defendants assert that Plaintiff had always represented that it either had or would secure “some of the biggest names in film, television, and music” for the awards show, but that it later became aware to Productions that Plaintiff lacked the skills and capabilities to produce a high-quality awards show and that Plaintiff could not secure “A”-list celebrities for the show. (Dkt. no. 31 at 4.) Defendants assert that because Plaintiff was “unable to deliver as required by the Agreement,” Productions exercised its “cancellation right” as set forth in the agreement.1 (Id.)

Productions failed to provide CBS the $1,000,000 line of credit due to CBS under the agreement. The awards show did not happen. Plaintiff asserts that “as a result of [Production’s] breach and [Defendants’ tortious interference with the CBS contract,” CBS chose not to go forward with the awards show and refused to do business with Operation: Heroes in the future. (Dkt. no. 38 at 4.)

Plaintiff filed its original Complaint in this Court on February 10, 2012. (Dkt. no. 1.) Defendants now move to have the matter transferred to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Western Division. (Dkt. no. 31.) Defendant Productions also moves to compel arbitration as set forth in the agreement between Productions and Plaintiff and to stay this proceeding during the course of the arbitration. (Dkt. no. 32.)

II. MOTION TO TRANSFER VENUE

A. Legal Standard

28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) provides that “[f]or the convenience of parties and witnesses, in the interest of justice a district court may transfer any civil action to any other district or division where it might have been brought.” Amazon.com v. Cendant Corp., 404 F.Supp.2d 1256, 1259 (W.D.Wash.2005). “The purpose of this section is to prevent the waste of time, energy, and money and to protect litigants, witnesses and the public against unnecessary inconvenience and expense.” Id. (citations and quotation marks omitted).

Motions to transfer venue are considered on “an individualized, case-by-case consideration of convenience and fairness.” Jones v. GNC Franchising, Inc., 211 F.3d 495, 498 (9th Cir.2000) (internal quotation marks omitted). “The statute has two requirements on its face: (1) that the district to which defendants seek to have the action transferred is one in which the action might have been brought, and (2) that the transfer be for the convenience of parties and witnesses, and in the interest of justice.” Amazon, 404 F.Supp.2d at 1259 (citation and quotation marks omitted). The burden of proof is on the moving party. Amini Innovation Corp. v. JS Imports, Inc., 497 F.Supp.2d 1093, 1109 (C.D.Cal.2007).

Further, “[a] motion to transfer venue under § 1404(a) requires the court to weigh multiple factors in its determination whether transfer is appropriate in a particular case.” Jones, 211 F.3d at 498. “For example, the court may consider: (1) the location where the relevant agreements were negotiated and executed, (2) the state that is most familiar with the governing law, (3) the plaintiffs choice of forum, (4) the respective parties’ contacts with the forum, (5) the contacts relating to the plaintiffs cause of action in the chosen forum, (6) the differences in the costs of [1112]*1112litigation in the two forums, (7) the availability of compulsory process to compel attendance of unwilling non-party witnesses, and (8) the ease of access to sources of proof.” Id. at 498-99.

B. Analysis

The parties do not dispute that this case could have been filed in a federal district court in Cincinnati. Because P & G Defendants reside in Cincinnati, Ohio, venue would be proper there. See 28 U.S.C.

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903 F. Supp. 2d 1106, 2012 WL 4891707, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 147118, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/operation-heroes-ltd-v-procter-gamble-productions-inc-nvd-2012.