Community Corner
Ashton Kutcher's Television Company Settles Lawsuit Against the DMV
In January a judge ruled that the state reneged on an agreement with Kutcher's company to film a reality show at various DMV locations including Culver City.
Ashton Kutcher's television company and the state of California have settled a lawsuit in which the actor alleged the state reneged on an agreement to provide access to Department of Motor Vehicle offices for a reality show centered on the agency.
A notice of settlement was filed with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Johnson on Friday, but the terms were not divulged.
The company, Katalyst Media, alleged breach-of-contract and promissory estoppel, which prevents one side from breaking a promise if the other party has reasonably relied on it.
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A second company working with Katalyst Media, Soda and Pop Inc., also sued the state and settled.
Katalyst Media and Soda and Pop maintained that the DMV broke a May 2011 agreement to allow the firms access to its field offices to produce a half-hour reality show giving insight to the agency's daily activities. The suit was filed last June.
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The state maintained the agreement lacked essential terms because it did not indicate when filming would begin and which field offices would be featured. But Kutcher's lawyers claimed that the DMV later agreed to the specifics.
The state's lawyers also maintained the companies did not obtain a film permit to produce the programs, but the plaintiffs' lawyers asserted their clients complied with all necessary conditions.
Lawyers for the two companies said the agreement with the state allowed their clients access to all but the downtown Los Angeles, Compton and Inglewood field offices. The locations in Montebello, Van Nuys, Santa Monica, Torrance and Culver City were to be featured first, the plaintiffs' lawyers maintained.
A deputy attorney general wrote to the companies in December 2011, saying "the proposed project does not directly serve the public interest or carry out DMV's mission,'' the plaintiffs' lawyers stated in their court papers.
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