[ad_1]
If the team behind monty python The franchise received $1 for every time a college student cited their work, so it’s probably been financially stable for generations. But one of its founding members says it will take more than that to turn a profit in an era of falling streaming and royalty rates, lawsuits and allegations of mismanagement by its co-founders.
Eric Idle, 1/6 monty python A comedy troupe that has produced films such as: Holy Grail and brian’s lifetook X series of posts It’s to denounce the perception that he’s still a wealthy man, 55 years after his group first formed.
Python isn’t paying the bills
“I don’t know why people always think we’re loaded. python It’s a disaster. spamalot Earned it 20 years ago. I have to work for a living. It’s not easy at this age,” the idol said.
spamalot—A musical inspired by the Pythons Holy Grail The film, written by Idol, was a huge commercial success when it was first released in 2004. The first tour grossed her $175 million with 1,500 performances.
The wider Python franchise is revered as British media royalty.
Idols also perform always look on the bright side of lifesong from. brian’s lifeat the closing ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics.
Much of the series’ popularity predates the new era of low-margin streaming, so one would expect all members to be prepared for a lifetime.
Idol and his fellow Pythons each receive about 5.7% of profits from TV shows and movies, while they share 50% of profits from spinoffs, including Spamalot, according to an analysis by entertainment lawyer Ezra Donner. .
But that doesn’t seem to have been enough to ease Mr. Idle’s financial woes, as he continues to work into his 80s, despite controlling some of the Python catalog’s earnings.
“We own everything we’ve ever made in Python, but we never imagined that at this age our income stream would be cut off in such a devastating way,” he says. Told.
Revenues from royalties and residuals have dried up across the television and film industries since the rise of streaming, as fewer people watch shows on traditional networks and people buy fewer DVDs, Blu-rays, and CDs. There is.
While Idle accused platforms like Spotify and YouTube of making copyright worthless, he also briefly mentioned the idea of a Netflix documentary about the Pythons.
“Netflix and documentaries are shit,” Idol said.
Idol pretends to be a co-star’s daughter
Idols—Who are there? brian’s life He played a street vendor who required customers to haggle before selling. His management problems were also suggested to be the cause of his current feud, with him blaming fellow Python Terry Gilliam and his family.
“I don’t think we should be too surprised if they appoint Gilliam’s child as a manager. One Gilliam is bad enough. Two could bring down any company.”
Gilliam’s daughter Holly, a film and television lawyer, became Python’s manager, and in 2014 the five surviving members reunited for 10 sold-out shows at London’s O2 Arena.
Holly Gilliam’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Idol’s daughter Lily answered I told her father in X. “I am so proud of her father for finally starting to share the truth.
“He has always stood up to bullies and narcissists and absolutely deserves reassurance and recognition for his actions.”
It is well documented that the Python family has had financial troubles throughout its history.
They even had to turn to the late Beatle George Harrison for funding brian’s life After the group failed to raise funds.
The troupe joked that their 2014 reunion was designed to pay off member Terry Jones’ mortgage and John Cleese’s divorce.
The idols and their co-stars lost a lawsuit against self-proclaimed “Seventh Python” Mark Forstater in 2013, arguing they were entitled to a larger share of the profits. spamalot Under a “spin-off” agreement.
Idol complained that the lawsuit had hurt the group’s finances.
However, Idle says it’s unlikely that Python content will be brought back to pay off the current debt, but instead encourage people to participate. spamalotis back on Broadway.
“I’m not playing Python anymore. I’ve given it to you, you ungrateful bastards,” he said.
This article originally appeared on Fortune.com
[ad_2]
Source link
