History UsefulNotes / HollywoodAccounting

* The creator of ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'' has been known to link YouTube channels with the entire series of [[WesternAnimation/{{Dilbert}} the animated series]], stating he never made any money off the show thanks to Hollywood Accounting and as such you shouldn't feel bad about watching it for free.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Film - Live Action]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Film]]

* The cast and producers of the film ''Film/MyBigFatGreekWedding'' (with the exception of lead actress Nia Vardalos) ended up going to court to sue Playtone Pictures, Creator/{{HBO}} and Gold Circle Films for unpaid profits. The studios claimed the film lost $20 million, despite being one of the highest-grossing independent films of all time (and a record-holder for highest-grossing independent for several years).

* One episode of ''Series/TheDickVanDykeShow'' revolves around this. Buddy and Sally get Rob to ask for a raise of their behalf. Alan Brady's accountant says that this isn't possible, but that it is possible to give Rob a raise. He ends up bewildering Rob with an explanation for this that basically amounts to telling him that Alan owns many, many companies beyond just being the star of ''The Alan Brady Show'', and that Rob is officially employed by a successful company while Buddy and Sally are employed by an unsuccessful company (note that Rob has never even ''heard'' of either company). [[spoiler:The issue is resolved by firing Buddy and Sally and then immediately then rehiring them with another company ("They had the money, the just didn't know what ''pocket'' it was in!")]]

[[folder: LiveActionTV]]

* One episode of ''Series/TheDIckVanDykeShow'' revolves around this. Buddy and Sally get Rob to ask for a raise of their behalf. Alan Brady's accountant says that this isn't possible, but that it is possible to give Rob a raise. He ends up bewildering Rob with an explanation for this that basically amounts to telling him that Alan owns many, many companies beyond just being the star of ''The Alan Brady Show'', and that Rob is officially employed by a successful company while Buddy and Sally are employed by an unsuccessful company (note that Rob has never even ''heard'' of either company). [[spoiler:The issue is resolved by firing Buddy and Sally and then immediately then rehiring them with another company ("They had the money, the just didn't know what ''pocket'' it was in!")]]

* Around the time of the release of ''Film/MenInBlackInternational'', the writer of [[Film/MenInBlack the original film]] Ed Solomon [[https://twitter.com/ed_solomon/status/1139031900931198976 tweeted]] that according to the latest profit statement he got, the latter movie was still in the red, prompting him to sarcastically claim the studio had to be DoingIfForTheArt if they just released the ''fourth'' installment on a clearly unprofitable series, and calling the profit statement "better science fiction than the film itself". Considering how ''International'' legitimately bombed, it's safe to assume Solomon got the last laugh.

* During Wrestling/ChrisJericho's time in Wrestling/{{WCW}}, wrestlers got a royalty for merchandise with their likenesses. He discovered the hard way that he was being cheated when a relative bought a Chris Jericho action figure from a big retailer and it rang up as a Wrestling/KevinNash action figure instead, which gave Nash the royalty. Nash himself claims he never received any royalty or merch checks from WCW, as they weren't included in his contract. WCW was infamous for this kind of thing, to the point that all of their legal issues[[note]]Which Wrestling/VinceMcMahon didn't inherit because he didn't actually buy the company, just the rights to the video catalog and all of [=WCW's=] intellectual properties, along with about 2 dozen wrestler contracts[[/note]] weren't cleaned up until '''2017''', even though the last WCW show took place in March of 2001.

-->-- '''John D. [=MacDonald=]''', ''Free Fall in Crimson''

* Around the time of the release of ''Film/MenInBlackInternational'', the writer of [[Film/MenInBlack the original film]] Ed Solomon [[https://twitter.com/ed_solomon/status/1139031900931198976 tweeted]] that according to the latest profit statement he got, the latter movie was still in the red, prompting him to sarcastically claim the studio had just released the ''fourth'' installment on a clearly unprofitable series and calling the profit statement "better science fiction than the film itself". Considering how ''International'' legitimately bombed, it's safe to assume Solomon got the last laugh.

* Around the time of the release of ''Film/MenInBlackInternational'', the writer of [[Film/MenInBlack the original film]] Ed Solomon [[https://twitter.com/ed_solomon/status/1139031900931198976 tweeted]] that according to the latest profit statement he got, the latter movie was still in the red, prompting him to sarcastically claim the studio was clearly DoingItForTheArt since they had just released the ''fourth'' installment on a clearly unprofitable series and calling the profit statement "better science fiction than the film itself". Considering how ''International'' legitimately bombed, it's safe to assume Solomon got the last laugh.

* Creator/JMichaelStraczynski got screwed out of his cut of the profits from ''Series/BabylonFive''. Fortunately, he was DoingItForTheArt anyway.

* In ''ComicBook/AstroCity'', comics publisher Manny Monkton gets a visit from costumed hero Crackerjack, who compains about not receiving royalties for his licensed comic book. Monkton fobs him off with lowballed sales figures.

* During Wrestling/ChrisJericho's time in Wrestling/{{WCW}}, wrestlers got a royalty for merchandise with their likenesses. He discovered the hard way that he was being cheated when a relative bought a Chris Jericho action figure from a big retailer and it rang up as a Wrestling/KevinNash action figure instead, which gave Nash the royalty.

* Creator/HBOMax and Creator/{{Netflix}} pulled ''Series/ChappellesShow'' after Creator/DaveChappelle complained ''even in one of his Netflix specials'' that Creator/ComedyCentral gave him ''nothing'' from syndication deals. He went so far as to encourage a ''boycott of his own show'' until Comedy Central's parent company [[Creator/ViacomCBS ViacomCBS]] finally reached a settlement with Chappelle in February 2021, at which time both services, ''plus'' [[Creator/ViacomCBS ViacomCBS]]'s services, Paramount+ and the ad-supported Pluto TV, all added/re-added the show.

* Creator/LyndaCarter has mentioned this in regards to her time on ''Series/WonderWoman''. Alongside not getting any money from reruns (which isn't exactly rare; back before people saw the financial potential of syndication, no one really thought to add a clause regarding royalties from reruns in their contracts,) she also saw nothing from merchandising. She specifically recalls them making a likeness of her face and created a run of Wonder Woman dolls. After the first run, they took her name off of it, marketed later runs as a generic Wonder Woman doll, and she never saw any profit from it.

[[Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} That Other Wiki]] has [[WeAreNotAloneIndex a more in-depth article]] on the subject [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_accounting found here]].

* The territory days of professional wrestling were rife with this trope when deciding what to pay wrestlers andother talent. Wrestling/JimCornette once described it as "After they run it through the separator and make the donation to the FIA[[note]]Fuck them In the Ass, "them" being the boys, the wrestlers[[/note]] fund they'd pay the boys."

* The territory days of professional wrestling were rife with this trope when deciding what to pay wrestlers andother talent. Wresting/JimCornette once described it as "After they run it through the separator and make the donation to the FIA[[note]]Fuck them In the Ass, "them" being the boys, the wrestlers[[/note]] fund they'd pay the boys."

* The SOPA issue was also parodied in WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee where a producer claims his writers aren't getting any money thanks to piracy...despite the fact that he keeps them chained in closet-offices and admits to having multiple houses himself. The BigBad is actually a studio head who prefers big-money-making cheap schlock to actually putting effort into films at the risk of them not making a return, undermining things more for that side.

* Creator/HBOMax and Creator/{{Netflix}} pulled ''Series/ChappellesShow'' after Creator/DaveChappelle complained ''even in one of his Netflix specials'' that Creator/ComedyCentral gave him ''nothing'' from syndication deals. He went so far as to encourage a ''boycott of his own show'' until Comedy Central's parent company [[Creator/ViacomCBS]] finally reached a settlement with Chappelle in February 2021, at which time both services, ''plus'' [[Creator/ViacomCBS]]'s services, Paramount+ and the ad-supported Pluto TV, all added/re-added the show.