Cited: New York Times

Christian Siriano, Season 4 winner of Project Runway to the buzzwords that emerged from the fashion industry, “fierce”. However, this season the operative word maybe “bummer”. It seems that the cable TV show has no parent network even though the sixth season is in production. The reason, the lawsuits between NBC Universal and Weinstein Co. are still raging.

Although Season 6 won’t be broadcast for months, if ever, the producers filmed an awkward finale at Fashion Week in New York, in a tented room filled with barely hushed uncertainty about the show’s future.

“We are all in a bit of a limbo,” the show’s host, model Heidi Klum, told the roughly 1,000 audience members, “and we hope that everything is sorted out very soon.”

The Runway finales are normally a highlight of Fashion Week, which is held at Bryant Park in Manhattan twice a year. But the lawsuits cast a pall over the competition.

“For the contestants, it’s kind of horrible,” Siriano said before the show.

In previous seasons, the first episodes of Runway had been broadcast by the time the three finalists presented at Fashion Week, enabling the audience at Bryant Park to root for their favorite contestants and handicap the results of the final competition.

But recently, the Runway producers went to great lengths to conceal the identities of the finalists, lest future viewers feel that the show is spoiled by leaks. The finalists weren’t allowed to walk onstage and present their fashion collections publicly; instead, the collections were shown anonymously.

“I’m a little bit sad for our designers, that they don’t get that recognition today,” Klum said. The introductions of the finalists were taped in advance.

In addition, all 16 contestants were expected to be backstage, making it more difficult for models or makeup artists to spot the finalists. Unlike in past years, reporters were prohibited from going into the area.

“I feel really bad” for the contestants, one audience member said as the lights were dimmed. “What a bummer,” a woman seated in the first row added.

Jane Cha, an executive producer, said that the sixth season — the first to be filmed in Los Angeles, after five seasons in New York — was mostly unaffected by the legal dispute, save for the finale. In a telephone interview, she said that the finalists were more worried about “the nuts and bolts of the collection” than about the lawsuits.

The producers finished filming the Los Angeles portion of the competition in October. “We’ll hold it in the can until all this gets sorted out,” Cha said.

She added that it was frustrating, but that “I think we’ve all kind of accepted the situation.”

The legal wrangling started last April when, after five seasons on NBC Universal’s Bravo channel, the producers at the Weinstein Co. sold the rights to the series to another cable channel, Lifetime. That sale prompted a breach-of-contract suit by NBC and a countersuit by the Weinstein Co.

Almost six months ago, a New York state judge issued an injunction that prevented Lifetime from promoting or broadcasting Runway for the time being; Lifetime will appeal that decision in court on March 19. The two companies are awaiting a trial date.

Neither company would comment on the pending suits. In a statement, Lifetime said it continues “to look forward to this entire matter being resolved expeditiously” and that it remains hopeful that the show will appear on Lifetime.

Speaking to the crowd, Tim Gunn, a designer who coaches the contestants on Project Runway, said he wished that he could introduce the finalists: “We have a smashing, sensational season for you. We can’t wait for you to see it.”

Nina Garcia, one of the Runway judges, said in an interview that she was “very hopeful” that the program would eventually be shown.

“The show is about supporting young designers,” she said. “It’s about supporting the business of fashion. It’s not a reality show for the sake of having a reality show.” And amid a gloomy economic backdrop, she added, Runway is “very needed right now in the industry.”

Runway, which in 2007 became the first reality show to win a Peabody Award, has in previous years been the top-rated show on Bravo.

Siriano, for one, sounded confident that viewers wanted Runway to return. “The audience is still out there,” he said.

The next season is usually started by the producers after Fashion Week. However, they have put production on hold. As contestants return to their normal lives, under a strict confidentiality contract that bars them from talking about the show, life goes on.

—————————————–

My Take: I am a little bit confused about this lawsuit. It was sold during production to a different network. Does that not mean that the original network has rights to that particular production? Or did the sale include that particular production? I guess we’ll find out the court makes its decision. I feel sorry for the contestants having to go through all that lesson bother and then have nothing happen.

What gets me is the frustrations of these models go through to become a top model. They starve themselves to make themselves so skinny naked compete with a toothpick and then the stress makes them nervous wrecks. I am sure that more than one of them has contacted the divorce lawyer because they cannot handle the family stress on top of work.

Most models do not have kids so they do not have to go through a visitation lawyer to see them or to arrange for their father to see them. Having kids makes them bodies get fat and their bodies get out of shape and they can’t have that in the fashion industry.

————————————————–

Other Resources

Legal Dedication

Clients appreciate the ability to deliver highly sophisticated legal advice, documentation and litigation services in a prompt and economical manner. One TX criminal defense law firm maintains direct communication with their clients without delegation for confusion. These Austin personal injury lawyers offer a comprehensive suite of legal services to companies and individuals backed by their solid core of outstanding litigators.

Reporters Can Do It

With in-house color copying of exhibits to document imaging to video editing to synchronizing video and text to software recommendations and training, litigation support services CA is ready to do it for you. This LA court reporting service serves of legal community in Southern California and has done so for over 25 years. They provide court reporting, litigation support, trial reporting, arbitration, audio/video and disposition services in Los Angeles.

5 Responses to “Project Runway Still on Hold”