FOUR PT. ENTERTAINMENT, INC. v. New World Entertainment, Ltd.

Don Jose’s Restaurant, Inc. v. Truck Ins. Exchange (1997) 53 Cal.App.4th 115 [ 61 Cal.Rptr.2d 370 ] and Jackson v. Wells Fargo Bank (1997) 54 Cal.App.4th 240 [ 62 Cal.Rptr.2d 679 ] condemned thinly veiled efforts to confer appellate jurisdiction where none existed and refused to consider appeals from stipulated judgments that were “final” in name only. On substantively indistinguishable facts, the parties to this appeal apparently assume we will condone that which our colleagues in the First and Fourth Districts have condemned. They are mistaken.

Background

In 1994, New World Entertainment, Ltd. retained Four Point Entertainment, Inc., as executive producer of “The Mark Walberg Show.” The contract included a “pay or play” provision that gave New World the right not to use Four Point as executive producer provided that New World continued to pay Four Point’s fee. (See Trans-World Intern. v. Smith-Hemion Productions (C.D.Cal. 1997) 972 F.Supp. 1275, 1281 .) When New World elected to pay Four Point rather than use its services, Four Point sued New World for breach of contract and various tort causes of action. New World answered and moved for summary judgment or, in the…