‘Obsession’ Executive Producer Sues Tea Shop Productions Over Allegedly Unpaid Profit Share From Horror Hit
- Horror Movies Uncut
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
An executive producer behind the breakout horror film Obsession has filed a lawsuit against Tea Shop Productions and producers James Harris and Mark Lane, alleging she was denied a promised share of the film’s profits despite playing a significant role in getting the project completed and released.
According to Deadline, Leonora Ann Darby filed a 135-page breach of contract complaint Aug. 28 in Los Angeles Superior Court. The lawsuit alleges a seven-year pattern of unequal treatment, broken compensation agreements and a lack of financial transparency during Darby’s time working with Tea Shop.
The claims have not been adjudicated, and Tea Shop had not responded to Deadline’s request for comment at the time of its report.
Darby alleges Harris and Lane recruited her to the company in 2019 with an understanding that she would operate as an equal producer, including with respect to compensation, company decisions, financial transparency and business opportunities.
According to the complaint, Harris and Lane later agreed in 2024 that Darby would receive one-third of the net profits due to Tea Shop on films she served as lead producer, along with direct participation in the applicable collection account management agreements.
Darby claims those promises were not honored.
The lawsuit states that between 2019 and 2026, Darby advanced from a development and production executive to one of Tea Shop’s three producers. Her responsibilities allegedly included developing projects, attaching filmmakers, assembling financing, overseeing productions through delivery, supervising post-production and addressing legal and quality-control issues.
At the center of the dispute is Obsession, the Curry Barker-written and directed horror film starring Inde Navarrette and Michael Johnston.
Darby alleges she played a substantial role in rescuing the production after the project encountered creative and post-production problems. The complaint also credits her with helping return Barker to the director’s position and preparing the film for a sale to Focus Features at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival.
Focus acquired the film in a reported $16.2 million deal before releasing it wide May 15, 2026. According to the figures cited in Deadline’s report, Obsession went on to earn nearly $510 million worldwide against a production budget of less than $800,000, making the dispute over backend participation potentially significant.
Darby alleges that despite the film’s financial success, Tea Shop and its producers excluded her from the overall net profits beyond a single additional payment of $300,000.
The complaint further alleges that Darby was treated as a subordinate despite earlier promises that she would operate as an equal producer. It also contains allegations of demeaning and gender-based treatment by Harris and Lane and claims Darby was subsequently marginalized publicly and in media coverage surrounding the film.
The lawsuit contains 10 claims and seeks unspecified damages and wages as well as a jury trial.
Darby is also seeking an accounting covering Obsession and several other projects she alleges could fall under the compensation agreements at issue. Those films include A Banquet, Bull, The Wasp, The Cut, Into the Deep, Tornado and The Surfer, along with any additional projects identified through company records as being subject to the agreements.
Darby is suing Tea Shop Productions and related business entities, as well as Harris and Lane individually.
Neither Focus Features nor fellow Obsession executive producer Jason Blum is named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
The case arrives several months after Obsession emerged as a major commercial success for independent horror, but Darby’s allegations now place the financial arrangements behind that success under legal scrutiny. Tea Shop had not publicly responded to the allegations as of Deadline’s report.
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