‘Gangs of London’ Producers Lose Motion Over $20 Million Pulse Films Claim

The founders of “Gangs of London” producer Pulse Films claim they are owed more than $20 million over the sale of the studio to Vice Media in 2021.

Thomas Benski and Marisa Clifford, who founded Pulse Films in 2005, allege Vice still owes them $20.43 million after acquiring their 22% stake in the company for $53.24 million.

At the time of the acquisition, which brought Vice’s shareholding to 100%, the duo received $10 million in cash as well as a secured loan note for the remaining $43.24 million. Vice paid the initial instalements but in Sept. 2022 missed a payment of $5 million as well as subsequent payments, leaving a debt of just over $20 million.

Under the terms of the secured loan note, Benski and Clifford were entitled to force a sale of Pulse in order to reclaim the money. However they claim Vice misled them into waiving their rights after fraudulently promising the parent company was solvent and about to be sold for a significant sum, which would enabled their debt to be repaid.

The “true state of affairs,” they claim, was that Vice was “financially distressed” and “no genuine sale process capable of generating full repayment was underway.” Vice media filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy the following year.

Benski and Clifford have not yet filed suit but earlier this month their motion for pre-action discovery, filed against Pulse Films, was denied by a judge in London’s High Court, who said the request for discovery before a lawsuit was even filed placed a “disproportionately heavy burden” on the company. Pulse Films said complying with the request would have cost more than £440,000 and involved reviewing over 264,000 documents.

The judge said in his decision that while “it is not obvious to me that there is concrete evidence of dishonesty” this was effectively a question for a court to decide once a lawsuit has been filed.

Variety has contacted reps for Benski, Clifford, Pulse Films and Vice.