Tina Fey didn’t pay me anything for a blockbuster franchise

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Tina Fey didn’t pay me anything for a blockbuster franchise

Writer Rosalind Wiseman watched Mean Girls become a global cultural phenomenon.

She should be delighted to see her book Queen Bees and Wannabes turned into a blockbuster movie, then a Broadway musical – and now The musical Is about to be turned into a movie as well.

But while writer-producer Tina Fey and Paramount Pictures made millions from The franchise, Wiseman earned just over $400,000 after signing a deal to sell her film rights In 2002 and hasn’t made a cent since.

She now speaks out against The real Mean Girls culture and The “painful experience” that stopped her from getting her alleged royalties – revealing that Paramount even told her The studio didn’t make any profits from The franchise.

Her lawyers are preparing to take action, and she told The Post exclusively, “We’ve reached out to Paramount to make things fairer, but Paramount isn’t interested In that.”

Writer Rosalind Wiseman Is poised to take legal action after Not being paid a penny for The musical or The new Mean Girls movie.

Tina Fey at The Broadway premiere of Mean Girls.

It took a long time for The 54-year-old Wiseman to return The blow. “I’ve been silent about this for so long, so very quietly, but I just feel like The hypocrisy Is too much,” she said.

“I think it’s fair that I can get some compensation for work that Has changed our culture and The spirit of The times.

“Over The years, Tina Has spoken so eloquently about women supporting other women, but it Has become increasingly clear to me that In my personal experience, this will Not be The case. You don’t just talk about supporting women, you really do it.”

Rosalind Wiseman and son Elijah Edwards welcome Tina Fey to The 2018 premiere of Mean Girls. She was so nervous about The lavish after-party that she left early.

Wiseman met Fey, Saturday Night Live’s First head writer, In 2002 after The comedy star signed a development deal With Paramount.

Fey asked to purchase The film rights to “Queen Bee,” Which Is a parental guide to navigating The rocky world of teenage girls and their friendships, after reading Wiseman’s New York Times Magazine cover story.

“When I went to meet Tina and Lorne Michaels [‘SNL’ boss and ‘Mean Girls’ producer] many years ago it was a “we do it together” experience, said Wiseman, who chose Fey over many other film proposals.

Rosalind Wiseman says she Is most upset that Tina Fey did Not support her as a fellow writer.

Fey turned The book into a blockbuster starring movie Lindsay Lohan, Amanda Seyfried, Rachel McAdams and Lacey Chabert also play The role themselves. Wiseman consulted on The film.

Released on April 30, 2004, Mean Girls was a surprise hit, grossing $130 million worldwide. It had a budget of $17 million, Which was then doubled to account for marketing and PR costs.

“We created it, Tina took my word for it, she did an amazing job With it,” said Wiseman. “She brought it to Life and The material Has been used and recycled for The last 20 years.

Lindsay Lohan, Amanda Seyfried, Lacey Chabert and Rachel McAdams as The original Mean Girls.

“I am clearly recognized and credited by Tina as a source material, an inspiration. I’m recognizable and yet I don’t deserve anything?

Wiseman added, “For me, having and Not having a writer was Not only difficult for The money, but also painful, very painful.

“That’s really what my work was about, especially Mean Girls. Women don’t Have to be best friends – we can get angry at each other, but when it comes down to it, we really need to support each other.” Referring to Fey, she said, “It was especially hard for a writer to write.”

Tina Fey and Lindsay Lohan In Mean Girls.

Upon signing her original contract, Wiseman relinquished all rights to The original films and derivative works, including musicals and television projects, forever—although she said No other projects were discussed at The time.

“Just because you can doesn’t make it right,” she said. “Yeah, I had a terrible contract, terrible, but The movie made so much money and They recycle my work over and over again, so They don’t even consider me…”

To make things More irritating, Wiseman claimed Paramount claims They didn’t make any money from The franchise.

Her original deal was for net profit points — that Is, extra cash based on how well The film did at The box office.

However, The studio constantly tells her that They didn’t make any net profits from “Mean Girls” and In fact incurred so many additional costs that there’s nothing left to share With her. Wiseman’s lawyers now want to inspect Paramount’s books.

Wiseman’s lawyer, Ryan Keech, told The Post: “I suspect most people would be shocked at how miserably Rosalind Wiseman was treated. And actually yes. It Is disgraceful that Paramount’s resource company goes to great lengths to deny Ms. Wiseman what she Is entitled to for creating what Has become one of The most iconic entertainment franchises In The last 25 years.”

The Post contacted Fey and Paramount for comment.

Speaking from her home In Boulder, Colorado, Wiseman, a mother of two adult sons, told The Post that she was contacted by a theater producer decades ago about filming a Mean Girls musical. Her agent contacted Fey and Paramount asking if she could go on, but was told No.

Lindsay Lohan, Amanda Seyfried, Lacey Chabert and Rachel McAdams Have all been In talks to appear In The new Mean Girls movie but Have received a “disrespectful” offer.

Wiseman claimed Paramount instead used The agent’s request to stop her from paying for The musical, claiming it meant she was aware she had No ownership rights.

“The hard thing Is that They used my name on The playbill,” Wiseman said. “And Tina In her interviews said I was an inspiration and a source, but there was No payoff.”

However, she worked With Fey to create an educational program for high school students who did their own productions of The musical and worked With The cast and crew – for Which she was never paid, Wiseman said.

Tina Fey wrote and produced Mean Girls and played Mrs. Norbury, a role she will reprise In The new film.

“When The musical was coming out, I approached Tina and said it was an amazing opportunity to talk about bullying to help parents talk to their kids. She agreed and I did a workshop With The cast and crew on bullying because They were going to be inundated With kids telling them their stories.

“I gave Tina so much feedback because I knew high schools would be using Mean Girls In their school musicals and I thought we were working on that educational program.”

You don’t just talk about supporting women, you actually do it.

Rosalind Wiseman

Wiseman last saw Fey, 52, on April 8, 2018 – The night of its Broadway opening night, With guests including Jerry and Jessica Seinfeld, Jimmy Fallon, Ellie Kemper, Titus Burgess and Alec and Hilaria Baldwin.

Party was held at TAO downtown With Kalbi sirloin paste and Peking duck, baked cod and spring rolls, and for dessert brownies packed as Queen Bee George’s favorite Kälteen bars.

Rosalind Wiseman and her son Elijah Edwards at The premiere of The musical Mean Girls.

But that was The straw that broke The goblet for Wiseman, who said: “There was a moment for me, I was at this amazing event and I think how much money this event must Have cost, probably More than I was paid.

“There were a lot of Paramount executives who had No idea who I was, and I just walk around and think, ‘Wow, wow.’ I had to leave.

“I realized that night that nothing was going to happen With The education program and that made me very angry. Then I contacted my lawyers and They pushed Paramount and said, “How can you do this to her?”

The writer claimed, “They never compensated me for The work I did, They never compensated me for The training I did for The cast and crew.”

How Page six revealedfour of The original Mean Girls stars Have been talking about appearing In The new film, but They were upset by Paramount’s “disrespectful” cash offer.

McAdams — who played Regina George — was set to play “cool mom” June George, originally played by Amy Poehler. The role was now done by Busy Philippswhile other actresses reportedly wanted cameo appearances.

Asked about The film at The SAG Awards last month, Seyfried admitted: “I’m still hoping for a miracle. It’s Not up to us, Is it?

Wiseman said, “When I read about The supporting actresses, I really thought ‘that’s what this movie Is about. They knew They were stronger together than apart.”

Wiseman, whose latest book, Brave Discomfort: How to Have Important, Bold, Life-changing Conversations About Race and Racism, was released In October, only heard about The new film In The press a few months ago. Fey, who produces, writes and stars In The project, Has Not contacted her.

“For many reasons, I didn’t report for a while and one of The reasons all these years was because I was so focused on myself that I didn’t whine or try to destroy Tina,” she said. “It’s just Not who I am and it’s almost disrespectful to The content of what we’ve been doing. I just felt trapped.

“But I also believe very strongly that when you Have power and privilege, you Have a duty to share it to create equality.”

Tina Fey didn’t pay me anything for a blockbuster franchise

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