Writers Guild of Am. West Inc. v. Myriad Pictures, Inc. , 708 F. App'x 458 ( 2018 )

FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION
JAN 05 2018
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA, No. 16-55332
WEST, INC.,
D.C. No.
Plaintiff-Appellant, 2:14-cv-05828-RSWL-AJW
and
MEMORANDUM*
MARK DISTEFANO and GUINEVERE
TURNER,
Plaintiffs,
v.
BTG PRODUCTIONS, LLC,
Defendant,
v.
MYRIAD PICTURES, INC.,
Third-party-defendant-
Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Central District of California
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
Ronald S.W. Lew, District Judge, Presiding
Submitted November 9, 2017**
Pasadena, California
Before: REINHARDT and WARDLAW, Circuit Judges, and DANIEL,*** District
Judge.
Writers Guild of America, West, Inc. (“Writers Guild”) appeals the district
court's order denying its motion to amend a judgment against BTG Productions
LLC (“BTG”). Writers Guild sought to add Myriad Pictures (“Myriad”) as a
judgment debtor on the grounds that Myriad was the alter ego of BTG. We have
jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and
remand to the district court.
1. The dispute involves a collective bargaining agreement. Accordingly,
the federal rather than the state test for determining alter ego applies. We remand
for the application by the district court of the federal test in United Ass’n of
Journeymen & Apprentices Local 343 v. Nor-Cal Plumbing, Inc., 48 F.3d 1465,
1470-71, 1473 (9th Cir. 1995). The record before us indicates that Myriad Pictures
is the alter ego of BTG Productions LLC and was a controlling party in the
**
The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
***
The Honorable Wiley Y. Daniel, United States District Judge for the
U.S. District Court for Colorado, sitting by designation.
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litigation. To the extent that the district court may determine that an evidentiary
hearing is required to resolve that question finally, it may conduct one.
2. The district court did not err in finding that Writers Guild of America,
West, Inc.’s motion to amend the judgment eight months after the order was
timely. See Cigna Property & Cas. Ins. Co. v. Polaris Pictures Corp., 159 F.3d
412, 421 (9th Cir. 1998) (holding that the district court did not abuse its discretion
by granting a motion to amend the judgment seven and a half months after the
order).
AFFIRMED in part, REVERSED in part and REMANDED.
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