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Michael Sheen and Channel 4 are embroiled in a row after being accused of ripping parts of their sequence Michael Sheen’s Secret Million Pound Giveaway from a earlier concept pitched to Sheen.
In accordance with The Guardian, which broke the information, legal professionals for producers Daniel Edelstyn and Hilary Powell have written to Sheen and the makers of his present elevating the similarities it bears with their 2021 mission Financial institution Job.
Channel 4 mentioned it’s “ludicrous to counsel that one present is a duplicate of the opposite,” whereas Sheen’s spokesperson advised The Guardian the actor bought the thought after watching John Oliver shopping for up medical invoice debt within the U.S. practically a decade in the past.
Produced by Full Fats TV, Michael Sheen’s Secret Million Pound Giveaway sees the Good Omens star use £100,000 ($130,000) of his personal cash to purchase £1M of debt in his hometown of Port Talbot, which was then written off. The present aired a number of weeks again to sturdy critiques and an viewers of a couple of million viewers.
Edelstyn and Powell, who run Financial institution Job producer Optimistic Productions, used debt specialists of their present to establish £1M price of high-interest debt owed by individuals who lived in East London. This mission launched independently in 2021 as a function and was Grierson nominated.
In accordance with The Guardian, Edelsteyn and Powell’s legal professionals declare the pair had been involved with Sheen and had correspondence with him about Financial institution Job previous to Secret Million Pound Giveaway being commissioned. They are saying they pitched their present unsuccessfully to 3 Channel 4 commissioners. Channel 4 declare the commissioner of Secret Million Pound Giveaway had no consciousness of Financial institution Job.
Sheen mentioned the thought got here from U.S.-based discuss present host Oliver. “Michael has lengthy campaigned about debt inequality, which is why Full Fats TV got here to him with their bold proposal,” added his spokesperson. “They requested Michael to creator a campaigning movie to drive change within the debt and credit score shopping for trade and to spend £100k of his personal cash to write down off debt of individuals in his area people.”
A Channel 4 spokesman mentioned: “These two programmes are considerably totally different and it’s ludicrous to counsel that one is a copy of the opposite. Shopping for and writing off debt is a longtime apply which has been coated within the media on a number of events and the commissioner who greenlit and labored on Michael Sheen’s Million Pound giveaway had no consciousness of Financial institution Job.”
A Full Fats TV spokesperson advised The Guardian the corporate “independently developed and pitched Michael Sheen’s Secret Million Pound Giveaway to Channel 4.” “It’s a disgrace that an necessary message concerning the unfairness of the credit score system on this nation, which Michael spent £100,000 of his personal cash to spotlight, dangers being misplaced because of these unfounded claims,” they added.
This isn’t the primary time Channel 4 has been caught up in a plagiarism row. In 2021, codecs creator Tim Shaw claimed Channel 4’s The Biggest Snowman present was much like an concept he had pitched to the community two years prior.
Sheen, Full Fats and Optimistic Productions have been approached for additional remark.
