What do major timeshare mogul, David Siegel, and independent film festival Sundance have in common? One massive lawsuit, that’s what.
Reuters reports that David Siegel, owner of Westgate Resorts, has filed a $75,000 lawsuit against filmmaker Lauren Greenfield and against Sundance Film Festival for defamation of character over a film (enttiled the “Queen of Versailles”) depicting Siegel’s timeshare business as faltering.
Promoted as a “rags-to-riches-to-rags” story that centers on the “innate virtues and flaws of the American Dream,” the film depicts a filmmaker’s proposal (in 2007) to document his construction of Siegel’s opulent 90,000-square-foot mansion (what was to be the nation’s largest family home) that today remains unfinished and up for sale (going for a clean $75 million) in 2010.
“I don’t know anyone in the last three years that didn’t suffer (economically), but they are certainly far from being in rags and the company collapsing,” Siegel’s lawyer Michael Marder told Reuters.
Got a Park City timeshare? You’re in luck! The premiere will take place in Park City, Utah on January 19 at the opening of Sundance Film Festival 2012.
The plans included a roller rink, 20 car garage, two-lane bowling alley, arcade, children’s theater, and a grand hall the size of three average homes… just another reason you should consider buying your timeshare resale!
Source: Reuters via Yahoo! News
