Good day and welcome to WSJ Pro Bankruptcy's Daily Briefing. It's Tuesday, March 18. In today's briefing, Village Roadshow Entertainment has filed for bankruptcy, citing financial strain from a legal battle with Warner Bros. and struggles in independent film and TV. 

The film producer behind “The Matrix” trilogy has filed for bankruptcy, blaming its financial problems on a costly fight with Warner Bros. and an unprofitable foray into independent movies and television.

Village Roadshow Entertainment Group entered bankruptcy proposing to sell its film library, which includes its interests in movies, for $365 million to Los Angeles-based investment firm Content Partners. Since its 1997 founding, Village Roadshow has produced and released more than 100 films, which also include the “Ocean’s” series, “Joker” and “Sully.”

The company worked with Warner on production, financing and ownership on 89 titles, including the Matrix franchise, court papers show. But the partnership soured, and in 2022 Village filed a complaint against Warner over the release of a fourth “Matrix” installment on HBO Max. Village Roadshow alleged at the time that it was being shut out of rights to co-own and co-finance sequels and prequels of dozens of other films.

In the days after the deadly Eaton fire in Los Angeles, investigators at Southern California Edison were all but convinced that none of the power lines the utility operates in the area had sparked the blaze.

Evidence is emerging that they might have overlooked an unlikely culprit: a dead power line unintentionally brought back to life.

SCE is zeroing in on an idle power line near the fire-ravaged Altadena neighborhood, where 17 people died in January. The line has no connection to the power grid, but the company is concerned that it may have started the fire, company executives say. Investigators are trying to determine whether it became energized through a phenomenon known as induction, or current created by electromagnetic force.

Leslie's chief financial officer, Scott Bowman, is leaving after less than two years in the role as the company goes through a business model transformation.

The direct-to-consumer pool and spa care services company on Monday said that Tony Iskander will take over for Bowman on an interim basis while it looks for a permanent replacement with the assistance of an executive search firm. Iskander is a candidate in the hiring process.

Prior to joining Leslie's, Iskander held several senior leadership roles at after-market auto retailer Advance Auto Parts, including interim finance chief. While there, he played a key role in the $1.5 billion divestiture of the company's wholesale business and coordinated more than $2 billion of capital restructuring, Leslie's said.

"I'm confident that leveraging his leadership and experience will help accelerate our transformation journey to drive sustainable profitable growth around our key strategic themes of customer centricity, convenience and asset utilization," Chief Executive Jason McDonell said.

The company also said that Naomi Cramer, Leslie's chief people officer, has been promoted to chief retail operations and talent officer. At the same time, Dave Caspers, Leslie's chief stores officer, has accepted a leadership role at another company.

Leslie's, which most recently reported a wider loss for its fiscal first quarter with sales rising less than 1%, is looking to make improvements to its inventory and adjust its professional fees as it deals with a challenging environment across the pool industry. —Sabela Ojea

The Trump administration sent letters to 20 major law firms saying it has concerns about their diversity programs and employment practices, the administration’s latest salvo against some of the country’s biggest legal firms.

Andrea Lucas, the Trump-appointed acting chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, said the firms have diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, practices that could be illegal under the federal civil rights laws that protect workers. 

See the full list here. 

• Property developer Sunac China said on Monday it expects to report a wider loss for the year ended December 2024. (Reuters)

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