These days, lots of people are having money trouble. But Annie Leibovitz?

The renowned photographer is the subject of two lawsuits over unpaid bills totaling more than $778,000 for photography-related services.

The suits offer a rare glimpse into the big budgets behind Leibovitz’s celebrity portraits, which are surely among the most expensive shoots in the industry.

A wardrobe stylist who worked on a Disney campaign with Leibovitz claims the photographer owes her $386,467 – including $109,960 for one shot alone.

And a lighting rental house says Leibovitz owes $392,036 — $221,715 for rental services, over $5,094 for damaged equipment and $165,227 for failing to deliver enough business to justify the discount rates she was getting.

As a celebrity, Leibovitz is bound to attract lawsuits, but these suits are unusual for her. Searches of legal databases turned up no lawsuits against Leibovitz over unpaid bills until this year.

The plaintiffs in these cases do not appear to be working together and have not sought publicity over their suits. The case involving the stylist was first reported by the New York Post; the lighting rental case has not been previously reported in the press.

An attorney for Leibovitz, Rachel E. Williams, was invited to comment on this story, but declined. Two messages left at Leibovitz Studios were not returned.

Briese USA vs. Annie Leibovitz

In March, Briese USA, a professional lighting company in New York City, sued Leibovitz for failing to pay $221,715 for service and equipment in 2006 and 2007.

The suit, filed in the New York Supreme Court in Manhattan, also claims the photographer damaged equipment worth more than $5,000 and failed to pay for it. And according to the lawsuit, Briese U.S.A. offered Leibovitz “substantial discounts” in exchange for ongoing business that she failed to provide, costing the company $165,227.

Leibovitz is fighting the suit. In a motion filed in August, Leibovitz’s attorney asked for the suit to be dismissed, arguing that it is missing facts about the terms of the agreements that Leibovitz allegedly breached.

Brent Langton, who runs the lighting shop, and his attorney Edward R. Finkelstein both declined to comment for this story.

Langton is currently involved in another suit by German company Briese Lichttechnik Vertriebs GmbH over the right to use the Briese name.


Art Department vs. Leibovitz Studios

In November, the agency that represents fashion stylist Nicoletta Santoro filed a suit accusing Leibovitz Studios of failing to pay Santoro’s fees for work on eight advertising shoots.

J.S. Reps Corp., which does business under the name The Art Department, claims it sent Leibovitz invoices totaling $515,017. The bills cover seven shoots for Disney and one for Paul Mitchell between July and December 2007. “At no point has Leibovitz rejected, protested or questioned any of these invoices,” the lawsuit says.

The suit, dated November 9, says Leibovitz has paid The Art Department only $129,450, including a $25,000 payment received in November 2008.

Santoro billed Leibovitz $6,000 a day, plus a 20 percent agency fee, plus expenses.

On one invoice, Santoro billed $62,943 for work on a July 13, 2007 shoot for Disney Parks featuring tennis player Roger Federer dressed up as King Arthur. That included two half travel days, four prep days, one shoot day, $12,477 for the wardrobe, $5,000 for an assistant, $1,027 in car service, plus the agency fee and other expenses.

The most expensive bill in the suit is labeled “Disney / Aladdin,” referring to a shoot for a Disney Parks print ad featuring Marc Anthony as Aladdin and Jennifer Lopez as Princess Jasmine. Santoro charged Leibovitz Studios for eight prep days, one fitting day and one shoot day, plus expenses, for a total of $109,960.

Neither the lawyer representing The Art Department, Neal Johnston, nor Santoros’s rep, Jordan Shipenberg, returned messages seeking comment.

$5 Million Mortgage

A fixture of American photography since the 1970s, Leibovitz is among the most commercially successful photographers in the world.

Among her assets are a large home in New York City's Greenwich Village. In September, Leibovitz was able to borrow $5 million against the value of her property, mortgage records show.

Leibovotz has steady work as a contributing editor to Vanity Fair, where she has been on staff since 1983. She has shot recent campaigns for major advertisers including American Express and Louis Vuitton.

And now Leibovitz has a bestselling book, Annie Leibovitz at Work, which was released this fall to glowing reviews. Currently it is number 15 on the New York Times bestseller list for hardcover nonfiction and is number one in Amazon’s Art’s & Photography category.

Source documents: Read the lawsuits on PDNPulse.