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Quentin Tarantino Sues Neighbor Over 'Blood-Curdling Screams'

By Jason Beahm on March 15, 2011 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Hollywood has a lot of interesting lawsuits. Take Quentin Tarantino, he's suing a neighbor for the "pterodactyl-like" screams coming from his "exotic bird menagerie." (Does Tarantino really know what kind of sound a pterodactyl makes?)

"On a daily basis Defendant's macaws, large tropical birds known for their loud squawks and screams, are placed in an outdoor aviary where they emit blood-curdling screams at random intervals for 7 to 8 hours each day ... which are not only startling, but have also seriously disrupted Mr. Tarantino's ability to work as a writer in his home," NYmag.com reports.

So who is this defendant that lives next door to Quentin Tarantino? None other than Alan Ball and his partner Peter Macdissi. Ball wrote American Beauty and created Six Feet Under and True Blood. After all, Quentin Tarantino isn't going to live next door to some guy that works at the DMV. 

Tarantino questions in his lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, why Ball doesn't recognize the distraction of the birds as a fellow writer.

"[They] know that their birds issue blood-curdling, prehistoric sounding screams, they do not maintain the macaws in their residence, but place them in an outdoor aviary. Though one might assume that, as a fellow writer, Mr. Ball would understand and respect a writer's need for peace and quiet..."

Whether it's a dog or an exotic bird, home owners have a legal responsibility not to interfere with the quiet enjoyment of their neighbors to their property. Noise violations are always fact specific, but if the birds are as loud as Quentin Tarantino says they are, Mr. Alan Ball may have to put them Six Feed Under, or, preferably, move them to a more remote location.

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