This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Director Lauren Greenfield has scored a legal victory in the lawsuit filed against her over the documentary "The Queen of Versailles," which debuted last year at the Sundance Film Festival.

A Florida judge ruled in an evidentiary hearing Thursday that time-share mogul David Siegel's claim that no one from his company signed the filmmaker's release form is "inconsistent and incredible and thus lacking weight," according to a report by The Hollywood Reporter.

Because the release form — signed by Siegel's son Richard, a vice-present in his father's company, Westgate Resorts — is valid, the case must be taken to arbitration, rather than being fought in court, THR reported.

The elder Siegel had sued Greenfield and her producers for defamation, citing the description of the time-share company (which operates resorts all over, including one in Park City) as a "rags-to-riches-to-rags" story.

Initially, Siegel sued Sundance for publishing that description in November 2011, when the 2012 festival slate was first announced. Sundance was later dropped from the lawsuit.