The trial court did not abuse its discretion in ordering a new trial in this case where the writers for the series Columbo sued the studio that produced those shows. The trial court correctly concluded–only after the jury ruled–that it was for the court to interpret the contract between the parties and that the crucial term “photoplay” included each TV episode of Columbo. The trial court had previously left the contract interpretation issue to the jury, which was an error that it found prejudicial. But the trial court erred in granting summary judgment against the writers’ fraud claims on statute of limitations grounds when there was disputed evidence about whether the writers reasonably trusted the studio to provide accurate profits accountings and thus did not discovery their fraud claim until within three years of filing suit.)