Entertainment
Entertainment law is a term that sounds really exciting to most people because they think celebrities and red carpets. In reality - that is less than 1% of the practice. Rather, a lawyer’s role is in the office and rarely on set. The business involves very complicated laws, regulations, rights and responsibilities.
The entertainment industry is based (like all businesses) on contracts. There are hundreds of them. A few favorite questions: (1) “do you know a good entertainment lawyer;” (2) “do you have a form contract to make a movie;” (3) “I found a contract on the internet, can I use it?;” and (4) “do I need a contract to hire employees for my project.” The answer to all of these are “it depends.” An entertainment law specialist has to know a variety of legal practice areas that range from contracts, corporate, labor and employment, union to tax, finance and international regulation and so on.
Most entertainment practices are divided between transactional (negotiating & creating contracts) and litigation (enforcing or negotiating when someone violated the contract). We have experience on both sides of the table.
“A lawyer who has been forced to justify his contract in a court of law is much more educated one who has no idea how enforceable his contract would be if challenged. Most clients’ have no idea how good their lawyer is until something goes wrong.” Unknown.
Our speciality is managing the big picture of an entertainment project and delegating the responsibilities to the appropriate legal and business professionals. We focus on assessing the team’s skill sets to maximize the profitability and protect-ability of the project.
What frustrates most creatives and business owners is that no two creative works are identical, so different rules apply to each one. There is no “one contract” or “one deal” that will ever be the same, which is part of the fun. We have experience taking a project from the original concept all the way to sale and distribution. We have worked with writers / creators, independent producers and production companies, as well as negotiated deals with studios and finance companies. It’s easier to confidently advise a client after you have litigated entertainment rights and contract disputes in court. This is where we shine.
Some of our former and current client representations include: major studios, production companies in non-scripted television, major commercial and film editing companies or post-production facilities, famous consumer products brands (such as coffee, clothing and make-up), celebrities, professional athletes, writers, directors, producers, advertising, consumer goods, digital, new media and telecom companies.
