John Berlinski, Daniel A. Saunders, Candace Frazier, & Kimberly A. Meyer

Berlinski: Partner-Head of Entertainment Practice

Saunders: Partner

Frazier, Meyer: Associates

Kasowitz Benson Torres

Litigators

Berlinski and Saunders enabled talent clients to prevail in two lengthy arbitrations over TV series profit participations, including in the $179 million “Bones” award; and they also represent Aspire Music suing Cash Money Records and others over Drake’s music. Berlinski — a former head of litigation at NBC/Universal Television — reps Genting Malaysia Berhad in suing Fox and Disney over a theme park dispute. Saunders advises Resorts World Las Vegas hotel/casino, including settling a trademark infringement/unfair competition lawsuit. Saunders, who now handles a broad range of civil and criminal litigation, worked 14 years in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles, including prosecuting Hollywood fixer Anthony Pellicano, recently released from prison. Frazier and Meyer litigate entertainment cases including profit participations matters and providing pre-litigation advice. The four litigators are in Los Angeles. “When the traditional media companies launched their own streaming platforms, profit participants were an after-thought,” Berlinski says. “That’s a recipe for litigation.” The beef is that vertically integrated big media makes sweetheart content deals with their corporate siblings.

The Equalizer: A former government prosecutor, Saunders says, “In my private practice, I get no greater professional satisfaction than representing an individual David against a governmental or corporate Goliath, and bringing Goliath down!”

-Robert Marich

Jacqueline Charlesworth

Of Counsel Covington & Burling

Litigator 

Charlesworth, former general counsel of the U.S. Copyright Office, is credited with negotiating and drafting elements embraced in the Music Modernization Act. The New York-based attorney advises music artists, publishers and songwriters; movie companies; book authors; and on general copyright. Charlesworth worries that recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions on copyright registration and court-cost awards “will make it particularly challenging for smaller copyright plaintiffs — I would like to see Congress address this.”

Teaching Moment: Charlesworth took satisfaction “suing a politician who used Don Henley’s music in a campaign ad without permission and winning, and then teaching that case at Yale Law school.”

-Robert Marich

Sandra (“Sandy”) Crawshaw-Sparks

Partner and Chair of the Copyright, Entertainment and Media Practice Group

Proskauer

Litigator 

For clients U2 and Island Records, Crawshaw-Sparks won an early motion to dismiss an infringement claim for the song “The Fly.” The bicoastal litigator’s representation also includes BMG Rights Management, Daft Punk, Lady Gaga, Live Nation, Madonna, Sony Music, heirs of Jerry Garcia and the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences. After the Music Modernization Act passed last year, Crawshaw-Sparks says all eyes are on implementation of its mechanical licensing collective, first-time federal copyright protection for pre-1972 sound recordings and new royalties.

Resolution: “I enjoy using a blend of legal knowledge and industry knowledge to solve my clients’ problems.”  

-Robert Marich

Scott Edelman and Orin Snyder

Partners, Co-Chairs, Media, Entertainment and Technology Practice Group

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher

Litigators 

The litigation duo reps AMC in “The Walking Dead” profit participation lawsuit. L.A.-based Edelman defends Sony Music as artists seek to reclaim recording rights, and CBS News for Charlie Rose harassment litigation. Other clients include EMI, MGM, Fox, Sony Pictures and Universal Music. New York-based Snyder defends Facebook in privacy and shareholder issues. Other clients include Lady Gaga, Jerry Seinfeld and David Letterman’s Worldwide Pants. Snyder says tech, privacy and data security issues “are playing out both in civil litigation and on the regulatory front.”

Family Matters: His father a lawyer, Edelman says “personal connections he formed with clients turned out to be the most satisfying aspect of the job for me as well.”

-Robert Marich

Michael Elkin

Partner and Vice chairman

Winston & Strawn

Litigator

Elkin defends cabler Cox Communications from the music industry over alleged music infringement by its subscribers that has broad implications for communications service providers. Other clients of the New York-based litigator include Amazon Digital Services, in-flight entertainment Global Eagle, Pepsi, music streamer Wolfgang’s Vault and Verizon. Elkin observes that laws governing copyright and contracts are decades old but the digital revolution has “pushed the boundaries in ways never before imagined.” He says courts have done a good job resolving disputes nonetheless. 

Solid Foundation: Elkin is proud that the legal system “sets expectations and boundaries, and provides a level of fairness and promotes justice.”

-Robert Marich

Bonnie Eskenazi

Partner

Greenberg Glusker  

Litigator 

Eskenazi repped Illeana Douglas in the Les Moonves misconduct investigation. The litigator notched court wins for Bob Marley estate affiliates terminating a coffee licensee and an unauthorized biopic. Eskenazi worked on a film distribution contract dispute and a talent audit claim. She’s heartened Hollywood now takes sex harassment seriously. “Sometimes change is painful and that’s what we’re seeing right now, But it’s also necessary.”

Law Shines: In college, Eskenazi won a lawsuit against her own sorority for not wanting to admit a black student. “It taught me that you can correct an injustice through the law.” 

-Robert Marich

Michael Garfinkel

Partner

DLA Piper

Litigator

Garfinkel reps Endeavor/WME, ICM Partners and Lantern Entertainment in acquiring The Weinstein Co. assets. The litigator works trade-secret, commissions and profit participation issues. He sees a trend of “injecting race and gender issues into straightforward contract disputes to try to gain leverage or scare opponents into settling claims.”

Chose Law Because: As a teenager he was in a car accident that was the fault of another, who threatened legal action. His family backed away on claims. “It frustrated me that someone of better means could bully us in that way.” 

-Robert Marich

Charles Harder

Managing Partner

Harder 

Litigator 

A go-to guy for reputational matters, Harder won President Trump the dismissal of Stormy Daniels’ defamation lawsuit and monetary relief. He repped first lady Melania Trump for now-settled claims against Telegraph Media, and handled Katherine McKee’s U.S. Supreme Court appeal in her defamation case against Bill Cosby. “It’s becoming increasingly easy to hurt or destroy a career that’s built over the course of decades,” Harder says.

Most Satisfying: Harder relished repping wrestler Hulk Hogan in his take-down of Gawker Media over secret videos “because my focus was on protecting privacy.” 

-Robert Marich

Bryan Freedman

Founding Partner

Freedman + Taitelman

Litigator 

A well-known crisis litigator, Los Angeles-based Freedman received national press attention for extracting Megyn Kelly from NBC Television following the newsoman’s on-air blackface comments, reportedly getting her hefty contract paid in full. He also settled employment termination lawsuits for Paramount executives Megan Colligan and Amy Powell. Freedman is trial counsel for Hollywood attorney Jake Bloom defending Johnny Depp’s claims, and repped UTA beating back CAA’s agent-poaching lawsuit. In a growing industry, hot-potato, he finds that Hollywood companies are struggling to. deal with allegations of long-ago personal misconduct by their employees in prior jobs. 

Why I Serve: Freedman says that “being a lawyer seemed to be the most powerful way to help people.”

-Robert Marich

Patricia L. Glaser and Jill Basinger

Glaser: Partner, Chair of the Litigation Department

Basinger: Litigation Department Partner

Glaser Weil 

Litigators 

Glaser advised Sony Pictures in its “Wild Oats” release windows dispute, Lionsgate Television for TV series “Anger Management,” ITV Gurney Holding in litigation with former execs and Nitevision Management winning an arbitration against a music artist.  Basinger reps the estate of Kirk Kerkorian; sports journalist Adrian Wojnarowski in employment matters; and defends boxing trainer Freddie Roach and journalist Yashar Ali in separate litigation. Glaser wonders if we can wave goodbye to audits for back-end participations in the future since video streamers today seek all rights in deals for their original content.

Finding the Light: “I love problem solving,” says Glaser. “I love walking into dark rooms and finding doors.”

-Robert Marich

Shawn Holley

Partner

Kinsella Weitzman Iser Kump & Aldisert

Litigator 

A civil and criminal litigator, Holley accompanied client Kim Kardashian in a meeting with President Trump to commute the life sentence of a first-time nonviolent drug offender. She represented football player Reggie Bush, who was awarded $12.5 million for an off-field injury; Kathy Griffin; the Kardashian/Jenner families; and various defendants accused of personal misconduct. The Los Angeles-based Holley says laws disallowing non-disclosure agreements create a “difficult impediment to overcome in situations where both parties are anxious to resolve their disputes quietly and civilly.”

All Types: A partner in the late Johnnie Cochran’s law firm, Holley recalls, “As Johnnie used to say, we represent the OJs and No Js.” 

-Robert Marich

Neville Johnson

Founding Partner

Johnson & Johnson

Litigator

Johnson pursues Sylvester Stallone’s net profit/fraud case for “Demolition Man,” scheduled for trial later this year. The Los Angeles-based litigator also represents Christine Wagner for “Turner and Hooch” net profits, the Rick Nelson estate for music streaming royalties versus Sony Music, music talent against Wolfgang’s Vault over copyright infringement and reality television talent pursuing net-profits fraud. Johnson says that talent deals for streaming “are constantly evolving and there is no set formula yet.”

Giving Voice: Johnson enjoys the legal profession for the “intellectual stimulation combined with moral aspects — namely that I’m helping people fight against injustice, particularly in class action where people would have no other representation.” 

-Robert Marich

Ivy Kagan Bierman

Partner, Media & Entertainment

Loeb & Loeb 

Litigator

A labor lawyer, Kagan Bierman assists Jill Soloway in connection with sexual misconduct allegations at TV show “Transparent,” and AMC assessing sex-assault allegations at “Talking Dead.” Other clients include the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Bunim/Murray Prods., FremantleMedia, and Producers Guild of America. She serves on Time’s Up committees and advises Anita Hill’s commission. Tha award-winning Kagan Bierman, who handles transactional matters as well as litigation, is heartened that Hollywood recently avoided labor strikes because “so many people and companies get adversely impacted.”

Role Model: Kagan Bierman entered law inspired by an uncle who, as a distinguished Wall Street lawyer, was “soft spoken, articulate, humble and had a way with words.” 

-Robert Marich

Jonathan S. Kanter and Jay Cohen

Kanter: Partner, Co-Chair, Antitrust Practice Group

Cohen: Partner

Paul, Weiss

Litigators 

The litigation duo advises ASCAP over its antitrust consent decree governing public performance music licenses and impact of the Music Modernization Act. D.C.-based Kanter handles media, technology and advertising. Clients include Endeavor, Barry Diller’s IAC and News Corp. New York-based Cohen reps music clients, Tribune Media and also cable TV giants Altice USA and Charter Communications. Law follows the media revolution, per Kanter: “Media companies are dependent on new technologies to distribute their content and advertising.”

Know the Turf: “For an anti-trust lawyer, it’s not enough to just understand the law, but we must also understand our clients’ businesses,” says Kanter.

-Robert Marich

Marty Katz

Partner, Entertainment Litigation

Sheppard Mullin

Litigator

Katz defends MGM for remaining claims of underpayment profit participations, including for “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” after a court decision narrowed issues. Other clients of the Los Angeles-based litigator include Endemol Shine and eOne for The Weinstein Company bankruptcy, and a shipbuilder favorably resolving litigation from a dance-floor accident. When ethical obligations conflict with the obligation to zealously represent clients, Katz advises lawyers to “embrace the ethical side of the equation.”

TV Guide: When he was growing up, people around Katz assumed that he would be a doctor or a lawyer. Katz chose the legal profession, he claims, “because as a kid I liked ‘Perry Mason’ far more than ‘Ben Casey.’” 

-Robert Marich

Richard Kendall and Phillip Kelly

Kendall: Co-Founding Partner

Kelly: Partner

Kendall Brill & Kelly

Litigators 

The litigators rep Regency Entertainment seeking $18 million P&A funds from financiers of “Rules Don’t Apply” and also a talent agency defending claims from financiers. Kendall won a 2016 decision for a business manager’s estate and now defends an appeal. Kelly won Paramount/MTV Films a multi-week arbitration over breach of contract claims. Kendall is intrigued by big-budget, short-form content popping up: “I’m seeing sizeable investments. And where investments go, litigation often follows.” 

Keeping the Lid on: After winning a case for Paramount, Kelly says, “The hard part was sitting quietly with poker faces while the judge spent 45 minutes reading her ruling before we were able to celebrate.”

-Robert Marich

Dale Kinsella, Chad Fitzgerald, Aaron Liskin, & Nicholas Soltman

Kinsella, Fitzgerald, Liskin, Soltman: Partners

Kinsella Weitzman Iser Kump & Aldisert

Litigators 

The four rep Barry Josephson, who is among those winning a $179 million profit arbitration decision over Fox’s “Bones,” which jolted Hollywood with its large award; and Frank Darabont and CAA battling AMC over “The Walking Dead” profits. Kinsella counsels Neal Moritz. Fitzgerald handles Italian talent vs. MGM. Liskin focused on international aspects of “Bones.” Soltman worked for footballer Reggie Bush’s injury compensation.

-Robert Marich

Kelly M. Klaus

Partner

Munger, Tolles & Olson

Litigator

Klaus reps the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment — which includes MPAA majors, Amazon and Netflix — targeting piracy; and Disney suing Redbox over download codes pulled from physical DVDs. The San Francisco-based litigator also helped FX Networks and producer Pacific 2.1 Entertainment push back right-of-publicity/false claims from Olivia de Havilland in her dispute over her depiction in Ryan Murphy’s “Feud.” Other clients include Warner Bros. and Universal Music. As traditional Hollywood mounts streaming initiatives and pure streamers pile into Hollywood-style production, Kaus says, “the rapid blurring of the lines between content creation and content delivery will contunue to grow.”

Professional Satisfaction: “What I enjoy most is the collaboration with my in-house colleagues and clients.” 

-Robert Marich

Michael Kump

Founding Partner

Kinsella Weitzman Iser Kump & Aldisert

Litigator

Kump repped Joel and Rob Mandel’s The Management Group in getting a business manager dispute with Johnny Depp dismissed; and separately Kim, Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian in an arbitration with a cosmetics company. Other clients are Sandra Bullock, Live Nation, MRC, Michael Strahan and WME. He works entertainment, contracts and intellectual property disputes. As IP becomes more valuable, the Los Angeles-based litigator sees disputes and litigation “about who owns what rights have become increasingly important as platforms have expanded across the entertainment industry.”

Interesting Folks: “On the best of days, I’m getting paid to meet with the most creative and interesting people in the world.” 

-Robert Marich

Christine Lepera

Co-Chair, Entertainment Litigation Practice

Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp 

Litigator

Lepera won an appellate court decision for rapper Timbaland and others defending a sampling infringement lawsuit for song “Big Pimpin.” She also reps Capitol Records, Kobalt Music Publishing, Dr. Luke, Drake, Paul Haggis and Ultra Music. As the diversity trend extends to executive and creative offices, Lepera says, “It’s going to change the landscape with this new wealth of creative energy coming in.”

Solid Basis: “I have a deep respect for law because of the value it brings to society, giving us a framework to help others and address challenges.” 

-Robert Marich

Steve Marenberg

Partner, Head of Media & Entertainment Litigation Group

Irell & Manella

Litigator 

Marenberg repped Warner Bros. getting a dismissal in a class action challenging 20% royalty on home video; and Universal/Legendary settling a class action alleging spam marketing for movie “Warcraft.” Clients include Content Partners, Walt Disney Co., NBCUniversal, UTA and WME. The litigator often faces disputes over whether old contracts allow for new digital uses. 

Let’s Discuss: “Law was inevitable. I came from a family that, like in the Woody Allen movie, argues whether the Atlantic or Pacific is the greater ocean.” 

-Robert Marich

Aaron J. Moss

Partner, Chair of Litigation Department

Greenberg Glusker 

Litigation

Moss defends broadcaster Univision from interference claims stemming from its bio-TV series about late Mexican-American pop star Jenni Rivera, and writer-director Rian Johnson disputing commissions sought by his former talent agent. Other clients include the Barstool Sports website, Discovery Communications, Hulu and NBCUniversal. As invasion of privacy/right of publicity protections erode, Moss wonders if a day will come when performers will be re-created without permission using digital technology. Computerized incarnations “might even be living actors,” speculates the Los Angeles-based Moss, who specializes in entertainment-related intellectual property litigation.

Navigation Aid: “I like helping clients solve tricky problems that don’t have clear answers.” 

-Robert Marich

Anthony Oncidi

Partner, Chair of West Coast Labor & Employment Dept.

Proskauer

Litigator

Pursuing some high-profile executive-poaching cases, Oncidi represented Viacom and gamer Activision-Blizzard for separate actions over employees who were hired away by Netflix. The Los Angeles-based attorney also advised CAA in litigation over a much-publicized mass departure of its agents to UTA, which was resolved February after four years. Oncidi is dubious about companies voluntarily giving up arbitration when defending harassment claims, calling that “unilateral disarmament” because jury trials can result in ruinous verdicts.

Holding Firm: Oncidi takes pride in representing CAA, which bucked an industry trend to settle a TV writers class-action lawsuit years ago. “Often it makes sense to hold your ground,” he says.

-Robert Marich

Daniel Petrocelli, Drew Breuder, Matt Kline, Molly Lens, David Marroso, Bo Pearl, & Cassandra Seto

Petrocelli: Partner/Chair-Trial Practice Committee

Breuder, Kline, Lens, Marroso, Pearl, Seto: Partners

O’Melveny & Myers

Litigators 

Petrocelli served as lead trial counsel for client AT&T’s anti-trust victories supporting the mammoth merger with Time Warner, also a client. Fox hired the team to challenge the huge “Bones” talent arbitration award. Other clients are Fox in executive poaching litigation against Netflix (Petrocelli, Lens and Marroso), Disney for dismissal in one of two parallel movie copyright claims (Petrocelli and Seto), defending singer-songwriter Kesha in a dispute with a record producer (Petrocelli and Pearl), boxer Manny Pacquiao defending class-action civil lawsuits (Petrocelli and Marroso) and Warner Bros. for “Conjuring” movie litigation (Petrocelli and Kline). In 1997, Petrocelli won the wrongful death civil suit against O. J. Simpson. As direct-to-consumer distribution sweeps across media, Petrocelli feels that vertical integration is a key for “creation, distribution, marketing and delivery of content that consumers want, when they want it and where they want it, more efficiently and at lower prices.”

Career Move: “I got into law because I failed to make it as a professional trumpet player,” says Petrocelli. “Yes, that’s true!”

-Robert Marich

Marvin Putnam

Head of Entertainment, Sports & Media Litigation Practice

Latham & Watkins

Litigator

Putnam reps Miramax and a Weinstein Company board member in claims from the Harvey Weinstein scandal; Assn. of Talent Agencies in labor franchise negotiations with writers; MGM in various matters; and Mark Burnett Prods. The Los Angeles-based litigator also handles individual authors and producers, companies and investment banks. What rocks Hollywood ends up on Putnam’s desk as “every day I get at least one call that has some relationship to the #MeToo movement” involving client concerns, corporate policies, threats of litigation and investigations.

I’m a Lawyer Today: “Because Columbia University didn’t give me enough money to complete my Ph.D in Middle Eastern studies.” 

-Robert Marich

Jeremiah Reynolds

Partner

Eisner 

Litigator 

Reynolds reps Voltage Pictures defending a copyright infringement case, Voltage for a settlement after a failed corporate buyout by a Chinese company and Richard Gere for movie passion-project “Bones of the Master.” The Los Angeles-based litigator also advises producers of animated “Blazing Samurai” and MMA athletes Nate Diaz and Anderson Silva. Predicting labor pains in Hollywood, Reynolds expects “tension between the guilds and the independent film industry going forward, given the changing model for film distribution.”

Unstuck: Reynolds enjoys “helping producers in situations where films have been unreleased due to legal issues, getting those issues resolved, and getting the films released.”

-Robert Marich

Mathew Rosengart

Shareholder, Los Angeles Media & Entertainment Litigation Practice

Greenberg Traurig

Litigator 

Rosengart handled music manager Izzy Zivkovic for a contract dispute with Kanye West, and Authentic Talent & Literary Management in another talent dispute. Other clients are Casey Affleck, Kenneth Lonergan, Michael Mann, Sean Penn, Soledad O’Brien and Eddie Vedder. Rosengart feels arbitrations are peaking because they “are becoming more like courtroom proceedings” in confidentiality, expense and awards. “Also, arbitration decisions are rarely, if ever, appealable or subject to judicial review” except in unusual circumstances, he adds.

Noble Profession: “I was originally inspired to become a litigator in high school by the Atticus Finch character after reading ‘To Kill a Mockingbird.’” 

-Robert Marich

James Sammataro

Head of Media and Entertainment Group, Managing Partner of the Miami Office

Stroock & Stroock & Lavan 

Litigator 

Sammataro worked an out-of-court settlement for singer Enrique Iglesias suing Universal Music over streaming royalties, and Spanish Broadcasting System defeating a copyright infringement claim. The litigator, who works in Miami and L.A., also reps Amazon, Latin-music mega-concert Calibash, the Orchard, Spotify and Univision Communications. Sammataro says professional news organizations are under reputational attack as defamation lawsuits pile up. “In the fake news era, there are ripple effects in what I call the whittling away and degradation of the First Amendment,” he says.

Choose Wisely: Sammataro embraces the challenge of selecting juries because “you are operating on training and your instincts.”

-Robert Marich

Jeff Scott and Vince Chieffo

Scott: Co-Chair, Global Litigation Practice

Chieffo: Co-Chair, National Media & Entertainment Litigation Practice

Greenberg Traurig

Litigators 

Scott counsels Fox defending a class-action lawsuit over home video profit participation. Clients include Activision, MoviePass, Sony Pictures and Universal. Chieffo reps defendants in a music infringement claim, and Katy Perry defending a song infringement claim. After a U.S. Supreme Court justice recently suggested re-examining the stringent actual-malice standard for defamation involving public figures, Chieffo says media faces greater risks because that could lead to increased self-censorship to avoid being targeted by easier-to-press defamation.

Never a Dull Moment: “Each time I get a case, there are new problems to solve,” says Scott.

-Robert Marich

Martin Singer

Founding Member

Lavely & Singer

Litigator

A go-to guy for crisis management and media relations, Singer represents Jeff Bezos in the billionaire Amazon mogul’s pushing back news coverage of his personal life, Kim Kardashian in multiple actions and the Kardashian/Jenner family as well. The Los Angeles-based litigator also repped Gerard Butler (contract dispute), Courtney Love and Bruce Willis. Noting that new state laws peel away confidentiality in personal/employment harassment agreements, Singer says that this development “could result in significantly lower settlements” if deep-pocket defendants know they won’t remain anonymous.  

Family Matters: “What I really like about the law is that I look after the interests of my clients and protect them as if they were my family.” 

-Robert Marich

Alex M. 
Weingarten

Partner

Venable 

Litigator 

Weingarten represents rapper Wiz Khalifa in a personal manager dispute and the adult children of the late Alan Thicke in an estate dispute; and also Anonymous Content, Will Ferrell, Film-Track and NuvoTV. The Los Angeles-based attorney litigates entertainment, probate, business and intellectual property disputes. Weingarten marvels that lines blur across Hollywood as companies expand both horizontally — into other businesses — and vertically. “There’s a lot of conflict, turmoil and opportunity that comes with this trend,” he says.

Why Law? “It’s my passion. I like the battle, coming up with a better argument than the other guy and presenting it in a more compelling fashion.” 

-Robert Marich

Howard 
Weitzman

Partner

Kinsella Weitzman Iser Kump & Aldisert

Litigator 

Representing the Michael Jackson estate keeps Weitzman busy with a copyright infringement lawsuit against ABC Television, heading for arbitration over HBO docu “Leaving Neverland” and awaiting a taxation ruling. Weitzman also advises Justin Bieber, Troy Carter, Jennifer Lopez, Chuck Lorre, Nickelback and Ivan Reitman. Commenting on a societal shift, Weitzman observes that “today’s trial-by-social-media culture often presumes guilt without any due process or verifiable evidence, causing loss of jobs or opportunity.”

Jumping Hurdles: Whether handling negotiation, business, legal or financial matters, Weitzman says, “I enjoy helping people getting over a hurdle so they can get on with their lives.”

-Robert Marich

Tom K. Ara, David Markman, & Robert Sherman

Ara: Partner, Co-Chair, Entertainment Finance & Transactions Practice

Markman: Partner, Co-Chair, Entertainment Transactions Practice 

Sherman: Partner, Co-Chair, Entertainment Finance Practice

DLA Piper

Transactional

Ara and Markman repped Disney for certain parts of its $71 billion Fox studio acquisition, South Korea’s CJ Entertainment, and producer David Broome. Ara also handles City National Bank, DMG Entertainment, South Africa’s Nthibah Pictures, and Saban Brands. Markman counseled Cole Sprouse for acting and endorsement gigs; and also Daisy Fuentes and “Shabby Chic’s” Rachel Ashwell for various brand-licensing ventures. Sherman advised Raven Capital on buying Open Road Film assets for $87.5 million, Raven providing a credit facility to a content library, sale of the 400-title Roger Corman film library and White Oak Global Advisors. While streaming companies originally were lean organizations built on acquired content, Ara notes they’ve now mushroomed into much bigger development, production and distribution enterprises. With traditional Hollywood studios launching streamers, Sherman expects “more consolidation and heightened competition for the attention of consumers.” 

Clearing the Way: Handling business issues for Hollywood talent, Markman takes satisfaction in “allowing creative people to be creative.” 

-Robert Marich

Jeffrey Bernstein

Partner

Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer Mandelbaum Morris

Bernstein Trattner & Klein

Transactional

Bernstein repped Margot Robbie for Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” and helmer Jay Roach’s “Fair and Balanced.” For independently financed movies, Bernstein advises talent in negotiating back-end buyout from the financier in the event of an acquisition by a streamer, as box-office performance bonuses become moot.

Making a Difference: “I’m fighting for deal points every day that have a huge impact on my clients’ lives — both financially and otherwise.” 

-Robert Marich

Afshin Beyzaee

Partner

DLA Piper

Transactional

Hollywood business management firms, which provide wealthy clients with banking, accounting and personal services, are in consolidation mode and Beyzaee represents key sellers: sector-giant Nigro Karlin Segal Feldstein & Bolno; Altman Greenfield & Selvaggi; and David Weise & Associates. Beyzaee also advises Lego Group on media/entertainment matters; senior execs of Dick Clark Prods during its merger; and video gamer Cabinet Group. The Los Angeles-based transactional attorney says acquirers “have gotten over their fears” that valuations for business management companies are too reliant on human assets.

Why Law: “Aside from the whole ambulance-chasing element, it’s about helping people solve problems.” 

-Robert Marich

Dan Black

Vice-Chairman, Global Entertainment & Media Practice

Greenberg Traurig

Transactional

Black served as Caesars Entertainment’s key outside counsel for pacting with Turner Sports/Bleacher Report to create content around legalized betting. Other clients include hologram show Base Entertainment, Blackbird Presents, Dune Studio, MailChimp software in Hollywood, Microsoft, Pokémon and senior executive employment contracts. Black predicts a boom in sports wagering programming, as legalized sports gambling spreads and TV audiences “migrate to this content.”  He says gaming content deals embraced normal development, production and distribution with added intellectual property, regulatory, real estate and tax issues.

Deals Are Creative, Too: “I enjoy working with people as a creative problem-solver.”

-Robert Marich

Joseph Calabrese

Global Chair of Entertainment, Sports & Media Practice

Latham & Watkins

Transactional

Calabrese advised HFPA for its eight-year Golden Globes TV awards show deal; Intl. Olympic Committee for host city, digital rights, sponsorships and governmental relations; and Warner Bros. in ventures/strategic transactions. He also reps A24, beIN Media/Miramax and Skydance Media. “In this second golden age of TV, live events continue to hold their place at the top of the list of most viewed programs,” he says, citing sports and awards shows. “That’s the next frontier for OTT/direct to consumer.”

Satisfaction: “I enjoy finding an elegant, simple solution to a complicated problem.” 

-Robert Marich

Marc Chamlin

Partner and Chair, Television

Loeb & Loeb

Transactional

Chamlin represents Oprah Winfrey and her company Harpo for a multiyear Apple content partnership; her book imprint; and investment/advisory with True Food Kitchen restaurants. Other clients are Glenn Close; Hearst’s King Features; and unscripted TV outfits Cineflix Media, Lucky8 TV, Truly Original and Sharp Entertainment. He believes the “film” moniker increasingly will apply to TV content in the digital age. 

Not as Messy: “Although I adore my father, I didn’t want to become a dentist. Law was a more interesting option, in my view, with much less blood.”

-Robert Marich

Chris Chatham

Founding Partner

Chatham Law Group

Transactional

Repping Dr. Phil McGraw and son Jay’s Stage 29 Prods., Chatham negotiated extending “Dr Phil” through Season 21 and also “Phil in the Blanks” podcast. His practice tilts toward transactional, though Chatham still handles litigation, including the rescue cave diver suing Elon Musk for defamation. Looking at Hollywood upheaval, “studios are going to continue to re-shuffle the streaming landscape in order to set themselves up for OTT,” Chatham says, such as holding back valuable content for their own streaming ventures.

Plugged In: “I stay ahead of the curve. Entertainment is constantly evolving.” 

-Robert Marich

Christine Cuddy

Christine Cuddy

Partner

Kleinberg Lange Cuddy & Carlo

Transactional

Cuddy negotiates hot-property “Game of Thrones” spinoffs for novelist George R.R. Martin. She also reps author Anne Rice for “The Vampire Chronicles” television series at Paramount; director/executive producer Mark Waters and executive producer Jessica Tuchinsky for “Looking for Alaska” television series at Paramount; and writer/executive producer Susannah Grant for Netflix series “Unbelievable” from CBS Studios. Cuddy insists that today’s book-rights deals must be futureproofed to consider monetization of emerging media such as augmented reality, virtual reality, and podcasting.

In the Milieu: A Spanish literature major in college, Cuddy dove into copyright and representing authors after law school. “It’s fun to be in the process,” she says.

-Robert Marich 

Victoria Cook

Partner Entertainment Group 

FRANKFURT KURNIT KLEIN & SELZ

Transactional

Cook repped “Mudbound” helmer Dee Rees on her deal to direct a film for Netflix; Alison Klayman and Marie Therese Guirguis for political documentary “The Brink”; worked the deal for “Free Solo” filmmakers, who won the Oscar for feature-length documentary; and moving Desus & Mero to Showtime late night. The New York-based transactional attorney attributes the new surge in documentary popularity to “people craving authentic sources of truth and true stories” in an era of fake news.

Audience Connection: Formerly outlier female, people of color and LGBTQ filmmakers that Cook represents have become hot Hollywood properties of late, she say, because “the industry is finally catching up with the audience.” 

-Robert Marich

Doug Davis

Principal

Davis Firm

Transactional

Davis handled Dionne Warwick’s residency at Bally’s Las Vegas, executive-produced CBS Television’s time-period-winning tribute to Aretha Franklin, and Ron Perry’s employment agreement as Columbia Records chairman. Other clients include DJ Snake, songwriter Savan Kotecha, LL Cool J, Barry Manilow, Swizz Beatz and Mike Will Made It. With streaming lifting recorded music revenue, Davis is optimistic about the industry’s future, finding that “record companies are using that money to seed entrepreneurs and launch new labels. We’re doing new-label financing deals monthly.”

Passion Project: Davis takes pride co-producing the Grammy-winning “American Dreamers” album with music from 53 DACA recipients that “furthered the cause for Dreamers and did social good.” 

-Robert Marich

Lindsay Conner and Sophia Yen

Conner: Partner and Leader, Manatt Entertainment

Yen: Partner, Manatt Entertainment

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips

Transactional

The duo worked China’s Perfect World $250 million ultimates-based financing, and also its $500 million, 50-film co-finance agreement with Universal. Conner repped Rigmora Holdings investing in Republic Pictures; another PE investor for Solstice Studios; and Michael Eisner’s Tornante Co. Yen handled Wavelength Productions’ investment and Brazil’s O2 Filmes, which makes local productions for Netflix and Amazon. Conner says film-TV-digital enjoys plentiful financing from private equity and corporate insiders pursuing profit and content to propel other ventures. “Content remains king,” he says.

Satisfying: “My biggest accomplishment: being promoted to partner while eight months’ pregnant,” Yen says. 

-Robert Marich

Stephen Clark, Jamie Feldman, Linda Lichter, & Peter Nichols

Partners

Lichter, Grossman, Nichols, Adler, Feldman & Clark

Transactional

Clark’s clients include Rian Johnson, Tate Taylor and Alethea Jones. Feldman reps writer Chris Terrio for “Star Wars: Episode IX,” Viola Davis and Barry Jenkins. Lichter handles Miguel Arteta, Chloe Zhao and Benh Zeitlin. Nichols reps filmmakers Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi in future scripted projects, and Dean DeBlois. Clark sees a “rapidly evolving landscape” with lines blurring between film/TV and new buyers like pure streamers. “There are no more cookie-cutter deals,” says Lichter.

-Robert Marich

Ken Deutsch

Partner

Latham & Watkins

Transactional

Deutsch repped Netflix for movies “Klaus” and “Over the Moon,” distributor A24 for its Apple movie partnership, and MGM acquiring Big Fish Entertainment. He also advised producers Doug Belgrad, the Russo brothers, Brian Oliver, Greg Silverman and Brad Weston for separate entertainment ventures. With Disney and Warner Media set to enter the streaming fray big-time with new services in the near future, and with the stigma disappearing for direct-to-streaming, Deutsch predicts more disruption in Hollywood’s landscape. He expects contracts will start to “look very different from traditional studio first-look deals.”

Re-Direction: Deutsch became an entertainment lawyer because “I loved the film industry but didn’t have a creative bone in my body, and still don’t.” 

-Robert Marich

Michael Donaldson and Chris Perez

Partners

Donaldson + Callif

Transactional

The duo engineered a landmark U.S. Copyright office ruling that expands the “fair use” exemptions via Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) for docus and narrative work. They rep independent producers and directors of films, TV and web-based content, including for Bron Studios, Facebook, Hulu and Vice Media. Their firm worked on 30 Sundance films this year, including production companies for documentary “Knock Down the House” (bought by Netflix) and “Native Son” (bought by HBO). Perez says that today’s content boom affords talent “lots of fluid movement … in the independent film world.”

Deals Get Creative, Too: “Sometimes it requires solutions outside the box and creating precedents that change the industry,” says Perez.

-Robert Marich

Scott Edel and Debbie White

Edel: Partner and Chair, Entertainment Practice

White: Partner, Entertainment

Loeb & Loeb

Transactional

Working in film, TV and digital, Edel repped Alcon Television Group for Amazon Studios series “The Expanse”; Big Fish Entertainment in its sale to MGM; China’s Tencent investing in a new “Terminator”; and Black Label Media. With a music-centric practice, White handles Big Hit Entertainment/BTS; Citibank licensing music; Christie Brinkley; personal management Friends at Work; Tencent Pictures; and The Who for North America. White observes that foreign-language entertainment is going increasingly mainstream in the U.S. “This isn’t just a passing fancy,” she says. “It’s here to stay.”

Ski Jump: “When I realized I wasn’t cut out to be a professional ski instructor, going to law school seemed like the best alternative,” says Edel.

-Robert Marich

David C. Eisman

Head of Entertainment Group

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom

Transactional

Eisman represented UTA selling significant minority stakes to Investcorp and PSP Investments; and separately represented Hollywood payroll giant Entertainment Partners in its recent sale to private equity TPG Capital. Further, he advises equipment and stage supplier Quixote Studios; and David Maisel and Scooter Braun’s Mythos Studios. The knock-on effect of surging video streaming is “more content deals and as well interest in companies that service the industry, and demand for prime production and office space,” says the Los Angeles-based transactional lawyer.

Threading the Needle: Eisman gets satisfaction “crafting legal documents that strike the right balance of interests for both sides so everyone is happy.” 

-Robert Marich

Craig Emanuel, David Hernand, Erik Hyman, Mickey Mayerson, Stephen Saltzman & Susan Williams

Emanuel: Partner & Chair, Global Entertainment and Media Practice

Hernand: Partner & Vice-Chair, Global Corporate Practice

Hyman: Partner & Chair, Century City Entertainment and Media Practice

Mayerson: Partner & Co-Chair, Global Entertainment and Media Finance

Saltzman: Partner & Chair, Asia Entertainment and Media Practice

Williams: Partner & Co-Chair, Global Entertainment and Media Finance

Paul Hastings 

Transactional

Emanuel reps Netflix-based producer Ryan Murphy, producer Anthony Bregman for Warner’s “In the Heights,” producer Charles Randolph (“Fair and Balanced”), and Sight Unseen Pictures. Hernand advised Viacom for its $340 million purchase of Pluto TV, and Morgan Stanley in Regal Cinemas’ $3.6 billion sale. Hyman reps financiers, high-net-worth individuals, and talent. Mayerson reps Aviron Releasing for, City National Bank, Indian Paintbrush, SunTrust and Union Patriot Capital. Saltzman repped Renny Harlin establishing Extraordinary Entertainment and directing “The Misfits”;  and Huayi Bros. Williams reps commercial lenders and mezzanine financers for film/TV, including SunTrust Bank financing Kew Media, Bank of America for the Weinstein Co. bankruptcy, Vine Alternative Investments and MidCap Financial. Williams marvels that booming TV programing takes center stage for talent, M&A and financing work: “TV has become a much more significant focus of our activities across all of our practice areas.”  

Helping Creatives: Hyman says, “the only thing I like more than creative people is making them money.”

-Robert Marich

Alan J. Epstein

Chair, Entertainment and Media Group

Venable 

Transactional

Epstein represented management firm 3 Arts Entertainment in its sale to Lionsgate; executive Gary Barber selling his MGM stake for $260 million and relaunching his Spyglass Media; and Ryan Reynolds as ambassador/investor in Aviation Gin. The Los Angeles-based transactional attorney also handles top outfits such as J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Prods., and Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s Imagine Entertainment. “Consolidation of the old media and emergence of the new” lands on Epstein’s desk constantly and, he says, “everybody is reacting to that in a different way.”

I Kid You Not: “My dad was an entrepreneur and he wanted me to go to law school so he could get the family discount.” 

-Robert Marich

Patti Felker

Partner

Felker Toczek Suddleson Abramson

Transactional

Felker repped producer Greg Berlanti (“Riverdale”) for his $300 million, six-year deal at Warner Bros. Television, and also Nkechi Carroll (“All American,” “Bones”) moving to Warners from Fox. Other clients include writer-producer Kevin Williamson; and actors Vin Diesel, Jesse Eisenberg, Brandon Micheal Hall, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Emmy Rossum and Gabrielle Union. Felker believes that traditional backend participations eventually will be replaced by buyouts because “of vertical integration. I do not believe these companies can avoid self-dealing issues.”

Fairness Doctrine: “I feel everyone is entitled to be treated fairly, and I believe that law is the way to fight for that fairness.” 

-Robert Marich

John Frankenheimer

Chairman Emeritus and Chair, Music Industry

Loeb & Loeb

Transactional

Frankenheimer reps Warner Music Group, including for music publishing acquisitions; and Superfly Events for its festivals, marketing company and recent capital raise. Other clients include Vince Gill, Ross Golan, Quincy Jones, Bill Maher, Diana Ross and Carrie Underwood. After a decade-and-a-half slump, the music business roared back and Frankenheimer observes music asset valuations climb even faster. There are “tremendous opportunities for the industry, and now it’s about execution and management,” he says.

Double Vision: Frankenheimer is never bored by the “constant evolution of the business and parallel evolution of law issues that weren’t even thought about years ago.”

-Robert Marich

Matt Galsor

Partner, Head of Entertainment

Greenberg Glusker

Transactional

James Cameron, Tom Cruise, Vin Diesel, David Fincher and Chris Hemsworth are among Galsor’s blue-chip clients. He represents video-gamer Riot Games and Ubisoft Entertainment; AMC’s The Walking Dead Universe; and the Tolkien Estate and others for the mammoth “Lord of the Rings” television series. The Los Angeles-based transactional attorney advises talent and production companies in film, television, games and new digital media. He worries that today’s streaming revolution is an existential threat to the traditional cinema window, adding that “I don’t think anybody would win if theatrical disappears.” 

Easy Decision: “I was a philosophy major in college so my choices were law school or being homeless.” 

-Robert Marich

Gregg Gellman

Partner

Morris Yorn Barnes Levine Krintzman Rubenstein Kohner & Gellman

Transactional

Gellman repped Seth Grahame-Smith and David Katzenberg for New Line’s horror blockbuster “It” and the sequel. He also handled Kenya Barris (“Black-ish”) for TV series at Netflix; and Loren Bouchard for an overall TV deal (including an Apple TV series) and separate feature at Fox. Gellman finds “seasonal advances” in lieu of traditional back-end talent participations offered by streamers are increasingly pushed by studios, too. This make bonuses certain with each new TV season, but eliminates outsized paydays.

Helping Hand: “Though it may sound like a cliché, the feeling that you got the best deals possible for your clients is truly rewarding.” 

-Robert Marich

Michael Gendler

Partner

Gendler & Kelly 

Transactional

Gendler extended producer Shonda Rhimes from Netflix TV to movies with “Recursion”; and repped Harlan Coben for Netflix adapting his books. Other clients include Meryl Streep, Neill Blomkamp, Rob Marshall/John DeLuca, Chris Pine, and authors Jenny Han and Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah. Gendler says the evolutionary velocity of today’s Hollywood has “never been seen before,” creating stress and enabling unusual transactions. Gendler will be keynote speaker at Variety’s Power of Law Breakfast on April 10.

Putting It Together: “My greatest satisfaction is drawing upon my accumulated knowledge of the business, dealmaking and the law to help clients achieve their creative and financial goals.” 

-Robert Marich

Robert Getman

Partner

Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer Mandelbaum Morris Bernstein Trattner & Klein

Transactional

Bringing talent into streaming deals, Getman represented Jon Favreau for writing-producing the Disney+ new Star Wars series “The Mandalorian,” and Jenji Kohan (“Orange Is the New Black”) for an overall pact with Netflix. Other behind-the-camera clients are Frank Darabont, Diane English, Max Mutchnick/David Kohan, and Terence Winter. With Netflix focused on selling subscriptions, Amazon’s synergy with its Prime membership and Apple pulling consumers into its ecosystem, Getman says “each company is trying to accomplish something different.”

Tuned In: “I get a thrill when I watch my clients’ TV shows and movies because of the small part I played in their productions.” 

-Robert Marich

Clifford Gilbert-Lurie

Senior Partner

Ziffren Brittenham

Transactional

Gilbert-Lurie advised Walmart for its short-form W*E Interactive Ventures and also Microsoft translating games to film/TV. Other clients are mega-TV producer Dick Wolf, Imagine Entertainment, Sandra Bullock, Claire Danes, Tina Fey, Mindy Kaling, Patrick Stewart, and Nina Tassler/Denise Di Novi for their PatMa joint venture. The Beverly Hills Bar Assn. selected Gilbert-Lurie as its 2018 Entertainment Lawyer of the Year. Gilbert-Lurie predicts that emerging direct-to-consumer distribution will make media/entertainment “even more consolidated than it is today,” but independents will rise in a later cycle riding the 5G pathway.

Intellectual Gymnastics: “You are always challenged to create new deal models.”

-Robert Marich

Charles H. Googe Jr. and Robert B. Schumer

Googe Jr.: Partner, Chair of the Entertainment Department, Head of the Intellectual Property Group

Schumer: Partner and Chair, Corporate Department

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison 

Transactional

Googe represents Endeavor, including for acquiring film streaming platform provider NeuLion (now in Endeavor Streaming) for $250 million and also merging sports businesses. Googe’s other clients include Apollo Global Management, “Mad Money” host-author Jim Cramer, Lincoln Center Theater, Cole Porter trust (“Kiss Me, Kate” revival), Searchlight Capital Partners, China’s Tencent Technology and Sigourney Weaver. Schumer reps Apollo Global Management and Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s Imagine Entertainment. Googe expects Hollywood talent will press streamers for more viewership information, especially for their popular streaming television shows. “In a traditional deal structure, talent would be participating in that upside financially,” Googe says. (Former Paul, Weiss partner Justin Hamill, now at Latham & Watkins, also worked on some of these matters.)

Taking Mom’s Advice: Realizing he lacked artistic chops when growing up, Googe credits his mother, who worked in entertainment, with suggesting an entertainment law career. “Never doubt your Mom!” Googe concludes. 

-Robert Marich

Sophie Goossens

Counsel

Reed Smith

Transactional

Goossens advises Netflix for transactional work, and reps Soundcloud on licensing and European law. A transactional lawyer working from London and Paris, she also advises Believe music on international expansion outside France. Goossens covers digital media broadly and specializes in Europe, including navigating policy-making. Technological advances trigger unanticipated issues in the media business, such as artificial intelligence (AI) creating original music, Goossens marvels. “From a copyright perspective, this is challenging to grasp” since regulation frameworks assume human creators, she says.

On to the Future: In educating policymakers, Goossens finds “there’s a professional satisfaction in driving some of the narrative.”

-Robert Marich

Jennifer Hagle and Annie Wallis

Partners

Sidley Austin

Transactional

Hagle and Wallis repped banks MUFG Union Bank and others for separate bankruptcies of the Weinstein Co. and Open Road Films. L.A.-based Hagle, whose work is 75% transactional and 25% litigation, gets busy when loans become shaky. Chicago-based Wallis prepares original loan documentation. The duo takes pride that senior lenders got paid in full when TWC was sold, which helps give all banks confidence to keep lending to the indie sector. Hagle feels their work “wound up being the playbook” on how to cope.

Good Feeling: “There’s no greater satisfaction than seeing all the effort that we put in on the front-end work as it was intended to protect our clients when things get difficult,” says Wallis.

-Robert Marich

Michael S. Hobel

Partner, Head of Entertainment and Media

Katten Muchin Rosenman 

Transactional

Hobel handled MRC Studios for Damien Chazelle’s direct-to-series deal, and series “Ozark” starring Jason Bateman, both at Netflix; also HBO for licensing “Sharp Objects” and “The Outsider.” Other clients include distributor Debmar-Mercury, FremantleMedia North America, HandMade Films and MarVista Entertainment. The Los Angeles-based attorney finds “the shape of the business is not settled.” He also sees TV producers embracing pre-existing intellectual property for “something people will recognize” with a built-in fan base.

Putting It Together: Hobel enjoys combining legal expertise, Hollywood smarts and dealmaking expertise. “It makes lawyers really valuable,” he says.

-Robert Marich

Andrew Hurwitz

Managing Partner, Entertainment Group Los Angeles

Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz

Transactional

Hurwitz repped director-writer James Gunn for Warner Bros.’ new iteration of “The Suicide Squad,” Oscar winner Tom McCarthy’s family movie “Timmy Failure” at Disney+; and Jennifer Lee’s Disney employment contract. Other clients are the John Le Carre estate, J. C. Chandor and Hasbro. While stingy with back-end participation, streamers are more inclined to grant creative controls to talent than traditional studios, Hurwitz says. Talent might also snag favorable merchandise and live-stage rights.

Building Blocks: Hurwitz takes satisfaction in crafting Hollywood deals for the Roald Dahl literary estate that “reserve and access key IP rights in its properties to help launch a true entertainment company.”

Jason Karlov, Carolyn Hunt, Rebekah Prince, Steve Weizenecker, Bryan Thompson and Scott Witlin

Karlov: Chair, Entertainment, Media and Sports

Hunt, Prince, Weizenecker: Partners

Thompson: Special Counsel, Corporate & Entertainment

Witlin: Partner, Head of California Labor & Employment Law Practice

Barnes & Thornburg

Transactional

Karlov specializes in music and live events, including for Bob Dylan. Hunt advises on film, TV and digital media, including City National Bank for production financing and MUFG Union Bank for production finance of an Amazon title. Prince handles sports, entertainment, media and corporate transactions. Her clients include Kobe Bryant, Russell Westbrook and “Shark Tank’s” Robert Herjavec. Thompson advises on TV, digital media and financing. Witlin works employment litigation and union matters. Weizenecker specializes in production incentives, film, TV and video games. His clients include Viacom, NBCUniversal and Ubisoft. Weizenecker is based in Atlanta, while his colleagues are in Los Angeles. Karlov says revenue opportunities are sprawling in Hollywood — in more numerous but smaller buckets — due to the digital revolution. Talent, companies and brands “have to be masters of all media, or you are leaving money on the table.” Karlov adds that podcast deals are suddenly exploding. 

Unraveling Riddles: “I like the creativity involved in handling every matter,” says Hunt. 

-Robert Marich

Robb Klein, Linda Michaelson, David Sands, Sid Fohrman, Shaun Clark, & Robert Darwell

Klein: Leader of the Entertainment and Digital Media Industry Team

Michaelson: Practice Group Leader of the Corporate and Securities Practice Group; Leader of the Entertainment and Digital Media Industry Team

Sands: Leader of the Entertainment and Digital Media Industry Team

Fohrman: Leader of the Music Industry Team and Leader of the Esports Industry Team

Clark, Darwell: Partners

Sheppard Mullin

Transactional

Klein advised Komixx Entertainment in a two-picture Netflix deal following its “The Kissing Booth.” Michaelson and Klein advised Dana Brunetti and Keegan Rosenberger in establishing Cavalry Media; and also Dominican Republic-based Media Net Partners in a Hollywood investment. Michaelson and Clark repped TBS in extending Conan O’Brien’s talk show. Michaelson and Fohrman repped former insiders buying Abrams Artists Agency. Sands and Klein handled ICM Partners in buying comedy fest Just for Laughs. Sands advised Bison Capital investing in equipment/facilities Quixote Studios. Sands repped employment contracts for Steve Hasker at CAA Global and Mike Hopkins as Sony Pictures TV topper. Clark worked content deals for Facebook Technologies/Oculus virtual reality. Darwell advised Amazon streaming on international licensing and Hollywood production; and also handled production legal on Spike Lee’s “BlacKkKlansman.” Klein expects more personally branded products and endorsements, using social media as a springboard: “We’re going to see more sophisticated business models leveraging off individual celebrity.” 

Fruits of His Labors: After working the management buyout of ICM Partners involving complex transactions, Sands takes pride “watching ICM grow and prosper under the leadership of its agent-owners.”

-Robert Marich

Ken Kleinberg

Co-Founder, Partner

Kleinberg Lange Cuddy & Carlo

Transactional

Part of J.K. Rowling’s team, Kleinberg works movies, theme park licensing and digital hub connecting the author to her fan base. The Los Angeles-based attorney also reps Johnny Depp for royalty audits, P.L. Travers estate (“Mary Poppins”), singer-songwriter Toby Keith, animation’s Glen Keane Productions and long-time client Jack Nicholson. While streamers upend Hollywood, Kleinberg says, “usually predictions of the demise of one sector as a consequence of the advent of a new means of distribution, over time, have proven wrong.” Kleinberg was Variety’s first Power of Law honoree in 2016.

Satisfaction: “What gives me great satisfaction and keeps me going is helping clients build their businesses.”  

-Robert Marich

Dina LaPolt

Attorney and Owner

LaPolt Law

Transactional

A prime architect of the Music Modernization Act (MMA), LaPolt says the elements of the mammoth federal law enacted in October are now gradually “falling into place.” MMA creates a song-rights database that the music industry lacks, handles conflict resolution and unclaimed royalties. The Los Angeles-based music lawyer’s clients include deadmau5, Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, Britney Spears, and Songwriters of North America. She received the Recording Academy’s coveted Entertainment Law Initiative Service Award during Grammy Week in February.

Feels Good Too: LaPolt is especially proud of her role in “helping 21 Savage get out of an ICE detention facility” where the U.K. rapper was being held.  

-Robert Marich

Abel Lezcano

Partner

Del Shaw Moonves Tanaka Finkelstein & Lezcano

Transactional

Lezcano finds Spanish-language production booming, driven by Netflix and Amazon because “as they go international they want local productions.” He expects others to embrace Latinx content. The bilingual attorney repped writer-producer Daniel Krauze for Netflix hit “Luis Miguel: La Serie”; and Tigre Productions’ duo Beto Ozcariz and Pablo Gatterer for an Amazon series. Lezcano also advises executives for employment contracts: Channing Dungey (Netflix), Joe Earley (Disney+), John Landgraf (FX), Tendo Nagenda (Netflix), Armando Nuñez (CBS) and Sandra Stern (Lionsgate).

Family Plans: “As the son of an immigrant family, my only career options were doctor, lawyer, engineer or professor.” 

-Robert Marich

Laurence M. Marks

Partner, Manatt Entertainment

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips

Transactional

Marks repped writers Scott Beck and Bryan Woods adapting Stephen King’s “The Boogeyman” and for their blockbuster “A Quiet Place”; and a Michael Moore docu for $10.5 million in P&A financing. Other clients are Michael Douglas, Louis L’Amour literary estate, Japan’s Wowow, music-themed stageplays, and music/film celebrity books. Having experienced the home video and cable revolutions, Marks says that “every time you think you know it all, something new comes along.”

The Verdict: A longtime fan of the Perry Mason mysteries, Marks worked on the author’s literary estate in what “was very exciting for a lawyer just seven years out of law school.” 

-Robert Marich

Kevin Masuda, Ari Lanin, & Benyamin Ross

Masuda: Partner and Co-Chair, Media, Entertainment and Technology Practice Group / Co-Chair, Betting and Gaming Practice Group 

Lanin: Partner and Co-Chair, Private Equity Practice Group

Ross: Partner

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher

Masuda represents health brand Ladder, whose investors include LeBron James and Arnold Schwarzenegger; Main Street Advisors/Jimmy Iovine in a Warner Bros. venture; and MGM Resorts for a sports betting venture. Other clients include Deluxe Entertainment Services, Hugh M. Hefner 1991 Trust, soccer’s Los Angeles Football Club and Hackman Capital buying CBS Television City for $750 million. Lanin advised Chernin Group on selling its stake in Otter Media with a reported $1 billion valuation to AT&T. Lanin and Ross counsel Jeffrey Katzenberg-led WndrCo/Quibi. Ross reps Huda Beauty brand from a celebrity blogger, entertainment/sports facilities Oak View Group, venue-operator Levity Group in selling a majority stake, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal Pictures and Germany’s DZ Bank. As the digital-media revolution continues to remake companies, Lanin says it’s vital to understand counterparties, such as what other kinds of businesses they may eventually expand into. This “could have a significant impact on negotiations.” 

Helping Wavemakers: Masuda takes satisfaction in “helping innovators define and develop new markets.” 

-Robert Marich

Darrell Miller

Chair, Entertainment Law Department

Fox Rothschild

Transactional

Miller repped writer-producer Cheo Hodari Coker for his Amazon Studios TV deal; rising-star Teyonah Parris (“If Beale Street Could Talk”); and Angela Bassett for Netflix movie “Otherhood” and Ford presenter. In talent deals, he pushes back on exclusivity for short-order TV series, which “continues to cause significant hardship for working artists when they’re limited in making revenue comparable to the old norms of 18-22 episodes.”

Most Satisfying: “I’ve empowered an army of artists to leverage their personal brands.” 

-Robert Marich

Schuyler (Sky) Moore

Partner, Entertainment Law 

Greenberg Glusker 

Transactional

Moore repped VFX/digital media company Pixomondo selling a majority stake in itself; clients Greece-based Hercules and Bron Studios for slate financing (in Lionsgate films); Hemisphere Capital co-investment in “Men in Black III”; and extracting films from bankrupt distributors for client producer Moritz Borman and separately producer Marvin Peart. Moore expects a video streaming crunch next year, after Apple, Disney+, Warner Media and others launch. In the current boom, expect a “gravy train for producers of TV content in digital, particularly in TV series,” he says.

Loves the Challenge: Moore fondly remembers a certain $1 billion transaction “because it was complex, cross-border, tax sensitive and big. I loved it.”

-Robert Marich

Michele M. Mulrooney

Chair, West Coast Tax and
Wealth Planning Practice

Venable 

Transactional

Mulrooney sees growing litigation from beneficiaries over multigenerational estate payouts. “The disputes are happening with greater frequency,” she says, because “we’re a more litigious society than before.” Advising on tax, wealth and family matters for Hollywood figures, Mulrooney works estates, lifetime giving, pre-nups, divorces, guardianships/conservatorships, and cross-border tax matters. The attorney also advises on setting up charitable organizations and foundations for client actors, directors, writers, producers, fine artists and high-net-worth individuals outside Hollywood. 

Not Just Business: “I became a lawyer to make difference in people’s lives. I’m in their personal lives, not their business lives.”

-Robert Marich

Richard Petretti

Partner

Sidley Austin

Transactional

Petretti represented leading Hollywood bank/financier J.P. Morgan for an $800 million senior secured syndicated revolving credit to Legendary Entertainment and similar $200 million credit to China’s Perfect World Pictures. Other clients include City National Bank in financing film library and music acquisitions; and also Shamrock Capital Advisors. The Los Angeles-based transactional lawyer says the spate of recent indie financial insolvencies turned heads, making “some lenders think twice and, in some cases, recalibrate their approach to financing the independent film industry.”

Coming Together: “Being a transactional lawyer, I like bringing parties together and being constructive to help them grow their businesses.”

-Robert Marich

Simon N. Pulman and Briana Hill

Pulman: Partner and Co-Chair, Entertainment Practice 

Hill: Partner, Entertainment Practice 

Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard 

Transactional

With Pulman in New York and Hill in L.A., the team repped Blumhouse Television on its eight-pictures deal with Amazon. Other clients are Epix, First Look Media, IDW Publishing, Macmillan Entertainment, Stick Figure Studios and producer Wiip. Hill sees a trend to diverse storytelling, prompting increased competition for properties to develop. Buyers are “emphasizing amplifying more diverse and previously unheard creative voices through the DNA of their unique brands,” Hill says.

Great Ride: “My favorite aspects about law are that it’s collaborative, intellectually stimulating and fast paced,” says Pulman. “Briana and I have closely aligned values in that respect.”

-Robert Marich

Michelle Chang, Elsa Ramo, & Erika Canchola

Ramo: Managing Partner 

Chang, Chanchola: Partners

Ramo Law

Transactional

The trio worked some Imagine Entertainment films (including Lin-Manuel Miranda-directed “Tick, Tock … Boom!”) and legal affairs for Solution Entertainment’s Liam Neeson actioner “Honest Thief.”  Ramo advises production companies and up-and-coming female directors, auteurs and showrunners, including Liza Mandelup (Sundance’s “Jawline”). Chang handles sales agents, producers, and docuseries. Canchola focuses on film and scripted TV. With binge watching, limited TV series, short form and unscripted elbowing into Hollywood’s consciousness, “content is having an existential crisis,” muses Ramo.

Looks Like Fun: “As an argumentative 7-year-old, I wanted to be lawyer after watching law shows,” says Canchola.

-Robert Marich

Aaron Rosenberg

Partner

Myman Greenspan Fox Rosenberg Mobasser Younger & Light 

Transactional

Handling music talent, small companies and executive employment agreements, Rosenberg represents Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, John Legend (joined NBC’s “The Voice”), Troye Sivan, Ciara, RuPaul, Big Sean, Meghan Trainor, Diane Warren and LVRN Records. With music industry economics rebounding, the Los Angeles-based transactional attorney is optimistic artists will get their fair share “because of more innovation and fewer barriers to entry than ever.” Also, he adds, there’s a new generation of enlightened leaders at music labels. 

Satisfaction: Helping organize a Haiti benefit concert with client Jason Derulo, Rosenberg observes “deals are great but helping those in need in the world is even more gratifying.” 

-Robert Marich

Barbara Rubin

Partner, Chair of the Entertainment Department

Glaser Weil 

Transactional

Rubin reps production companies and talent in film, television and digital media, including Jeff Melvoin, Bruce Zimmerman and BBC Worldwide (“Dancing With the Stars”). The Los Angeles-based transactional attorney restructured a TV series profit participation for a talent client. Rubin feels contract negotiations used to go more smoothly when customarily starting with in-person meetings. But now the process has become less personal, relying on more paperwork first and emails. “My motto is ‘All business is personal,’” she says.

Lasting Impression: “When the talent deal closes and the work begins, it is the goodwill that was left on the table that may sustain a working relationship in troubled times.” 

-Robert Marich

Nina Shaw and Gordon Bobb

Shaw: Co-Founding Partner

Bobb: Partner

Del Shaw Moonves Tanaka Finkelstein & Lezcano

Transactional

The attorneys repped Ava DuVernay for her multi-year TV deal at Warner Bros.. Shaw repped Lupita Nyong’o to star in Jordan Peele’s “Us” and for Sundance’s “Little Monsters”; John Legend’s Sony deal; and F. Gary Gray establishing Fenix Studios. Shaw is a founder of Time’s Up and oversees its legal fund. Bobb brokered deals for Tiffany Haddish. He sees today’s media mashup allowing talent “to be prolific in numerous areas. One is not a TV writer anymore, but a simply a writer.”

Why I’m a Lawyer: “I grew up thinking lawyers were superheroes.” says Shaw. “People like Thurgood Marshall and Pauli Murray changed people’s lives for the better.”

-Robert Marich

Lawrence Shire

Partner, Head of New Media, Motion Picture,Television, Theater, Publishing and Sports

Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks

Transactional

Shire repped topper Richard Plepler in exiting his HBO employment, and Gayle King for negotiations with CBS. Other clients include Robert De Niro, Facebook, iHeartMedia, Lady Gaga, Elton John, Spike Lee, producer Scott Rudin, Spotify and Bruce Springsteen. After working dozens of large streaming transactions, the New York-based transactional lawyer feels that consumers will be kingmakers when they eventually “have a choice of five or six major streamers. And I think it depends on content and, obviously, price which ones succeed.”

Thinking Long-Term: Shire takes pride in working LeBron James’ lifetime endorsement deal at Nike because “a lifetime is a long time.”

-Robert Marich

Marc H. Simon

Partner, Entertainment Department and Vice Chair, Entertainment Dept.

Fox Rothschild 

Transactional

Simon repped exec producers of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez docu “Knock Down the House” that Netflix reportedly bought for $10 million and Joe Pesci starring in Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman.” Other clients: Alec Baldwin’s El Dorado Pictures, Trey Borzillieri (Netflix series “Evil Genius”), Desiree Gruber’s Full Picture Productions (MeToo-inspired docu series “For the Record”), and author Emily Spivack (“Worn Stories” adapted by Netflix). Simon says booming docus are “creating not just water-cooler moments, but brings forward issues that are affecting the cultural conversation.”

Synergy: Simon entered law because “my passion for dealmaking and love of storytelling could coalesce.”

-Robert Marich

Christopher Spicer, John Burke, Marissa Roman Griffith, & Alissa Miller

Spicer: Head of Entertainment & Media

Burke, Griffith, Miller: Partners

Akin Gump

Transactional

The Los Angeles-based legal foursome represent powerhouse financial institutions such as Bank of America, City National Bank, JPMorgan Chase, MUFG Union Bank and SunTrust Bank in various content financings. They also represented Comerica Bank in various credit facilities for film distributor A24 and Bron Studios; East West Bank in a secured revolving credit facility financing international productions for Perfect Village Entertainment; Media Rights Capital (MRC) for its financing activities in film and television, including the films “Hotel Transylvania 3,” “Summer Vacation,” “Knives Out” and “The Lovebirds,” and the television series “Counterpart,” “The Great” and “Ozark”; RatPac-Dune Entertainment in selling its rights in 75 films co-owned with Warner Bros. in a deal valued at roughly $300 million; and Lantern Entertainment (which acquired Weinstein Co. out of insolvency) in various matters. Spicer notes that the SVOD space is characterized by a handful of mainstream players, but he expects a wider range of services to emerge such as free ad-supported, niche-focused programming, and irregular content like shorts. Looking further into the future, he says, “I do think we’ll see segmentation as OTT platforms evolve.” 

Navigating the Maze: Always a fan of solving puzzles and riddle games, Miller exercises very similar skills in law. “I love Venn diagrams,” he adds. 

-Robert Marich

Monika Tashman

Partner

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips

Transactional

Tashman represents alt-rock band Papa Roach that won Pandora’s Billion Streams award; Foundry Literary and Media; and Taylor Momsen/rock band Pretty Reckless. She also advised a film company on intellectual property matters and women-led businesses. The New York-based transactional attorney joined in March from another law firm. “It is the age of the multi-platform talent” where singers can start fashion brands, found record labels and invest in digital startups, she says. “Talent means more things than ever.”

Deal Propulsion: “I love the legal profession because it affords me the opportunity to be really creative” crafting deals that empower clients, she says. 

-Robert Marich

Matt Thompson

Partner, Head of Media/Entertainment Global Practice

Sidley Austin

Transactional

Thompson represented PSP Investments buying a stake in talent agency UTA, and Mark Burnett for his multiyear extension of his MGM employment contract. Thompson’s other clients include Conan O’Brien, eOne, Industrial Media, IPC Television and the U.K.’s ITV. Following TV production company consolidation years ago, key executives are now finishing their employment contracts and could launch startups. “I predict that will result in a second wave of consolidation in the near future,” says Thompson.

Rewards: “At this stage of my career, I find at least half of my day is spent being a consigliere to my clients, which I find extremely rewarding.” 

-Robert Marich

Corii Berg

General Counsel 

Lionsgate 

In-house attorney

Berg, who was named general counsel at Lionsgate last year, smoothed the way for a $600 million bond offering and investment in Jeffrey Katzenberg/Meg Whitman-led mobile-content startup Quibi. He also worked Seth Rogen’s just-announced Point Grey Pictures multiplatform production deal and handled matters relating to the ongoing Lionsgate integration with Starz. Berg joined Lionsgate after 23 years at Sony Pictures. With Hollywood more in flux than ever before, Berg notes that “each and every deal is bespoke, and that applies to talent transactions, M&A and all other deals.”

Career Twist: A journalism major in college, Berg shifted to law for big-city job prospects, and to use his writing and fact-finding skills. “And ‘L.A. Law’ was on TV then and looked like fun,” he says.

-Robert Marich

Steven Brookman and Matthew Leaf

Co-Heads of Motion Pictures Business Affairs

CAA

In-house attorneys

Brookman and Leaf negotiated deals on behalf of CAA clients for 15 Marvel films, including “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame.” They also handled Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga for “A Star Is Born” and other transactions involving Cate Blanchett, Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman and Kate Winslet. “Dealmaking is getting more challenging and fluid,” says Brookman, pointing to new digital buyers, fewer ancillary windows and traditional studios diversifying into streaming. Brookman joined in 2003 from private practice. Leaf came aboard in 1998 from Warner Bros.

Life in the Trenches: “It’s an exciting time to be in our business, thanks to new platforms, innovative ideas and artists willing to think outside the box.” says Leaf.

-Robert Marich

Clara Kim

Executive VP & General Counsel

ASCAP

In-house attorney

Kim handled licensing deals with music streamers Apple Music and Spotify, and on the video side Amazon, Hulu and Sling/Dish. She also advocated for ASCAP with the Music Modernization Act (MMA) and discussed loosening ASCAP’s consent decree. Kim says music has become “more integrated in everyone’s day-to-day life” riding technology such as satellite radio and streaming.

It’s Unanimous! Making her most demanding foray in federal legislation advocacy, Kim says passage of the MMA is “really satisfying because we had unanimous support” in Congress.

-Robert Marich

Maarten Kooji

Senior VP, Business Affairs 

ICM Partners 

In-house attorney

Kooij represented the talent agency’s client Dr. Seuss Enterprises for Warner movies; the children’s book property’s U.S. stage debut of “The Lorax”; and was part of director-producer Tom Hooper’s negotiating team for “Cats” at Universal/Working Title and a Hooper BBC project. The New York-based Kooij also worked deals for Jeff Daniels, who appears as Atticus Finch in Broadway’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “Angels in America” star Nathan Lane, and Elaine May. With streamers taking all rights in what crimps backend participations for talent, he advises negotiating a “quasi-equity stake” to generate downstream talent pay.

Legal Attraction: When he was taking a law class at Amherst College, Kooij warmed to the human issues and societal impact underpinning legal matters. 

-Robert Marich

Audrey Lee

Executive VP and General Counsel

Starz

In-house attorney

Lee oversees legal work for streaming internationally. The Los Angeles-based attorney also worked to resolve the carriage impasse with cabler Altice USA and to settle the shareholder lawsuit after the $4.4 billion Lionsgate merger. With streaming going to mobile devices, content deals now incorporate “flexibility to offer the streaming service as broadly as possible,” she says.

Fan of Justice: The child of immigrants, Lee was impressed by law at an early age because “it didn’t matter if you were rich or poor. If you had the right argument, you would win that case.”

-Robert Marich

Stefanie Markman, Tony Brackett, & Rob Guillermo

Markman: VP, Business & Legal Affairs, Original Series

Brackett: Director, Business & Legal Affairs, Kids & Family Programming

Guillermo: Senior Counsel, Original Documentaries & Comedy 

Netflix

In-house attorneys

Markman oversees a 40-executive legal team handling original series such as “Stranger Things,” “GLOW” and “Ozark,” and also serves as lead attorney on development deals, including those with mega-showrunner Ryan Murphy and the Obamas. Brackett focuses on children’s fare, signing talent to producing deals; Brackett worked deals with Chris Nee (“Doc McStuffins”), Sanjay Patel (“The Incredibles,” “Monsters, Inc.”), Craig McCracken (“Kid Cosmic”) and the Obamas’ Higher Ground Prods. for young people’s programming. Guillermo worked on two recent Oscar-nominated documentary shorts; sprawling stand-up “Comedians of the World”; Emmy-winner “Wild Wild Country”; Dave Chappelle’s Grammy winner “Equanimity & the Bird Revelation”; and Grammy winner “Quincy.” With strreaming companies extending their reach globally, Guillermo says that many programs must now meet a tall order: they need to “play well locally, regionally and around the world.” That fact highlights the necessity of  connecting with the best storytellers, including those outside the U.S., he adds. Netflix would seem to have that outreach well in hand.

Why Law?: “The sight of blood used to make me faint, so following in my sister’s steps into medical school was probably a really bad idea,” Markman says. 

-Robert Marich

Lori Odierno

SVP & Associate General Counsel, Client Representation

Endeavor

In-house attorney

Odierno worked Alex Rodriguez’s shared baseball-announcer contracts at Fox Sports and ESPN; New Yorker investigative reporter Ronan Farrow’s multiyear overall pact with HBO; and simultaneous deals for Karlie Kloss, Brandon Maxwell and Christian Siriano to join Bravo’s “Project Runway.” The New York-based agency exec notes, “In a world where athletes act, actors model, models host, hosts produce — and where TV studios also sell groceries — we really have to protect our clients’ ability to pursue other opportunities, even those that don’t exist yet.”

Law Satisfaction: “It’s a world in which I can be both analytical and creative at the same time.” 

-Robert Marich

Jennifer Rohrer

Head of News & Broadcasting Business Affairs

UTA

In-house attorney

Rohrer negotiated employment contracts for extending CNN’s Preet Bharara, Kaitlan Collins, Brian Stelter and Jeffrey Toobin, and also for politician-turned-pundit John Kasich, former governer of Ohio. The New York-based Rohrer also handled deals for “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd at NBC, Margaret Brennan at CBS and Rich Eisen at NFL Network. She sees that the digital revolution fuels consumer content demand across media. As a result, journalists “engage new audiences through social media and establish themselves as thought leaders.”

Helping the Newsies: “I enjoy negotiating deals for journalists who are on the front lines pursuing some of the most impactful stories of our time.” 

-Robert Marich

Rita Tuzon

EVP and General Counsel 

Fox Networks Group 

In-house attorney

Tuzon worked operational business and legal aspects of the gigantic $70 billion-plus sale of Fox studio assets to Disney while simultaneously readying business foundations for Fox Corp. that retains television stations, news, sports and entertainment. While traditional cable/satellite/telco bundles “are still incredibly important,” Tuzon adds that the industry today focuses on “streaming an entire network — be that over-the-top, in a smaller bundle of networks a company owns or through a provider like Apple or Hulu.”

Changing Tracks: Once on a pre-med track in college, Tuzon later shifted to law as a faster path to starting her career. “The motivation for both choices was how to help people.”

-Robert Marich

Craig Wagner

Executive VP, Business Affairs & General Counsel 

Paradigm

In-house attorney

Supervising motion pictures/TV business affairs at the talent agency, Wagner worked some TV deals sourcing pre-existing intellectual property such as Fox’s “The Masked Singer” from a South Korean format and the Rodney Dangerfield Estate in developing an unscripted series based on a film. He also handled Laurence Fishburne and Mark Harmon transactions. With music artists paid on per-stream basis, Wagner says, “I could see an evolution where SVOD pays residuals to the creative talent on a per-stream basis, in lieu of traditional profit participations.”

Evolving: Wagner likes the mental challenge of “shaping business models that keep up with the pace of technology.”

-Robert Marich

Amin Al Sarraf

Partner, Litigation Dept.

Glaser Weil

Up Next 

Al-Sarraf’s recent cases include everything from Keith Olbermann’s multimillion-dollar breach-of-contract dispute
with Current TV and a copyright infringement case for WME and CBS to efforts to invalidate a life-rights agreement for former gang member Alfred Lomas, founder/CEO of the nonprofit Inner City Visions. He is also co-president of the Muslim Bar Assn. of Southern California and co-founder and co-chair of Glaser Weil’s Pro Bono Committee, which provides free legal assistance primarily in domestic violence and immigration cases.

Loyola Law School, 2009

-Todd Longwell

Ellie Altshuler

Partner

Nixon Peabody

Up Next

Altshuler is a go-to lawyer for digital influencers looking to expand their brand. In the past year, she helped YouTube star James Charles launch his inaugural makeup palette and brush set with Morphe, repped mom vlogger Mindy McKnight in the deal for her book, “Viral Parenting,” and handled the partnership of Doing Things Media, which has 30 million Instagram and Facebook followers, with Howie Mandel to create the Nat Geo Wild television series “Howie Mandel’s Animals Doing Things.” She also oversaw growth and IP protection for model-actress Emily Ratajkowski’s swimwear line, Inamorata.

Loyola Law School, 2008

-Todd Longwell

Andranise Baxter

Music Business Affairs Attorney

Paradigm Talent Agency

Up Next 

Baxter joined Paradigm in April 2018 and quickly established herself as a key member of the branding and partnerships team, negotiating and drafting live-performance deals for India Arie and Mercedes Benz, the Steve Miller Band and the San Francisco Giants, Smash Mouth and the World’s Largest Brat Festival, and the Barenaked Ladies and the American Cancer Society, among others. Prior to entering law school she was on a different track, earning a  B.S. in kinesiology and exercise science/dance from Indiana University. 

Pepperdine University, 2016

-Todd Longwell

Diana Bernstein

Director, Original Series Content Acquisition

Netflix

Up Next 

Bernstein has been busy closing high-profile deals for the development slate from Shonda Rhimes’ production company Shondaland, which signed a groundbreaking nine-figure deal with the streamer in 2017. One of the first business executive hires on Netflix’s original series team in 2014, Bernstein was involved in almost all of Netflix’s early slate of original series, including “The Crown.” She is currently the lead business executive on series including “GLOW,” “The OA” and “BoJack Horseman.” Most recently, she spearheaded the deal for a new animated series from the “BoJack Horseman” creative team, “Tuca & Bertie,” featuring the voices of Tiffany Haddish and Ali Wong.

Southwestern University School of Law, 2012

-Todd Longwell

Bryce Coughlin

Senior Counsel, Content & Brand IP

Netflix

Up Next

Coughlin, an intellectual property attorney, got a taste of fame when his tongue-in-cheek cease and desist letter to a “Stranger Things”-themed bar went viral in 2017, but his biggest accomplishment is building Netflix’s international IP team that deals with issues arising from its massive content slate, available in 190 countries. Most recently, he successfully handled litigation regarding Netflix’s first Indian original series, “Sacred Games,” and the overall rights deal for Netflix to develop film and series based on C.S. Lewis’ “The Chronicles of Narnia.” As the streamer increases production outside the U.S., Couglin has grown an IP team that is able to set its sights beyond Hollywood. 

American University School of Law, 2006

-Todd Longwell

Scott Cutrow

Associate

Katten Muchin Rosenman 

Up Next

Cutrow has played a key legal role on several high-profile television and streaming projects, including HBO’s “Sharp Objects” and “The Outsider,” and MRC Studios’ Netflix show “Ozark” and its upcoming series project by writer-director Damien Chazelle (“La La Land,” “First Man”), as well as the in-the-works series adaptation of Handmade Films’ “Time Bandits” for Apple TV, a service the town is watching closely.  Cutrow also represents TV production and distribution company Debmar-Mercury in several business transactions in connection with series, including “The Wendy Williams Show,” “BoJack Horseman” and “Schitt’s Creek,” as well as many projects in development. 

UCLA School of Law, 2014

-Todd Longwell

J. Hardy Ehlers

Litigation Counsel

O’Melveny & Myers

Up Next

Ehlers works alongside high-profile O’Melveny partner Daniel Petrocelli, a superstar litigator, and his team, in the firm’s trial, arbitration and appellate practice, which is focused on entertainment, intellectual property and contracts. He has been a key member of the team representing 20th Century Fox in its ongoing “executive poaching” lawsuit against streaming giant Netflix and its victory in a trademark infringement suit over the television series “Empire,” which went all the way up to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. Prior to joining O’Melveny, Ehlers won the 2012 Grammy Foundation Entertainment Law Initiative Writing Competition. 

Harvard Law School, 2012

-Todd Longwell

Kevin Eskowitz

Associate

Rothenberg Mohr & Binder

Up Next 

Eskowitz, a music specialist, handles a long roster of rising stars, including Conan Grey, who will release his full-length Republic Records debut album this fall, and rapper Noname, who will be playing at the Hollywood Bowl in June. Eskowitz has also worked with veteran act Panic at the Disco on its  sold-out spring arena tour. Eskowitz has displayed his digital chops by helping to shepherd the careers of several up-and-coming digital influencers, including LaurDIY, Andrea Russett, Madilyn Bailey, Miles McKenna and Aaron Carpenter, the latter of whom dropped his Capitol Records debut single “Attitude” in February. 

Southwestern University School of Law, 2012

-Todd Longwell

Rahwa Ghebre-Ab

Senior VP, Business & Legal Affairs

Lionsgate

Up Next 

Last year, as employment counsel, Ghebre-Ab helped provide important legal support for Liongate’s partnership with 3 Arts Entertainment and smooth the integration of acquired companies Good Universe and Starz. But in this #MeToo and Time’s Up era, her more significant contribution could well be her day-to-day work developing and overseeing the implementation of practices and policies that create a safe, tolerant, diverse, respectful and inclusive work environment for Lionsgate employees around the world, including those at the company’s recently launched offices in Mumbai, Beijing and Toronto. 

University of Chicago Law School, 2009

-Todd Longwell

Katherine Imp

Senior Associate

DLA Piper

Up Next 

Imp joined DLA Piper last November from Greenberg Traurig, where she served as production counsel for more than 150 film and television productions. Since coming  on board, she has worked on high-profile matters, including the Disney production services agreement for the Fox Studios lot, toymaker Lego’s television and film licensing agreements and Raven Capital Management’s purchase of assets from bankrupt Open Road Films. She also advises app companies and brands, including Match Group, Tinder and PlentyOfFish on talent- and guild-related issues for their short-form branded content. One client with an unusual name is TaTaTu, organizer of the upcoming Impact Short Film Festival. 

University of Illinois College of Law, 2009

-Todd Longwell

Rachel Kiwi

Associate

Loeb & Loeb

Up Next 

New York-based Kiwi has carved out a career in the theater, most notably serving as production co-counsel for high-profile stage productions of “Pretty Woman” and “Waitress.” She’s also working with firm partners to advise producers of upcoming stage adaptations of the book “The Secret Life of Bees,” the movie “Beetlejuice” and Alanis Morissette’s 1995 album “Jagged Little Pill.” Kiwi repped Amazon audio book company Audible on live stage productions at New York’s Minetta Lane Theatre, including “Harry Clark,” starring Billy Crudup and “Girls & Boys,” starring Carey Mulligan. A onetime law clerk for the Supreme Court of Israel, Kiwi has also repped NBC and Snap on their digital production joint venture. 

Columbia Law School, 2010

-Todd Longwell

Alexandra Kopp

VP, Business and Legal Affairs

ICM Partners

Up Next 

In the past year, Kopp has been a star player in the world of celebrity endorsements, negotiating multiple seven-figure deals for John Cena (Wonderful Pistachios, Hefty, Sky Vodka, ArmorAll) and William H. Macy (Pepsi), as well as the pact that solidified ICM client Jaguar Land Rover’s position as the official vehicle of James Corden’s “Carpool Karaoke.” Kopp also helped launch The Broad Cooperative, a community of next-gen female entertainment attorneys that serves as a support network and a discussion forum. 

University of Nevada-Las Vegas, 2013

-Todd Longwell

Baolu Lan

Associate

Del Shaw Moonves Tanaka Finkelstein and Lezcano

Up Next

A first-generation Asian-American, Lan has been putting her passion for storytellers whose voices have traditionally been marginalized into action, helping close big deals for Lupita Nyong’o (Universal’s “Us” and the indie feature “Little Monsters”), Tiffany Haddish (Netflix standup special and a Groupon multiyear endorsement), Regina King (starring role in “If Beale Street Could Talk”), former Teen Vogue editor Elaine Welteroth (forthcoming memoir “More Than Enough”) and Roy Wood Jr. (new Comedy Central pacts for “The Daily Show” and a standup special).

Yale Law School, 2009

-Todd Longwell

Kelvin Le

Associate

Sidley Austin

Up Next 

Le was the lead associate working alongside Sidley Austin partner Matt Thompson to close last year’s big TBS deal for Conan O’Brien, producer Jeff Ross and Team Coco that included a multi-year renewal of the late-night talk show “Conan” and the creation of a global partnership spanning television, digital media, branded content, podcasting, mobile gaming, pay TV and live events. He was also on the team representing Eli Holzman and his television production company the Intellectual Property Corp. in its acquisition by Core Media Group. 

Harvard Law School, 2014

-Todd Longwell

Diana Palacios

Associate

Davis Wright Tremaine 

Up Next

In her practice, which is mostly focused on First Amendment and intellectual property litigation, Palacios is frequently called upon to provide pre-broadcast counseling on projects that involve sensitive topics or fair-use issues, ranging from “Guy’s Grocery Games” to “WAGS: Wives and Girlfriends of Professional Athletes.” Her ongoing cases include defending Blumhouse Prods., Lionsgate and other parties in a copyright violation lawsuit over the motion picture “The Lazarus Effect” and, in an unusual twist, News Corp. against libel, privacy and illegal-recording claims filed by the toe-sucking former paramour of Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York.

UC Irvine School of Law, 2012

-Todd Longwell

Maria Snyder

Executive, Television Business Affairs

Creative Artists Agency

Up Next 

Snyder began her career by helping to prosecute several homicide cases for the state attorney general offices in Atlantic City, N.J., and Baltimore, and now she’s killing it with precedent-setting television deals. In 2018 alone, she was part of the team that helped structure the landmark deal, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, of supestar showrunner Ryan Murphy with Netflix, negotiate director Ava DuVernay’s eight-figure deal with Warner Bros. TV and broker Apple’s first overall TV deal with creator-showrunner Jason Katims. She was also closely involved in several television deals for Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment. 

University of Baltimore School of Law, 2015

-Todd Longwell

Kelly Vallon

Associate

Ziffren Brittenham

Up Next 

Before coming to Ziffren Brittenham, Vallon held a variety of positions around the entertainment industry, working everywhere from Rhino Entertainment to Universal Motown Republic Group, the Island Def Jam Music Group, Press Here Publicity, AEG Live, the Paradigm Agency and “The Colbert Report.” Her current gig has her handling a wide variety of complex transactions for artists, songwriters, music producers and music-related entities including Beyonce, Justin Timberlake, Alicia Keys, Jennifer Hudson, Gothic Tropic, Grace Weber, Evan Ross and Ashlee Simpson and Mass Gothic. She also helped launch She Is the Music, a nonprofit dedicated to increasing the number of women working in music. 

USC Gould School of Law, 2013

-Todd Longwell