Steve’s practice encompasses both traditional entertainment and media matters as well as more complex matters involving creative deal-making, evolving business models and multidisciplinary business considerations. The following representative matters provide selected examples.
Television, Film, Digital Media & Content
- Advising production companies, rights holders, producers, financiers, distributors and other industry participants regarding the development, production, financing, acquisition, licensing, distribution and exploitation of television programs, films, digital productions and related content across multiple distribution platforms
- Assisting production companies, suppliers and distributors with transactions across evolving distribution models, including linear, SVOD, AVOD, FAST channels and syndication
- Advising talent, producers and other creative participants in scripted and unscripted productions for television, feature films and digital productions
- Providing legal and strategic advice to creators and producers of large-scale athletic competition events for television, including network and exhibitor agreements, participant and athlete engagement matters, production legal oversight, guild matters and risk management.
- International co-productions with Canadian and other foreign entities, working with local counsel in connection with subsidy structures, co-financing and co-distribution arrangements, and in connection with U.S. state and local production incentives and subsidies
- Guild and union matters
Selected Illustrative Engagements
Advising the financier/producer of a television series distributed on a FAST channel and a concurrent syndication window
Counselling the estate of a world-renowned painter and television personality for a deal with a U.S. television network for a prime time series based on the artist’s persona and unique style of artwork, including licensing rights to name and likeness and use of artwork on-camera as well as brand protection provisions, with the engagement of the estate’s representative as an executive producer to maintain quality controls
Counsel and negotiations for celebrity consumer advocate Erin Brockovich for a life rights and executive producer agreement for the fictionalized ABC series Rebel, as well as a publishing agreement for a non-fiction book that she authored
Reality competition shows: American Ninja Warrior (NBC), Ultimate Beastmaster (Netflix), I Survived a Japanese Game Show (produced in Japan for ABC), among others
Branding, Sponsorship & Entertainment Marketing
- Structuring strategic collaborations involving content creators, brands, talent, platforms and marketing partners across evolving media and promotional channels
- Advising consumer product brands, sponsors, producers, talent and entrepreneurs in connection with endorsement arrangements, branded entertainment initiatives, sponsorship relationships, integrated marketing programs and related commercial opportunities.
- Endorsement and brand ambassador transactions involving celebrities, athletes, performers and influencers, including rights, services, guild and union matters, rights of publicity and social-media campaigns
Selected Illustrative Engagements
Structuring and negotiating brand ambassador and endorsement deal for Voss water with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, including creation of original content, social media uses, and live appearances
Providing strategic advice to a start-up multi-platform venture and brand focused on Western-type equestrian sports and lifestyle, including athlete and brand ambassador engagements, live and televised competitions, sponsorship, advertising, branding, sweepstakes, distribution and risk management, while leading a multi-disciplinary team handling music performance royalties, trademark, corporate, immigration and other matters
Advising State Farm Insurance as sponsor and financier of a series of live concerts by A-level artists which were edited into a series of branded television specials which included documentary elements tying in the brand
Talent, Rights & Strategic Transactions
- Advising talent, executives, producers, artists and authors regarding rights and services across traditional and digital media platforms
- Acquisition, development, licensing, protection and exploitation of intellectual property and related rights across multiple media and business platforms
- Backend participation matters including reporting, accounting and contract interpretation issues across legacy and emerging media
- Content creation and rights-related matters arising in strategic corporate and business transactions in the entertainment and media industries, as part of cross-functional teams involving corporate, tax and other specialists
- Advising authors of books in connection with evolving print and digital publishing models
Selected Illustrative Engagements
Counselling the author of an international best-selling series of books that was streamed by a start-up digital publisher, concerning a dispute involving rights, royalty accounting and reporting, as well as exploitation of ancillary rights
Subsequently assisted that author with transactions with U.S. and international print publishers for a new series of books
Negotiated a deal for legendary singer James Brown with a Las Vegas gaming company to license rights to his name and likeness for a slot machine
Sports, Live Events & High-Risk Productions
- Sports- and music-related productions, live events, experiential initiatives and entertainment-marketing projects involving content, branding, sponsorship and related commercial opportunities
- High-risk productions, including extreme sports and hazardous-activity programming, addressing liability issues, production legal oversight, risk-management protocols, participant releases, network standards and practices, and insurance-related matters
Selected Illustrative Engagements
Provided strategic and legal counsel to a consumer products company that produced and televised branded action sports events for broadcast on a “time-buy” basis
Reality competition series with participants in a race to the summit of a mountain in the Peruvian Andes with an elevation of 20,000 ft
Emerging Media, Technology & Evolving Business Models
- Advising businesses, entrepreneurs and individuals in connection with emerging business models at the intersection of technology, content and distribution, including AI-driven and technology-enabled media platforms designed to unlock new revenue opportunities, marketing and audience-engagement models.
- Advising clients regarding the use and exploitation of intellectual property in connection with grants and scope of rights, content creation, distribution, licensing, branding, social media and monetization strategies
International and Cross-Border Matters
- Helping clients navigate cross-border transactions in entertainment, media, branding and related matters on behalf of U.S. and international clients.
- Advising international clients regarding the structuring and implementation of business initiatives in the United States, including legal, business and cultural considerations affecting foreign companies entering the U.S. market, as well as corporate and tax matters as part of a team of specialists
- Advising U.S. clients regarding similar types of business initiatives in international territories (in conjunction with local counsel)
Selected Illustrative Engagement
Representation of a European consumer products company in connection with branded television specials produced in the UnitedStates for international distribution, including agreements involving broadcasters, international distributors, talent, live performances by athletes and musical artists, and rights relating to music and source material
M&A Matters
- Content and rights-related matters as part of high-value M&A transactions (as part of a team with corporate lawyers), on the “sell side” (e.g., a U.S. entity being purchased by a foreign company) and the “buy side” (e.g., acquisitions of a U.S. production services company, of promoters of live events and of a publishing company)
