Variety’s Dealmakers of 2023

Partner
Stubbs Alderton & Markiles

Besides advising a host of A-listers in their business transactions, Akselrud is known as a go-to corporate dealmaker. This year he was closely involved in financial and/or acquisition transactions for more than a dozen digital media companies and sports equipment retailers, and represented the late Leonard Cohen’s estate in its catalog sale to Hipgnosis Song Management.

Rebounding post-strikes: At first, “people were focusing on budgets and wanted to manage their expenses in what was looking like — and actually ended up being — an extended period.” Then, as happened with COVID, “everyone realized that there was a lot of work that could be accomplished to advance their corporate transactions and invest in the future of their brands or entrepreneurial initiatives, knowing that the strikes would ultimately end. It caused a flurry of activity [that] continues
to accelerate,” Akselrud says.

Founder, Chairman, CEO
Allen Media Group

Allen and his dedicated team continued their prolific dealmaking reign during a year filled with turmoil and occasional paralysis. AMG’s free streaming service, Local Now, launched three NBC News FAST Channels as well as a Washington Post FAST Channel, while launching the new court series “Equal Justice With Judge Eboni K. Williams.” AMG Motion Pictures is gearing up to produce a James Baldwin biopic starring Billy Porter, who is co-writing the screenplay with Dan McCabe.

Working through uncertain times: “The world and our business are always changing and evolving, making it both challenging and exciting,” says Allen. “We see great opportunities in this new landscape. Albert Einstein said it best: ‘The very definition of intelligent life is life that can adapt.’ As always, we will adapt.”

Partners
Alter Kendrick & Baron

Sought after by buyers and sellers of music rights catalogs, copyright lawyers Alter and Baron negotiated more than $3 billion in deals in the past year, including multiple high-profile acquisitions on behalf of BMG Rights Management, Reservoir Media Management, HarbourView Equity Partners, Temp Music Investments and Primary Wave Music Publishing.

AI’s impact on music catalog investments: “There’s a lot of litigation around it, so we’ll know more in coming years, but I don’t think it’s as big a risk as some investors have been concerned about,” Alter says. “Our job, when these things come up, is to try and anticipate ways in which … we could include in the purchase agreement enough protection to address technology that’s not even mainstream yet. The flip side is that there are a lot of ways the technology itself can be a tool.”

Ara: Partner; Global Co-Chair, Media, Sport & Entertainment Sector
Markman Partner; Co-Chair, Entertainment Transactions Practice
Steinberg, Imp: Partners
DLA Piper

Ara, Markman and Imp work on Lego content deals including reality TV series “Lego Masters.” The Century City-based trio also handles day-to-day matters for Lego productions. New York-based Steinberg advised TV broadcaster E.W. Scripps Co. for the launch a year ago of its sports division, and subsequently TV deals for Vegas Golden Knights and Phoenix Coyotes hockey games, and then for National Women’s Soccer League telecasts. Ara and Markman repped TikTok for the TikTok in the Mix concert and also ongoing virtual reality production, including for its Pico headsets. Other clients include CAA and Victoria’s Secret. Markman advises Jeanie Buss and David McLane for the all-female wrestling org WOW.

Get ready for a wild ride: Ara says that fast-growing artificial intelligence will roil Hollywood over questions about content ownership, protectability, infringement and engagement. He expects the main issues will be whether “the inputs and outputs in AI infringe on anyone else’s rights.”

Partners
Myman Greenspan Fox Rosenberg Mobasser Younger & Light

With the music industry in a state of flux, these partners navigated rocky terrain to pull off some of the biggest deals of 2023. Benoualid worked on the sale of Justin Bieber’s catalog to Hipgnosis for more than $200 million and helped facilitate Jennifer Lopez’s BMG record and publishing deals. Karp was part of the team that restructured Ariana Grande’s REM cosmetics business and helped wrangled deals for Guns N’ Roses’ upcoming European and North American tours. Milagros-Butler facilitated a joint venture publishing business between Pulse Music and Concord and helped make Erykah Badu’s dreams of having her cannabis strain a reality. Minzner inked the deal for RuPaul’s memoir and smoothed out Mako’s composer and songwriting agreements with Riot Games.

New horizons: “An artist becoming a partner in a joint venture versus just getting royalties off the sale of their records” is how Milagros-Butler describes one of the burgeoning opportunities for clients. “Take Badu’s deal with Cookies. She’s now the proud owner of a strain of cannabis and that’s proven to be lucrative.”

Bernstein: Chair, Entertainment Transactions
Nelson: Co-Chair, Technology, Media & Commercial
Jacobus, Ruisi: Partners
Venable

The quartet repped Peyton Manning’s Omaha Prods. selling a minority stake to Peter Chernin-led North Road in May, and separately Boardwalk Pictures (Netflix’s “Chef’s Table”) in its sale of a minority stake to Shamrock Capital in February. They also advised TV-film producer Automatik (“La La Land”) in its June merger with Range Media Partners. Another client, cryptocurrency exchange OKX, forged a sponsorship deal with Premiere League soccer team Manchester City in June. Bernstein focuses on corporate issues, Nelson on intellectual-property transactions, Jacobus on taxation and Ruisi on trademarks. Bernstein and Jacobus are based in Los Angeles, Nelson in San Francisco and Ruisi in New York.

Thorny issues: Nelson sees an epic arm-wrestling match unfolding as content creators press for compensation when AI regurgitates their intellectual property. “That’s the puzzle,” he says. “There clearly is a foundational identity and persona for many of our clients who should receive value for their creativity, identity and works.”

Biederman, Plinio: Shareholders
Schindler: Senior Chair, New York Entertainment & Media Practice
Greenberg Traurig

Major music catalog sales and securitization deals have kept Biederman, Plinio and Schindler extremely busy in 2023, along with striking licensing, branding, publishing and record deals for their star-studded clients. Biederman served as counsel on Apollo Global Management’s record-shattering $1.8 billion music asset-backed securitization of the Concord Music catalog. Plinio facilitated Litmus Music’s acquisition of Katy Perry’s music catalog in an industry-captivating if not always accurately reported (“most of it was incorrect,” he says) deal. Schindler smoothed the way for Open on Sunday to acquire catalogs including songs by Madonna, Metro Boomin, BB King and Keith Sweat.

Estate planning and catalog sales: “For the artists or the companies, it’s about getting capital gains income instead of ordinary income — and having the money all at once,” Schindler says. Estate planning also plays a role. “Money is fungible, and copyrights are not,” Biederman says. “It’s a lot easier to sell a catalog and hand checks to your various heirs than to have a bunch of people in a room trying to decide whether to use grandpa’s song in a movie.”

Bierman: Chair, Entertainment Labor Group
Krol: Senior Counsel
Loeb & Loeb

Bierman and Krol, labor law specialists, assisted their wide spectrum of clients to navigate the first dual industry strikes since 1960. At the same time, retaining good relationships with guild execs enabled them to work through complicated strike rule issues to the clients’ benefit. Of particular note: the role they played in obtaining SAG-AFTRA interim agreements for qualifying indie projects, leading to the following note from a prominent thesp, attached to a bouquet of flowers on Bierman’s desk: “Thank you for saving our film.”

Proceed with caution: “I have been speaking publicly, on a regular basis, about my very serious concerns about the breakdown of management-labor relations — the lack of trust and collaboration, and the impact that this is having and may continue to have on our industry,” Bierman says. “My hope is that when the companies are implementing these collective bargaining agreements and the guilds are enforcing them, it won’t exacerbate what is already a tense and frayed relationship.”

Vice Chairman, Global Entertainment & Media Practice
Greenberg Traurig

With the industry taking a battering from strikes and the lingering effects of COVID, the key to Black’s success lies in his “recession-proof” clients. He negotiated a sizeable film and television deal with Paramount Global and Taylor Sheridan for scripted content based on client Willie Nelson’s life, continued to guide Spin Master’s successful “Paw Patrol” franchise, negotiated C-suite employment agreements worth $150 million and — in a sign of the times — separation agreements worth $80 million. He also served as lead counsel for Litmus Music’s catalog acquisitions and facilitated Lashan Browning’s historic joint venture with Paramount.

Deals in hard times: “I try to keep as varied a practice as possible and identify individuals and companies that have something special about them,” Black says. “During these challenging times, the cream still rises to the top.”

Bromley: Leader, Manatt Entertainment
Chatham: Partner
Manatt, Phelps & Phillips

Bromley, who helped negotiate more than $3 billion in music transactions in the past year, advises notable artists including Diplo, Jack White and Eagles, also representing two of the world’s largest music IP holders. Additionally, he spearheaded the firm’s new music streaming royalty calculator and infographic that tracks creators’ earnings from Spotify and Apple Music. Meanwhile, Chatham, whose client list spans a broad spectrum of the entertainment industry, brokered a deal to transition Dr. Phil from syndie talk show host and author to primetime host on his own network. Other Chatham clients include Logan Paul, Gabriel Macht, Nic Pizzolatto, Julia Boorstin and Heidi Klum.

Influential appeal: Logan Paul’s Prime beverage “is set to surpass $1.2 billion in annual sales this year, just two years after its launch,” says Chatham. “This type of success has validated the idea that the informal-influencer-style approach, especially to younger consumers, is not going away anytime soon.”

Bruington, Johnson, West: Partners
Liliana Paparelli Ranger: Associate 
Latham & Watkins

Focused on finance, Bruington advised Skydance Media on a $1 billion credit facility and separately New Regency Prods. on a $175 million loan, both in July. Bruington also advised Monroe Capital on acquisition financing for Vin Di Bona Prods. Working entertainment and sports deals, Johnson advised MGM in April regarding subscriber migration and content licensing for MGM+ International in Europe, plus KKR-backed Mediawan buying into Brad Pitt-led Plan B Entertainment. Handling celebrities and companies for personal services agreements, West repped Julia Louis-Dreyfus for a February podcasting pact, Hybe America acquiring hip-hop label Quality Control, also in February, and Shamrock Holdings for Dr. Dre’s music catalog in January. Ranger advised Endeavor in its September megadeal rolling its UFC sports into TKO Group and separately the Houston Rockets acquiring a regional sports network in October. Ranger becomes partner in January 2024, and works production/distribution transactions. All are based in Century City.

Crystal balling: Johnson sees the industry embracing AI as a content creation tool and to help monetize existing libraries. “Our clients are looking around corners, figuring out the Next Big Thing,” Johnson says.

President
CAA

In one of 2023’s decidedly game-changing deals, CAA and Artémis, the Paris-based Pinault family’s investment company and holder of some of the world’s top luxury brands, announced Artémis as the new majority shareholder of the Century City-based entertainment and sports agency — a stake acquired from global investment firm TPG. Although terms were not disclosed, the transaction reportedly values the agency at $7 billion. Per the deal, Singapore-headquartered Temasek, another global investment firm, will remain a minority investor in CAA. China-based CMC Capital continues as a CAA strategic partner.

Looking forward: “The transaction with Artémis positions CAA with the right  majority partner for our next chapter,” says Burston, who headed the CAA deal team. “Led by François-Henri Pinault, Artémis is that unique combination of a savvy, strategic investor and a truly entrepreneurial operator.”

Partners
Donaldson Callif Perez

Advocating for independent creators is the core of their practice, as is their commitment to protecting creators’ rights. In the past year, Callif repped the Safdie brothers’ production company, Elara, in transactions for four HBO docuseries, including “Telemarketers.” She also served as legal counsel for MGX Creative, plus closed a financing deal and provided legal work for XTR’s “They Call Me Magic.” Perez provided vital clearance rights work in collaboration with Meadowlark Media and Skydance Sports for the Amazon docuseries “Good Rivals,” and advised director Matt Johnson and Zapruder Films on complex clearance issues associated with the unauthorized biopic “BlackBerry,” later acquired by Universal.

The AI effect: “The future of generative AI in the entertainment industry is fascinating,” says Perez. “It’s unlikely to be addressed by federal law anytime soon. Instead, it’ll be shaped by how creators employ the technology and how dealmakers address the possible uses of AI in their deals.”

Founder, Managing Partner, Chief Investment Officer
RedBird Capital Partners

RedBird Capital handled some of the biggest media and entertainment deals in the past year. It helped the formation of the XFL and its recently announced merger with the USFL. It boosted growth at Skydance Media by navigating a lucrative joint venture deal with the NFL to form Skydance Sports. And it aided the formation of creative production studio Artists Equity in partnership with Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. But the firm’s banner achievement was the launch of RedBird IMI with former CNN topper Jeff Zucker, a joint venture investment platform focused on global media, entertainment, sports and news. 

Adapting to the times: “Technological disintermediation has always been a driver of potential new investment opportunities, as long as you can navigate content selection towards the most premium intellectual property,” says Cardinale.

Clark, Klein, de Reinstein: Partners
Schnapp: Partner & Leader of the Music, Interactive Media, AI and Technology Transactions Teams 
Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton 

With more than a century’s worth of experience between them, Clark, Klein, Cervantes de Reinstein and Schnapp have become a transactional go-to team for high-profile clients. Each partner has his own specialty — film financing for Klein, television for Cervantes de Reinstein, music and tech for Schnapp and branding and M&A for Clark — ensuring every client has access to their collective expertise, regardless of the type of transaction. Notable client deals they repped in recent months: Lionsgate’s approximately $500 million acquisition of eOne from Hasbro; 101 Studio’s nine-figure strategic alliance agreement with Paramount Global to develop and produce multiple series with A-list exec producers and ASCAP’s long-term multimillion-dollar license agreement with SiriusXM Radio.

Bright side of chaos: “There has been a fair amount of chaos in the past year, but chaos breeds opportunity — for us and for our clients,” says Clark. “During periods of disruption, we often have to work harder and more creatively to get deals closed because the playing field is different or uneven, objectives change, and sometimes there are unprecedented rules of engagement.” 

President Platform Distribution
The Walt Disney Co.

Connolly was the chief negotiator in a deal with Charter Communications to distribute Disney’s linear networks (including Disney Channel, FX, NatGeo Channel and ESPN), as well as direct-to-consumer services such as ESPN+ and the Disney+ basic ad-supported offering. The pact was transformative because it gave cable-only users access to shows previously available only via streaming and all of Charter’s customers a single access point for a wealth of Mouse House content, while simultaneously establishing a template for future relationships between program providers and online gatekeepers. He also renewed deals with other cable telco players, as well as with rising live streamer FuboTV.

Cord-cutting continues: “It’s a dynamic we’re all wrestling with, especially in the relationships in the marketplace we’ve had for a long period of time,” says Connolly.

Partners
Cohen Gardner 

Cohen’s clients include Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan, who won the Academy Awards for actress and supporting actor, respectively, for their work on last year’s Oscar-sweeping “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” This year, Yeoh’s projects include “A Haunting in Venice,” “Wicked” and new “Star Trek” property “Section 31.” Keis in the new season of Disney+’s “Loki” and the Russo brothers’ “The Electric State” for Netflix. Together the duo star in Disney+’s “American Born Chinese.” Other clients: Ronny Chieng, appearing in Taika Waititi’s Disney+ series “Interior Chinatown”; producer Eydie Faye; and “Top Chef” host Kristen Kish. Gardner negotiated Bong Joon Ho’s new feature film deal; guided writer-director Guy Nattiv through the theatrical release of Helen Mirren-starrer “Golda”; and in TV helped clients Boots Riley with Amazon’s “I’m a Virgo” and showrunner Greg Coolidge with limited series “The Continental.”

Production flow: “The WGA and SAG resolutions provide a nice space from which to negotiate deals for our clients,” says Cohen. “So, hopefully, 2024 is going to be a great year to rebound and a lot of productions in the pipeline can start flowing for our clients.”

Darwell: Senior Partner, Head of Global Media
Campbell: Special Counsel 
Ohanian, Urdinola: Senior Associates
Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton

Working in the intersection of tech, sports and entertainment, this powerhouse quartet boasts clients including Meta, Amazon-Wondery and TelevisaUnivision. The team enjoys exploring new territory, be it helping Meta further expand its metaverse or aiding Paramount in breaking into the Latin American live sports market. They also advised France’s Artémis in purchasing a majority stake in CAA, and guided Amazon Studios in a four-picture deal with Tyler Perry and acquiring the documentary “Maxine’s Baby: The Tyler Perry Story” for an undisclosed sum.

AI rising: “We’re now barely scratching the surface when it comes to its possibilities,” Darwell says. “Regulating AI was one of the sticking points at the negotiation table in both the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes. This is why it’s crucial to be at the forefront of deals involving these innovations and to dive deep and explore these concepts so we can help our clients recognize the potential and opportunities brought by these changes, but also to understand and anticipate the challenges that will arise in the future.”

Partner; Global Co-Chair, Entertainment & Media Group
Paul Hastings 

Deutsch repped Greg Silverman’s film-TV outfit Stampede Entertainment in a capital raise and also launching kids-family joint venture Hidden Pigeon in May. He also advised Charles B. King in his completing a $90 million-plus equity raise from BlackRock Alternatives and others in March. Other clients include financier Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries; multihyphenate Jon Favreau’s Fairview Portals in commercial transactions; Morgan Freeman’s Revelations Entertainment; Jonathan Lim’s City Hill Arts in film financing; Jeff Skoll’s Participant Media; and pro bono work for Inevitable Foundation with disabled talent. 

More upheavals: “As streamers lean more towards split-rights and split-territory deals, and away from global all-rights deals, we should see an uptick in creative debt and equity financings for independent producers,” he says.

Edel: Chair, Entertainment Group
Chamlin: Chair, Television Group
Loeb & Loeb 

Triangulation among New York (Chamlin’s domain), Los Angeles (Edel’s domain) and Nashville places the firm in multiple strategic areas. Chamlin advised Oprah Winfrey in a host of new ventures in 2023, from the website Oprah Daily and acclaimed documentaries like “Sidney,” to the People’s Fund of Maui, established with Dwayne Johnson to benefit wildfire victims. Edel assisted Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s new company Artists Equity and worked with Alcon Entertainment on its forthcoming “Garfield” feature and live-action, limited-series sequel “Blade Runner 2099.”

Existential moment: “Both of us feel that next year will be very much supercharged,” Chamlin says, “but spending and creating content will be in a very fractured, moving environment.” Adds Edel, “Cable networks will prosper in an election year because politics is still a TV-oriented space,” but in the long term, traditional models will be challenged, with consolidation and attrition inevitable. You’re not “going to look two, three years from now at all of the same players,” Chamlin predicts.

Emanuel: CEO, Endeavor and TKO 
McMahon: Founder, WWE; Executive Chairman, TKO
TKO Group Holdings

The multibillion-dollar sports merger creating publicly listed TKO Group in September checked a lot of boxes. Endeavor offloaded $2.7 billion in debt when contributing its mixed-martial-arts UFC, getting a 51% stake in TKO. McMahon, whose WWE wrestling was the other merger component, sold a $670 million slice of his personal TKO stock in November. TKO unveiled a raft of deals after the merger: These included WWE signing a TV-media rights deal with NBCUniversal that brings its centerpiece wrestling to USA Network, and separately, WWE NXT to broadcaster the CW. Both are five-year pacts effective next autumn. Published reports suggest USA Network’s fee is a 40% increase from the prior Fox deal. In the past year, UFC unveiled several beverage sponsorships and territorial media deals. Emanuel is based in Beverly Hills, McMahon in Stamford, Conn.

Sports ascendant: During an earnings call, Emanuel said of sports rights that “there have never been more buyers or greater competition, whether that’s Disney paying a high premium to retain F1 or Apple entering into a 10-year deal worth $2.5 billion for MLS.”

Epstein: Partner; Chair, Entertainment Transactions Practice
Fohrman: Partner; Chair, Music & Digital Media Practice 
Nix: Partner, Tax & Entertainment Transactions Practices 
Vesey: Partner, Corporate & Financial Services & Entertainment Transactions Practices
Willkie Farr & Gallagher

The Willkie team didn’t experience a downturn during the strikes because it’s principally a corporate transactional practice. Their job was to rep Ryan Reynolds as part owner of Mint Mobile in connection with T-Mobile’s acquisition of the direct-to-consumer prepaid wireless provider and one other brand for up to $1.35 billion. Other big deals in 2023 include repping Brillstein Entertainment Partners in its sale to Wasserman, former Styx frontman Dennis DeYoung in the sale of his music publishing and sound recording catalog to Primary Wave, the estate of singer Joe Cocker in the sale of his music catalog to Iconic Artists Group and advising Plan B Entertainment in connection with Mediawan’s acquisition of a significant stake in the company.

Playing it right: “I’m not going to reduce the value of my asset because the market’s saying interest rates are coming down, so you suck it up higher and pay the higher interest rate so you can go refinance your investment when interest rates drop,” says Epstein.

President of Advertising
The Walt Disney Co.

Ferro and her team launched the Disney+ ad tier in the U.S. in December 2022 with 100 advertisers; the number has since grown to more than 5,000. In between, they engineered distribution deals with a quartet of “diverse-owned” companies (Cocina, Equal Pride, Group Black and United Masters) to create branded content, and set up a collab between Disney advertising and Ally Financial on two takeovers of ESPN’s “SportsCenter,” spearheaded by an all-female production team. In the third quarter, they launched ad-supported Disney+ in Canada and select EMEA countries; the rollout will continue in 2024. 

Going global challenge: “When you launch in multiple countries, in multiple languages, with multiple partners, there are a bunch of local restrictions and privacy policies that have to be adhered to,” she says.

Partners 
Sidley Austin

The Sidley Austin team was involved in some big transactions: Zipperstein repped Eldridge Industries in its acquisition (alongside Dick Clark Prods.) of all the Golden Globes’ assets and rights from the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn., which altered the awards season playing field. Weiss handled soccer league CONCACAF’s strategic partnership agreement with Universal Music Latino that had their artists Chiquis, Akon, Oriana, Lasso and Adriel Favela creating and performing 2023 Gold Cup Anthem “No Es Solo un Juego.” Other deals were more like background chess moves, like when Fronk and Zipperstein repped high-end gaming headphone maker Audeze in its acquisition by Sony Interactive Entertainment and Ashworth’s work with HarbourView Equity in its efforts to acquire BET from Paramount Global. 

Gold in the bytes: “If you have two partners in a joint venture, a lot of the negotiation is around who gets what access to the user data obtained from the operation,” says Weiss.

Galsor, James, Muir: Partners
Milostan: Partner 
Greenberg Glusker

When the strikes hit in the spring, Galsor thought he might be able to take a month off and sit in a cabin somewhere, but it turned out that while the nature of the deals cut by this Greenberg Glusker team might have changed slightly, the volume didn’t decrease. For instance, Milostan signed model-actor Sam Asghari as a client in all of his entertainment matters and is helping him navigate his high-profile divorce from singer Britney Spears. For the most part, it was business as usual. Galsor worked
with James on deals for the Russo brothers and their production company,  AGBO, and shared the Chris Hemsworth and Ubisoft Entertainment workload with James, while repping such showbiz heavyweights as actor/producer Tom Cruise, director David Fincher, director James Cameron and actor Vin Diesel.

Streaming’s simple math: “A couple of years ago, people thought there’s an additional billion customers out there,” says Galsor. “At least for now, that’s not the case. So you have to either raise prices or cut costs or do both. And they’re doing both.”

Partners
Ginsburg Daniels Kallis

Ginsburg and Kallis had a busy year despite the strikes. According to numerous reports they concluded deals for such clients as Timothée Chalamet (“Dune 2,” “Wonka”), whom they represented in two large branded endorsement deals for Cartier and Apple; “Jurassic World” helmer Colin Trevorrow on Skydance’s big-budget “Atlantis”; Stefani Robinson in a major overall deal at FX; and LaKeith Stanfield in his starring role in Sony TriStar’s “The Book of Clarence.” 

Moving ahead post-strike: “If the companies react to the strikes by making fewer movies and shows, then they’re deciding they’re OK with further slowing their growth and having fewer viewers as well,” says Ginsburg. 

Glick: Exec VP, Business Operations, Warner Bros. Television
Matzkin: Exec VP, Business Operations & Production, Warner Bros. Unscripted Television
Muir: Senior VP, Legal & Business Affairs, Warner Bros. Animation 
Warner Bros. Television Group

While the TV group is the leading supplier (30 projects) to Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max streaming service, it sends 75% of its output to non-WB external networks or services. Thus Glick negotiated deals for “Bookie,” a series for Max, and “The Emperor of Ocean Park” and “Just Cause” for MGM+ and Amazon Prime Video, respectively. Similarly, Matzkin worked the deal with ABC for the hit franchise extender “The Golden Bachelor” while spearheading two Max documentaries for WarnerBros.’ centennial celebration. Muir led negotiations to bring high-profile Batman animation to market: series “Batman: Caped Crusader” and “Bat-Family,” as well as a “Merry Little Batman” feature, all for Amazon.

Seek and ye shall find: “It’s hard-wired in our DNA to find the best platform for our creative partners to tell their stories,” the execs agree. “Our teams across scripted, unscripted and animation collaborate to structure innovative deals that support those storytelling ambitions while maximizing upside for our partners.”

Goldsmith: COO
Tobey: Exec VP & General Counsel
Delaney: Exec VP, Corporate Development
Felfeli: VP, Corporate Development
DLA Piper

This team worked to finalize Lionsgate’s acquisition of eOne from Hasbro for $375 million in cash. Upon closure, the deal will add thousands of titles to Lionsgate’s film and TV library, extending the studio’s portfolio to include ABC’s “The Rookie,” Showtime’s “Yellowjackets,” Discovery’s “Naked and Afraid” and film development rights to the Monopoly brand; bolster its scripted and unscripted TV business; and expand the reach of its Canadian and U.K. operations. Lionsgate has already added libraries from Artisan, Trimark, Summit, Starz and Spyglass Entertainment through various deals. Scheduled for the first quarter of 2024: the separation of Lionsgate and Starz into independent standalone pure-play companies.

Strength through numbers: “We expect the eOne deal to be highly accretive,” says Goldsmith. “We’re very excited about the company we acquired, the talented team of employees who will be joining us and [its] great portfolio of content assets.”

Partners 
Granderson Des Rochers

This four-year-old Beverly Hills boutique prides itself on inclusivity — its founders are African American, LGBTQ+, Latin or Asian — as well as its ability to cut a wide range of big deals for its diverse client list. In recent months, Granderson’s major transactions include repping A$AP Rocky in his whiskey and Gucci fragrance ventures and Quality Control Music in its $300 million-plus sale to Scooter Braun’s Hybe America. Des Rochers’ headline deals include Zendaya’s pacts as star and producer of the tennis dramedy “Challengers” and the HBO series “Euphoria,” while Sandler cut Pete Davidson’s deals to co-star in the movie “Dumb Money” and appear in campaigns for Smartwater and Taco Bell. Up in their San Francisco office, Moody works with tech companies such as audio creation tool Boomy, AI-based music separation tool Audioshake and blockchain-based music streaming service Audius.

Don’t fear AI: “It’s quite analogous to things we’ve been through before in disruptive times,” says Moody. “The law has to find a way to catch up, and it’s going to be tested over the next 18 months.”

Hamill: Partner; Global Co-Chair, M&A & Private Equity Practice
Offsay: Partner; Global Co-Chair, Entertainment, Sports & Media Practice
Latham & Watkins

The duo repped Endeavor in the $21 billion merger of UFC with WWE, creating TKO Group, and separately worked KKR-portfolio company Mediawan acquiring a majority stake a year ago in Brad Pitt-led Plan B Entertainment. New York-based Hamill advised Endeavor in the $1.25 billion sale of its IMG Academy in April. Century City-based Offsay handled the Houston Rockets acquiring AT&T SportsNet Southwest this year from Warner Bros. Discovery, and separately Carlyle Credit partnering in Litmus Music in August for Katy Perry music projects. The duo represented Skydance Media in its content joint venture with the NFL.

M&A fever: Offsay expects more media-entertainment mergers & acquisitions as companies bulk up to compete in the global video streaming business, and trim debt amid high interest rates, including divestitures: “That’s going to be a big driver of M&A in the next year.”

Heisler: Partner, Entertainment Lead
Mitchell: Partner
Chang, Usmani: Counsel 
Nixon Peabody

This woman-led team represents more than 80 content creators who have some 650 million-plus followers across Instagram, YouTube, X, Snapchat and TikTok — and artists with more than 200 million monthly Spotify listeners. In 2023, they advised roughly 100 clients in strategic negotiations with an aggregate value exceeding $550 million, including all legal matters for chef and internet personality Matty Mattheson, while working with R&B superstar Brent Faiyaz on an unprecedented music partnership agreement with United Masters, which allowed him to remain an independent artist. The group handled Addison Rae’s deals to star in features “Thanksgiving” and “Animal Friends,” as well as legal matters for actress, model, entrepreneur and Inamorata brand founder, Emily Ratajkowski, including her becoming the face of Viktor & Rolf fragrance Flowerbomb. 

Quick response: “Change is inevitable, whether it’s adapting to the pervasive and growing use of AI, or navigating the strikes,” says Heisler. “These latest challenges are examples of why it’s imperative that talent diversify their revenue streams and their representatives educate themselves on emerging technology.”

Special Counsel
Covington & Burling

Longtime sports fan Hill shapes some of the biggest deals in athletics today. He advised on the NFL’s agreement with Google that kicked in this year, granting YouTube channels exclusive distribution of NFL Sunday Ticket in a deal valued at an estimated $2 billion over seven years. Hill also advised the Phoenix Suns and Mercury on their media rights agreements, and the L.A. Clippers on their launch of Clippervision for direct-to-consumer streaming.

Future in flux: “Sports entities no longer have the luxury of relying primarily on the traditional pay TV bundle to reach fans,” says Hill. “They are increasingly experimenting with alternate ways to expand their audience, such as deals with major streamers, the distribution of alternate telecasts, short-form social media content and even the re-emergence of free over-the-air broadcast television. In this fragmented media ecosystem, all options are on the table.” 

Partner
Raine Group

In July, Raine announced a new $760 million growth equity fund that will focus on sports, media, entertainment and gaming — bringing the firm to nearly $4 billion in assets under management. And during the past year, Raine played a pivotal role as lead financial advisor in WWE’s merger with UFC, led by Raine co-founder Jeff Sine. Hodge’s expertise at the merchant bank extends to offering management guidance and strategic counsel to a portfolio of companies where he sits on the board, including Propagate, Imagine Entertainment and advertising measurement tech company VideoAmp. He’s also had a hand in both Moonbug, the YouTube kids-content outfit now owned by Candle Media, and Spanish-language powerhouse TelevisiaUnivision.

Acceleration: “Changes, challenges and opportunities have been the history of Hollywood,” says Hodge. “After a slow start to the year, a number of deals I’m working on are nearing the finish line. Many parts of the landscape will look fundamentally different next year than they do now.” 

Partner; Co-Chair, Entertainment Group
Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz

Hurwitz has made a career of tailoring executive negotiations to meet each client’s specific needs and talents. This includes one of the biggest of the year: representing writer-director James Gunn in his deal to serve as co-CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery’s DC Studios, where he’ll also write, direct and produce film and TV projects for the studio. 

Fast forward: It used to take a decade to witness the type of technological or economic changes we now sometimes see in a year or two, says Hurwitz. “That’s challenging for dealmakers because you always want to be able to tell the client that, given the context of a particular negotiation, this is the best deal that you can get, and we recommend this to you.”

Karlov: Chair, Entertainment, Media & Sports Practice Group
Hunt, Thompson, Schall: Partners 
Barnes & Thornburg

Karlov, Hunt, Thompson and Schall all negotiated high-profile deals this year. Two standouts: Karlov helped John Fogerty repurchase rights to the Creedence Clearwater Revival catalog — a long-time goal of the musician — bucking the trend of musicians selling their catalogs; and Thompson represented Peyton Manning and Omaha Prods. in agreements spanning the intersection of sports, music and television, from revamping the NFL Pro Bowl, to hosting the Country Music Awards, to developing an unscripted Netflix series. 

Social media micro-licensing: “There is no micro-license, for lack of a better word, process that serves all of the industry at once, so we really cannot monetize the most extensive use of our intellectual property,” Karlov says. “The music business [has] the opportunity to figure it out and create the model … and whoever figures out that model — including if they can figure it out on a national or international basis, such that all owners and licensors can partake — they’ll make fortunes.”

Partners 
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett

As deal counsel to Microsoft, this New York-based team did much of the heavy lifting on the most consequential gaming deal of 2023: the software giant’s $75 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which closed on Oct. 13 after a protracted period of global regulatory review. A related transaction involving the divestment of the cloud streaming rights to Activision’s games outside the European Economic Area to Ubisoft Entertainment closed the same day following approval by the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority of Microsoft’s restructured transaction.

Duty calls: The acquisition, its largest to date, represents a major win for Microsoft, maker of the Xbox, adding major franchises like “Call of Duty” to its portfolio.

Chairman, CEO
Brillstein Entertainment Partners 

Liebman, with partner Cynthia Pett, advised longtime client Brad Pitt’s Plan B in forging a content-creation partnership with Mediawan, and shepherded a multiyear first-look deal between Brillstein Creative Partners and Paramount Television Studios. Still, 2023 was most notable for the sale of the management and production company to Wasserman Media Group, consummated without layoffs or restructuring. 

Going courting: “A lot of people will sell to bankers or financiers,” Liebman notes, “who don’t have the interest of the artists or the brand in mind. I didn’t want to go down that road. I wanted to find a strategic partnership with a robust platform that could help us evolve our business.” Dealmakers often focus just on the deal itself, he adds, “but you have to think it through: How is it going to be after we’ve made the deal? I like to ask, ‘What are we going to do on Monday?’”

Masuda, Ross: Partners; Co-Chairs, Media, Entertainment & Technology Practice Group
Tsoneff, Graham: Partners
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher

The quartet advised Universal Pictures on its investment-distribution partnership in July with Amblin Entertainment, and also Universal on its first-look affiliate Blumhouse Prods. in merger talks with Atomic Monster. The four also repped Fortress Investment Group in the lender-group acquisition of Vice Media in July for a reported $225 million. Other clients are Oak View Group for an events venue management-sponsorship venture; an SNB Capital affiliate buying into a Hollywood company; commentator Rachel Maddow establishing her own production company; and two music catalog sales. In sports, they repped Shaquille O’Neal and his Jersey Legends on their Authentic Studios partnership in February; talent agency Klutch Sports in its January sale to UTA; and RedBird Capital Partners in a May investment deal.

Irrepressible: When the writers and actors shut down mainstream film and TV production, idle Hollywood talent bounded elsewhere, such as podcasting. “There’s sometimes a shifting of resources and you see an overall industry evolution,” he says.

Meiselas: Partner, Head of Music Department 
Jacobs: Partner 
Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks

Lady Gaga’s starring role in “The Joker” sequel, the Weeknd’s record-breaking world tour and Usher’s residencies in Las Vegas and Paris were just some of the deals Meiselas struck or continued to iron out for his superstar clients in 2023. He also pulled off a rare trifecta by negotiating Usher’s Super Bowl LVIII Halftime performance — having previously done it for Gaga and the Weeknd. For his part, Jacobs represented Zach Bryan on his ascent to the very pinnacle of the music industry. He made the deal with AG for Bryan’s sold-out arena tour and then re-upped it for next year’s stadium tour while his client landed a No. 1 album and multiple Grammy noms. 

Bargaining power: “Artists have more leverage to get better deals than ever before,” Jacobs says. “That’s really a product of this new era. You can sell anything directly to your fans, whether it’s merch, a ticket or streaming your music.”

Managing Partner, L.A. Office; Founding Chair, Entertainment & Sports Law Dept.
Fox Rothschild

Navigating the changing Hollywood landscape for his clients is what Miller does best. He negotiated stand-up comedian Taylor Tomlinson’s deal to host “After Midnight,” CBS’ new late-night franchise, as well as two upcoming Netflix comedy specials. Miller also hammered out the deal for Da’Vine Joy Randolph’s scene-stealing role in Alexander Payne’s “The Holdovers,” which is generating Oscar buzz. While these deals were done before the strikes, the disruption was tremendous and, in his opinion, could pose significant challenges to the industry moving forward. 

Strike aftermath: “I don’t think the issues have been resolved,” Miller says. “The future will continue to be fought over what the new economic models for participation for creatives should be in traditional media and the very rapidly approaching AI media.” 

Moore, Savranskaia: Partners
Webb: Counsel
Fenton: Associate
Greenberg Glusker

The Greenberg Glusker team started the year on a high note, with Moore working on a $100 million financing deal for the new theatrical distribution company WonderView Studios that closed in February. More recently, he’s been working on the $30 million sale of an animation company, the $100 million merger of two prolific TV production companies and the acquisition of rights and financing of “Rush Hour 4.” Savranskaia carried a workload that included documentary and publishing deals for James Cameron and producing pacts for Tommy Harper (“Beetlejuice 2”) and Robby Kenner (“Food Inc. 2”), while Webb handled the Marley family’s producing and rights deals on the Paramount biopic “Bob Marley: One Love.” Fenton was busy assisting Katy Spillers in the negotiation of celebrity endorsement agreements for Kim Kardashian’s brand Skims and Khloe Kardashian’s brand Good America.

Waiting for the post-strike stampede: “There are a lot of daily network shows that resumed very quickly, but in terms of bigger-budget series and films, right now everybody’s sort of figuring out how to get everybody ready to hit the ground running in the new year,” says Webb.

Co-Chairmen
WME

The duo worked on acquiring the remaining ownership of Bill Duffy’s NBA players agency BDA Sports in March, and literary Ross Yoon Agency in June, which plants WME’s flag in Washington, D.C. For Americana music touring, New York-based Muirhead and Beverly Hills-based Weitz grew WME’s Nashville footprint in April with the acquisition of Red 11 Music and, separately, True Grit Talent Agency in Austin in August. All those acquisitions bolster the talent agency’s business in areas not impacted by the now-ended Hollywood labor strikes, which clipped revenue at parent Endeavor by tens of millions of dollars. The stoppage was painful, but Muirhead notes it also nudged clients to investigate books, touring, podcasting, videogames and income-generating social media. 

Triumph over adversity: “Despite all the headwinds, there are a tremendous amount of opportunities,” Muirhead observes. “There’s that old adage ‘in chaos, there is opportunity’ and the clients have proved that’s the case.”

Partners 
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom

Microsoft’s $75 billion acquisition of videogamer Activision Blizzard was demanding before the deal was signed, with arm-wrestling over price, due-diligence reviews and crafting complex agreements. Nijjar, King and Bors worked that early dealmaking and the also grueling and unusually lengthy 20 months of regulatory approvals that followed — a process that spanned the globe. The hang-ups were in the U.S., where the government asked a court to temporarily block but lost, and the U.K., which resolved in September. Sticky issues included consumer protections over cloud computing and online subscriptions. Activision is home of “Call of Duty” and “World of Warcraft”; buyer Microsoft owns Xbox.

Tech trio: The three Palo Alto-based attorneys are tech-focused. Nijjar repped Elon Musk acquiring Twitter, now X. Nijjar and King have worked for Netflix in the past. Nijjar sees AI raising a host of legal issues including when, for example, Hollywood talent with personal celebrity is placed in content with its own brand halo. She sees AI as a positive force when Hollywood “uses AI to enhance capabilities” such as visual effects and user experiences.

President, Global Business Affairs & International
Skydance Media

Oh was a key negotiator with Amazon Prime Video for the successful theatrical release of Skydance Sports’ first feature, “Air,” on more than 3,500 screens, before arriving on the streamer, while handling streaming deals for “Heart of Stone,” “Spy Kids: Armageddon” and “Ghosted,” and theatrical deals for “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” and “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning: Part One.” He also oversaw Skydance Television’s business and legal affairs for its slate, including “Foundation,” “Reacher” and Tom Clancy’s “Jack Ryan.” 

Staying busy: “After the initial rush of activity following the end of the strikes, we’ll settle into a model where quality rules over quantity of projects,” says Oh. “Companies are under enormous pressure to deliver revenue and results, and the downstream effects result in continuous pressure over budgets.”

Osborne: CEO
Arfa: Chairman, Music Division
Arfa: Exec VP, Head of Global Music 
Loftus: Exec VP, Head of Content Development
International Artists Group 

The biggest deal for the power brokers at IAG in 2023 was the formation of the company itself. It was created in June when top touring agency Artist Group International, led by Dennis Arfa, merged with film and TV-focused Agency for the Performing Arts, led by Osborne. The union was facilitated by billionaire Ron Burkle, owner of AGI since 2012 and an investor in APA. Clients include music artists 50 Cent, Mary J. Blige, Billy Joel, Metallica, Def Leppard, Rod Stewart, Motley Crue, Jane’s Addiction, Neil Young and Elvis Costello; actors Gary Oldman, Lily Gladstone,  Regina Hall, William H. Macy and Ken Jeong; content creators John Carpenter, Mary Harron and Lee Child; and author Margaret Atwood — along with the estates of Truman Capote and Mario Puzo.

Beware the conglomerates: “There is a need for [an agency] that doesn’t call itself a media company,” says Osborne.

Partner, Co-Chair, Media & Entertainment Industry Group
Covington & Burling

Over more than two decades, Polashuk has become a recognized expert on the evolving landscape in delivering content to consumers. This year she advised Disney in its landmark carriage deal with Charter Spectrum that included the Disney Channel, ESPN and ABC O&Os. The marriage of a cable package with a streaming service for one bundle and one price has, she says, “been coming for a long time and is likely to be a model for others.” Getting there was described by media watcher Puck as “the carriage fee negotiation heard round the world.”

Old is new again: As Polashuk sees it, 2023 “represented a significant evolution in the business models for delivering content to consumers. We are seeing the return of the subscription bundle, with its value and streamlined billing, and a renewed interest in ad-supported viewing.”

Ramo: Founder & Partner
Chang: Managing Partner
Canchola, Raben: Partners
Ramo Law

The bicoastal 16-attorney law firm furthered its company mission by creating a packaging and sales department that advises and connects filmmakers across a range of budgets and production levels, while Ramo herself executive produced the award-winning film “Joyland,” as well as provided legal for Imagine Documentaries’ “The Super Models” and “The Dynasty” for Apple TV+, which had combined license fees topping $25 million. Chang represented Boardwalk Pictures on feature documentary “King Pleasure,” which explores the life of legendary artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Hulu’s “Welcome to Wrexham.” Canchola oversaw production legal for Ron Howard’s survivor thriller “Origin of Species” and handled all production agreements for Skydance Television’s projects, including “Reacher” ($71 million) and “Foundation” ($145 million). Raben closed the financing for Rebel Wilson’s $30 million action-comedy “Bride Hard” as well as for Cannes 2023 title “Black Flies,” starring Tye Sheridan and Sean Penn, and “Thug,” starring Liam Neeson. 

Predicting what’s coming: “2024 will be about buyers of content merging, consolidating and changing their perception and messaging regarding how content is valued,” says Ramo.

Rochelli: CFO, Member of the Management Committee
Pickles: Chief Legal Officer, Member of the Management Committee
Phillips: Associate General Counsel, Global Corporate 
Wasserman

Rochelli and Pickles guided the firm through a series of transactions, including an equity investment from Providence Equity Partners and the negotiation of two amendments to its senior debt financing with JP Morgan Chase and an expanded consortium of participating banks. These financings helped position Wasserman for its game-changing acquisitions of Brillstein Entertainment Partners and U.K.-based CSM Sports & Entertainment in September. New York-based Phillips was lead in-house attorney in these transactions.

Dealing with trends: “It’s now essential for C-suite leaders to understand the needs of a diverse and global community of clients, and the current trends in private equity, credit markets and M&A,” say Rochelli and Pickles.

Rosenbloum: Chairman, Global Entertainment & Media Practice
Rosen: Co-Chairman, Atlanta Entertainment & Media Practice
Cooper: Founder, L.A. Entertainment & Media Practice 
Greenberg Traurig

From sponsorship deals to catalog sales, these lawyers have helped shape the industry with deals worth billions. As deputy general counsel for the Latin Recording Academy, Rosenbloum helped bring the Latin Grammy Awards to Seville, Spain — the first time any Grammy event has been held outside the U.S. — and continued to guide Epic Games, Meta Platforms, Snapchat and Twitch on all music licensing matters. Rosen oversaw the sale of Kenny Chesney’s catalog to Hipgnosis and negotiated Miranda Lambert’s Nashville restaurant license and Las Vegas residency. Cooper facilitated agreements for two new TV series from Mel Brooks, “History of the World Part 2” and “Young Frankenstein TV,” and continued to represent Jerry Seinfeld in his endeavors with Netflix, including starring in and directing a new film.

Way of the future: “There’s a desire among audiences for music to be more interactive,” Rosenbloum says. “Fans want to experience music in a way where it’s a part of something that they’re doing and not just sitting back listening passively to.” Gaming, fitness and social media platforms are examples where music is incorporated into another activity, he adds.

Salomon Jr.: Managing Partner
Schiffres, Passman, Passman: Partners 
Gang, Tyre, Ramer, Brown & Passman

During the past year, Gang, Tyre, Ramer, Brown & Passman brokered a long list of major industry deals for their big-name clients. Among them: Elton John, Paul Simon, Taylor Swift and Cher. This team of four also advised Adele on her sold-out Las Vegas residency and negotiated agreements for Oscar-, Emmy- and Grammy-winning composer Ludwig Göransson in connection with “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” and “Oppenheimer.” Their music catalog deals include Simon’s sale of interests in various Simon & Garfunkel recording assets to BMG and Cher’s sale of music assets to Iconic Artists. For John, they negotiated a documentary deal with Disney+, reported to be worth $30 million. In the film-TV arena, they sealed pacts for Camila Cabello, Emma Corrin, Molly Gordon and Fisher Stevens.

Artists first: The key to AI and emerging technologies “is that artists need to be able to make those decisions and determinations for themselves rather than having them imposed by the technology companies that are looking simply to exploit everybody else’s work in ways that maybe aren’t necessarily optimal for creators,” says Salomon.

President, Disney Television Studios & Global Original Television Strategy
Disney Entertainment

Schrier recently streamlined operations at Disney entertainment TV so the six business affairs heads (Carlos Williams, 20th Television; Joshua Sussman, ABC Signature, 20th Television Animation and Searchlight Television; Kelly Cline, FX, Onyx and Nat Geo; Tehmina Jaffer, Disney branded television; Kerry Kennedy, ABC, Freeform; Brittany Hveem, Hulu) report directly to him, enabling them to work together and better navigate a rapidly changing environment. Schrier’s purview also includes creative and production pipelines, which, in concert with business affairs, are responsible for more than 300 titles constituting more than 4,500 hours of programming.

WGA and SAG-AFTRA contracts post-strike: “They’re both historic deals in terms of the changes that they have done, so it’s not like they’re rubber-stamped, and you alter a couple of things here and there,” he says.

Shaheen: Global Head, West Region & Entertainment Industries
Lang: Managing director
Reddy, Lake: VPs 
J.P. Morgan Corporate Client Banking

Shaheen, Lang, Reddy and Lake manage a $12 billion finance portfolio, the largest in Hollywood. For talent agency clients, the four took a lead role for a $1.55 billion loan to CAA in February, $586.5 million financing for Wasserman Media in August and a $250 million loan to UTA in February. Other transactions include $750-plus million for Skydance Media in June, $600 million for Legendary Pictures in April and $175 million for Regency Entertainment in June. The four also worked funding for Alcon Entertainment, Anonymous Content, developer-tools provider AppLovin, Cinemark USA, Concord Music, Deluxe Media and multihyphenate-entrepreneur Tyler Perry. They were also financial advisor to WWE in its megamerger creating TKO Group in September; Hasbro on the $500 million sale of eOne film and TV studio; and Skydance on a February capital raise. 

Rearview mirror: Shaheen observes that finance kept flowing despite the triple whammies of the pandemic, regional banking collapse and Hollywood strikes. “The positive is we’re through it all. We’re on the backend of it.”

Shaw: Founding Partner 
Bobb: Partner 
Del Shaw Moonves Tanaka Finkelstein Lezcano Bobb & Dang

Shaw is a four-decade-plus veteran recognized as a pioneer in the fight for diversity and female empowerment in entertainment law and the larger show business landscape. Bobb is a veteran in his own right, with more than a quarter century of experience as an attorney. Over the last year, they’ve cut big deals for filmmakers Ava DuVernay (write, produce and direct “Origin”), Misha Green (directorial debut “Sunflower”), Malcolm D. Lee (first look deal with Universal TV), Raoul Peck (acquisition of documentary “Orwell” by Neon) and Yvonne Orji (first-look deal with Sony).

Same as it ever was: Bobb believes that current issues with AI are not unlike what the industry experienced with music sampling in the ’80s. “When you create something, people are going to take it, manipulate it and spit it out in a different way,” he says. “But now there are ways that you can catch it and be compensated for it, and I think that’s the thing that’s going to happen with AI.” 

Sherman: Chief Business Affairs & Legal Officer
Bishop: Senior Corporate Counsel
Skybound Entertainment

Sherman and Bishop are expanding Skybound globally. This includes a $9.6 million investment in Danish mobile games publisher-developer 5th Planet Games and acquiring 75% of Icelandic production company Sagafilm for $7.5 million. In late 2022, Sherman and Bishop launched Skybound Japan, which led to an investment in Remow, a global distributor of Japanese content, and they’re working with Japan’s Fuji network in adapting the “Heart Attack” graphic novel into a live-action series. A South African co-production is coming soon, and Skybound recently launched a music division.

Money matters: “We’re one of the only entertainment companies that has utilized RegA+ for corporate financing, and we’ve raised over $18 million from over 5,000 investors,” Sherman says. “We’re in a good position to continue to produce and co-finance our projects, even as the macroeconomics make it difficult for a lot of companies to continue to raise capital and get access to debt financing.”

Sherman: Partner; Co-Chair, Entertainment Finance Practice
Hall, Petretti: Partners
DLA Piper

Sherman and Hall advised Concord Music in financing the purchase of Round Hill Music Royalties Fund for $469 million in October. Petretti advised lender JPMorgan Chase for $675 million to Arnon Milchan’s Regency-Monarchy Entertainment in June. Sherman further advised Concord in financing its September acquisition of Mojo Music & Media publishing catalog for $90 million, repped Multimedia Music in raising $100 million of debt and equity financing in June and separately acquiring 50% of Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Partners’ music publishing-masters catalog. Just under a year ago, Sherman and Hall worked Concord’s massive $1.8 billion music securitization involving more than 1 million song copyrights. Other clients of the trio include City National Bank and HarbourView Equity Partners.

Something secure: Securitizations have “gone from esoteric financing to a market-leading financing technique for the holders of royalty-producing rights,” Sherman says. “It’s grown in complexity and size.” Securitization buyers pay upfront to rights holders for revenue streams from music, TV programs and films; rights holders retain ownership of underlying assets.

Siegel: Partner; Co-Chair, Entertainment, Sports & Media Group
Syrkin: Partner; Co-Chair, MediaTech Broup
Conner, Vannini: Partners 
O’Melveny & Myers

Siegel, Conner and Syrkin advised Stanford U. in September for moving to the ACC athletic conference, addressing media rights, player name-image-likeness and governance. Vannini repped Australian animation house Animal Logic in its sale to Netflix and Lionsgate-owned Starz selling a 57% stake in its Starzplay Arabia; both closed a year ago. Syrkin advised the SkyShowtime joint venture on completing its European rollout in February. Conner repped the Ronald Reagan foundation-presidential library on hosting the second Republican presidential debate in the September telecast by Fox News and Univision. He also repped media investor Content Partners acquiring a majority stake in a film finance entity from an Asia-based conglomerate, and separately Mexico’s Talipot Studios for the movie “The Dead Don’t Hurt.”

Quality, not quantity: “The streamers are really doubling down on [material] that speaks to individual audiences geographically or demographically in order to create high-quality content,” says Siegel.

Managing Partner, Head of New Media, Motion Picture, Television, Theater, Publishing
& Sports Group
Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks

Shire participated in high-profile 2023 initiatives with Robert De Niro (“Killers of the Flower Moon”), Bono (one-man show “Stories of Surrender”) and David Byrne (the Broadway transfer of “Here Lies Love”). He negotiated Mark Thompson’s ascension to the top of CNN Worldwide, and reps LeBron James in all showbiz and endorsement efforts. Shire’s hand will be felt in 2024 when Apple TV+ hosts both the film of Bono’s show, and “The Dynasty,” a 10-part docuseries on the Patriots’ glory years premiering right after Super Bowl LVIII. 

Words of wisdom: Famed attorney Lloyd Garrison (represented on film this year as counsel to “Oppenheimer”) taught Shire a valuable lesson. “He felt it was critical to provide your clients with ‘peace of mind.’ A client should feel comfortable to the point where they realize that, by trusting you to handle their work, they no longer have to worry. Instead, they’ve hired you to worry for them.”

Founder, CEO
HarbourView Equity Partners

Dealmaking was top of mind for Soares in 2023 as she invested in Macro, Charles King’s multiplatform media company that elevates Black voices, and made a bid for BET. She also acquired Nelly, Wiz Khalifa and Blackbear’s music catalogs — expanding a portfolio that already includes songs by Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj and Brad Paisley — and got an early foothold in the booming regional Mexican music market. Her goal is to build an ecosystem that connects the dots between music and other areas of content like film, television and sports to identify and drive real value towards catalogs. 

Tunes forever: “Music is so fundamental to the human experience that investors are starting to realize how investible that is,” Soares says. “There’s real resonance. Music is perpetual; it lasts forever.” 

Steward II: Founder, CEO
Sperber: President, Chief Content Officer
Lion Forge Entertainment

Lion Forge Entertainment, an animation studio that actively boosts underrepresented voices and won a 2020 Oscar for “Hair Love,” announced in March the expansion of its content slate into the kids and family live-action arena with the addition of family entertainment exec Sperber. In July it entered into a first look deal with Nickelodeon Animation. The studio also struck a deal with international advertising company Dentsu in August, whereby the two will co-produce films, series and shorts for clients like Hershey, Oreo and Crayola. The studio also has a development deal with Penguin Young Readers to adapt titles.

Own, baby, own: “The value in family entertainment is in ownership of the IP,” says Sperber. “The halcyon days of streamers paying a lot of money for the ownership of things may be over but if you own your IP, that’s an annuity.”

Head of Global Studios & Services
Sunset Studios

Disney alum Stotland has spearheaded an expansion streak at Sunset Studios, a division of Hudson Pacific Properties, one of the world’s largest independent studio platforms. Under the Sunset brand, a joint venture between Blackstone and Hudson Pacific, the business owns 95 stages operating or under development, including L.A. properties Sunset Bronson, Sunset Gower, Sunset Las Palmas and Sunset Glen Oaks. Soon to join: Sunset Pier 94 in Manhattan and Sunset Waltham Cross in London. HPP also owns and operates the Quixote complex of stages and production services.  

Buying spree: “We bought three companies the last couple of years, and we spent about $600 million, so we’ve been pretty aggressive,” says Stotland. “That doesn’t include all the capital we put into building new studios, so we’re investing heavily in this business.”

Partner; Co-Leader, Entertainment, Sports & Media Group
Sidley Austin

Thompson was involved several high-profile transactions, starting with the creation of Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s Artist’s Equity, backed by a $100 million investment from RedBird Capital, which scored a critical hit with its first film, “Air.” Then, in June, he helped usher in a new era of growth for 76-year-old boutique tenpercentery the Gersh Agency when he helped them cut a strategic partnership deal with private equity firm Crestview Partners. He also repped Warner Music Group in the September 2023 formation of a joint venture with Elliot Grainge’s label, 10K Projects, which brought Trippie Red, Ice Spice and other artists under the WMG umbrella.

High interest not always a deal-killer: “The deals are still happening. The same players are still there,” Thompson says. “It’s just that capital is more expensive, and so for some people, it’s too much.”

Senior VP, Senior Relationship Manager, Entertainment Banking
City National Bank

Tu and her entertainment banking team are focused on meeting all aspects of their clients’ needs — both professional and personal. This means they can work with clients on film financing and music catalog sales as well as mortgages and long-term wealth management. Recently, Tu’s team positioned clients to weather the WGA and SAG strikes while preparing for a surge of content development and growth in 2024 — especially among the independent and large production companies that had been waiting for the strikes to end.

All-encompassing approach: “Any relationship is built on baby steps,” says Tu. This goes from “our ease of service for clients to the fact that we can do anything from the most basic type of banking to very interesting ways of sourcing.”

Partner
Fox Rothschild

Brokering Tom DeLonge’s $30 million deal to rejoin Blink-182 after a decade-long hiatus as well as agreements related to the band’s hugely successful tour rank among Vaquerano’s notable recent deals. Meanwhile, as HarbourView Equity Partner’s outside counsel, Vaquerano helps guide the global investment firm in areas such as music publishing, master recording, public performance royalties and post-closing deliverables. She also played an integral role in HarbourView’s acquisitions of hip-hop artist Blackbear’s catalog and Christine McVie’s master recording income from Fleetwood Mac’s catalog. 

Catalog acquisitions will only grow: “It’s a fertile ground for investment,” says Vaquerano. “Music value is rising with a change in mechanical royalty rates and we’re seeing more uses of music as far as streaming and potential uses in AI and Web3. Investors want to be a part of that.”

Weizenecker: Partner
Esene: Associate 
Barnes & Thornburg

The efforts of Weizenecker and Esene in lobbying Georgia lawmakers about production tax credits helped propel Georgia to the nation’s No. 3 state for film and TV production, after California and New York. Weizenecker also consults with clients like Paramount Global, Tyler Perry Studios and MGM on those credits. His efforts helped lure U.K.-based Pinewood Studios to Georgia. Weizenecker calls Esene a “rock star” corporate attorney who’s proved herself vital to the practice. 

Consulting credits: “You’re always concerned that a legislature could change its mind and try to take away production incentives,” says Weizenecker, who’s worked tirelessly to help Georgia lawmakers understand the economic value of the entertainment industry. “Nothing brings [that value] home more than when it goes away.”

Partner; Co-Chair, Entertainment & Media Finance
Paul Hastings

Williams advises Beverly Hills-based specialty financer Media Capital Technologies for ongoing content transactions, and separately California Bank and Trust for cross-border motion picture-television receivables financings. Other work includes a credit facility for a music distribution company in music catalog dealmaking, and MUFG Bank financing for the Gersh Agency, both earlier this year. The Century City-based Williams repped 777 Partners in the February sale of a music library, and also Vine Alternative Investments for ongoing film-television library acquisitions and administration.

Remaining bullish: Williams notes that banks, funds and individual investors kept money flowing in hard times: “We’ve been able to close transactions in a period of time when the industry has been challenged by the strikes.”

Partner
Manatt, Phelps & Phillips

Although the rising cost of capital has made planning long- and short-term strategies a little more challenging for her clients than in previous years, Yen’s experience constructing complicated and high-profile transactions helped her cement several significant pacts this year, including multiple deals on behalf of chef David Chang and several transactions that increased FilmRise’s credit facility to $125 million. She’s already preparing clients for marketplace contraction expected as streamers and other distributors reduce production.

A Swift deal: “I’ve been privileged this year to serve as AMC Theatres’ primary outside legal adviser on its ground-breaking distribution model, which was kicked off by its release of the ‘Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour’ concert film,” Yen says. 

Associate
Paul Hastings

In talent, Downey repped Gary Oldman in connection with the upcoming season of Apple TV+’s “Slow Horses” and Paolo Sorrentino’s “Parthenope,” currently in production. In business, he helped Mockingbird Pictures and producers Bonnie Curtis and Julie Lynn with matters including Netflix original movie “Heart of Stone.” In corporate, Downey aided Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery in their sale of a 75% ownership interest in the CW network to Nexstar Media Group. He also repped Cirque du Soleil in the licensing, production and exploitation of its intellectual property, and Slow Ventures in its multiple investments in joint ventures with content creators. 

VP, Talent Ventures
Endeavor

Riding the trend of the never-ending fusion between entertainment content and consumer products, Hamid co-leads Endeavor’s initiatives for its clients in the area of partnership opportunities. Over the past year, he has overseen or led the following talent agreements involving equity or equity-plus-cash endorsement deals: Camila Cabello with Olipop, Lilly Singh with Aavrani, Morgan Stewart with Renggli, Usher with Immi, John Legend with Loved01, Elan Gale with Titan Casket, Iskra Lawrence with Andie Swim and an unnamed female global player in a deal with a top haircare brand. Endeavor is keeping the value of these pacts confidential.

Senior Associate
Donaldson Callif Perez

Karsenty’s work has touched many of the firm’s top clients. A sample: production legal on MGX Creative’s “Untrapped: The Lil Baby Story,” including talent agreements with interview subjects Charlamagne tha God and Drake; rights, talent and production agreements for three eOne FAST channel programs based on Hasbro property Dungeons & Dragons; repping Kevin Hart’s Hartbeat as production counsel for TV shows; production and clearance work for production companies Latchkey Films (HBO’s “Savior Complex”) and Spinning Nancy (Fremantle’s and Anonymous Content’s “Mrs. America”); and clearances for Hulu doc “The 1619 Project” and Concordia’s Barack Obama-narrated unscripted series “Working: What We Do All Day.”

Associate
Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton

The busy Kim repped Jackson Wang and his Team Wang Records in the release of “Slow,” a song by the Hong Kong rapper with singer Ciara, distributed by 88Rising and Warner Music Group; advised SM Entertainment and Kakao Entertainment on the launch of their North American company; helped Jamie Miller negotiate a global recording and publishing pact with BMG; repped 101 Studios in its first look deal with George Clooney’s and Grant Heslove’s Smokehouse TV; advised BeatStars in its strategic alliance with music AI startup Lemonaide; and repped Paramount and ran production legal for series “Lawmen: Bass Reeves,” from David Oyelowo and Taylor Sheridan. 

Associate

Latham & Watkins

Levine has advised some heavy hitters, including Endeavor Group Holdings in the $21 billion merger of Endeavor-owned UFC and the WWE; RedBird Capital Partners in a joint venture with the NFL to form EverPass Media, which will hold exclusive rights to distribute NFL Sunday Ticket to commercial venues; MGM in its international distribution arrangement with Warner Bros. for rights to its film slate and a subscriber migration and content licensing arrangement with Lionsgate to acquire content for its MGM+ international service from the Lionsgate+ channels that were shut down in Europe; and Spotify in exclusive multiyear podcast pacts with Emma Chamberlain for “Anything Goes” and Mark Fischbach for “Distractible.” 

Senior Associate
Loeb & Loeb

Manella, a Tony-award winning Broadway producer, practices his legal skills for multiple clients, including Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s Artists Equity in connection with “Unstoppable,” starring Jennifer Lopez, and “Small Things Like These,” starring Cillian Murphy; videogame maker Nexon on its $500 million investment in Joe and Anthony Russo’s AGBO; Comerica Bank, MUFG Bank and City National Bank in entertainment financings; Seaview, where he negotiated on behalf of HBO Sydney Sweeney starrer “Reality”; and stage projects including Rachel Bloom’s “Death, Let Me Do My Show”; the Broadway-bound “The Magic of Rob Lake”; and “Less Lonely,” presented by Elliot Page Off-Broadway.

Counsel
O’Melveny & Myers 

Piarino’s dealmaking puts her in touch with major showbiz players. Most recently she advised a studio on the possible sale of one of its majority holdings, as well as a top-tier production company in its bid to acquire another key player. She also worked with Starz on a film licensing output deal with Universal. Earlier, her advice extended to FuboTV in a pact with Ryan Reynolds’ Maximum Effort Prods., ViacomCBS Intl. in its acquisition of a majority stake in Fox TeleColombia & Estudios TeleMexico and CJ ENM in its $850 million acquisition of an 80% stake of Endeavor Content’s scripted business.

Managing Associate
Sidley Austin

Rising star Smith assisted with deals for some of the firm’s top clients, including Ben Affleck and Matt Damon in launching indie prodco Artists Equity with a minimum $100 million investment from RedBird Capital Partners; Mark Burnett in a multiyear continuation of his relationship with MGM and Amazon, including the ongoing production of “Survivor,” “Shark Tank” and “The Voice”; the Gersh Agency and Gersh family members in a strategic partnership with Crestview Partners; Warner Music Group and affiliates in the acquisition of the recorded-music catalog of rock band Yes; and Alex Cooper and Matt Kaplan in launching their Gen Z media venture.

Associate, Interactive Entertainment Group
Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz

A video game client in need of an attorney to negotiate a deal need look no further than Smizer. Her recent efforts include talks on behalf of Question Games’ upcoming South Park video game, as well as a competitive $12 million-plus event production esports agreement on behalf of a top publisher. She routinely sits across the table from studios such as Warner Bros. and Universal assisting in the creation of gaming titles and adaptations across media. Smizer’s favorite accomplishment was the publishing agreement for Dan DeEntremont, developer of buzzy title “Squirrel With a Gun,” which prescribes how the game will be distributed and its development progression.