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10 Things To Know About Entertainment Law

Many attorneys love being an essential part of a creative or meaningful project.

By Beth Bruns  
on

Ed. note: Welcome to the latest installment of Better Know A Practice Area, a series introducing readers to different practice areas. Each post is written by an editor at Practical Law who previously practiced in that area and currently writes about it. Prior columns have covered capital markets and corporate governance, securities litigation and enforcement, patent litigation, executive compensation, commercial transactions, labor and employment, real estate, startup law, bankruptcy, antitrust, being an in-house generalist, and employee benefits and executive compensation law.

Today’s topic: entertainment law (transactional practice).

  1. What do you do in a typical day?

A typical day in the life of an entertainment law transactional attorney might involve:

  • Drafting and negotiating development and production contracts, such as writer agreements, talent agreements, and recording agreements.
  • Facilitating and negotiating distribution deals for an entertainment project.
  • Working on financing agreements for sponsorships, bank loans, co-production investments, grants, and other types of investments.
  • Preparing form agreements for clients, such as appearance releases, location releases, and license agreements.
  • Reviewing contracts and other legal documents to analyze rights issues or other business or legal questions.

This work involves legal concepts across multiple subject areas, including intellectual property, contracts, business associations, securities law, and labor and employment law. In addition to understanding these substantive areas of law, entertainment law attorneys help clients with projects that are not necessarily considered traditional legal work, but have legal and business implications, such as reviewing and commenting on pitches and budgets for television series, films, mobile apps, or other entertainment projects.

Although entertainment law encompasses all of the sectors of the entertainment industry, entertainment transactional attorneys tend to focus on one or two entertainment sectors, as each sector has its own industry norms. For example, attorneys serving music industry clients often specialize in that sector. Similarly, other attorneys focus on television or film industry clients. Across all of the sectors, transactions arise in the development, financing, production, and distribution phases of an entertainment project.

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Depending on the project, entertainment lawyers can spend a lot of time on the phone or email with clients and opposing counsel to work through contract and deal issues and to solve problems related to production and other phases of an entertainment project.

  1. Who do you work with?

Junior associates generally work with senior associates or directly with partners. However, junior associates can gain responsibility quickly for some deals, including drafting and negotiating simpler production agreements, such as releases, talent agreements and independent contractor agreements. Law firm entertainment attorneys also consult with specialists within the firm, including labor and employment, trademark, and copyright counsel, as well as entertainment practitioners specialized in other industry sectors.
Some entertainment attorneys work directly with celebrity clients as their personal attorneys. These clients often have a team of business and legal advisers, including agents, managers, and attorneys. Many more entertainment attorneys work with other entertainment industry clients, including studio and network executives, producers, financiers, and, of course, other lawyers.

  1. What does a common career path look like?

Law firm to in-house and sometimes back to law firm. Given the location of the industry, Los Angeles and New York have the highest concentration of law firms that specialize in entertainment law and entertainment companies with in-house legal departments. Outside of those cities, it’s not uncommon for attorneys to start practicing in another area of law, such as general corporate, mergers and acquisitions, or securities work, and then move into entertainment law, usually in-house but sometimes in a firm. A general transactional practice, especially if it involves some securities or other finance work, or IP licensing experience can be a useful background for practicing entertainment law. Major entertainment companies, such as motion picture studios and television networks, have significant in-house legal departments and hire relatively young attorneys. They often hire law firm associates with two or more years of experience to work in their legal and business affairs departments. In-house attorneys sometimes move back to a law firm seeking a more diverse practice.

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  1. If variety is the spice of life, how spicy is this practice area?

Mild to super hot. At a law firm, practice can be quite varied, with clients simultaneously at all stages of development, production, and distribution of entertainment projects. In-house attorneys, however, may be more specialized and have less variety in their work. For example, in-house business affairs attorneys may work primarily on a large volume of just a couple of types of agreements. But of course that is not always the case, especially in smaller companies, where attorneys may need to be able to handle any type of legal work the company needs.

New issues often come up even for routine matters, whether because of the relationship of the parties, new technology, or other developments in the entertainment industry. These changes help keep the work interesting and allow attorneys to continue learning and growing.

  1. How much wear and tear?

This is a transactional practice, so the pace and expectations are similar to other transactional practices and are largely deal driven. Long-lead projects can proceed at a more leisurely pace, while short-term projects, say with an airdate or principal photography start date in the near future, proceed at a very fast pace. Expectations are high not only because money and reputations are at stake, but also because creators and others can be very passionate about a project.

  1. Of the people in this practice group who hate it, what exactly do they hate about it?

Most people practicing entertainment law are in the field because they like the substantive work as well as the clients. It is unusual to find entertainment transactional attorneys who hate the actual work. However, time pressure and tight budgets, and clients under pressure from those factors, can create significant stress for attorneys.

  1. Of the people in this practice group who love it, what exactly do they love about it?

Many entertainment attorneys have a personal interest in the industry, such as a love for music, television, theater or film, or may themselves be musicians or artists. They enjoy helping creators, financiers and distributors bring their projects to life and to an audience. Although entertainment lawyers may attend film premieres and entertainment awards shows, the day-to-day work is not nearly as glamorous. Nonetheless, many attorneys love being an essential part of a creative or meaningful project.

  1. Are there common avenues out of this practice area?

It is quite common for mid-level associates to move in-house to studios, networks, and other distributors or content providers. Entertainment lawyers are sometimes called on to evaluate financial plans, production budgets, business plans, and creative pitches. This experience can be valuable for moving from legal work to a business development or hybrid business/legal role, such as in the business affairs department of a studio or network.

  1. What are some market trends that impact this practice area?

Technology trends. The digital revolution and the resulting changes in the music industry and in television/film distribution have dramatically impacted the entertainment business, such as the development of streaming music and video as distribution platforms. These changes have in turn affected legal practice and industry norms.

  1. If you had to recommend one candidate from a room crowded with recent bar exam graduates, what specific qualities would he or she have that would ensure success in this practice area?

A key quality for successful entertainment lawyers is an interest in learning about the not-so-sexy business side of the entertainment industry, including budgeting, financing, and profit participations. They must also have the ability to handle many matters simultaneously, while also being efficient, thorough, and mindful of legal budgets. Finally, they should have curiosity and interest in keeping up with and understanding developments in technology and business practices in the entertainment industry.

Beth Bruns is a senior legal editor on Practical Law’s Intellectual Property & Technology team. She focuses on copyright and media resources. Prior to joining Practical Law, she was an entertainment and new media attorney with Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp, a Senior Business Affairs Attorney at the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), and a corporate and securities associate at Hunton & Williams. She is also an Adjunct Professor teaching Entertainment Law.

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