In This Section
Entertainment
Working with a domestic and international client base, we routinely represent clients in entertainment, media, branding, motion picture and music industries, including actors, writers, producers, composers, musicians, models, and designers. The scope of our representation also extends to high level corporate executives, private equity, venture capital, and financial firms in these industries. Our full range of services include talent representation, preparation and negotiation of all deal, compensation and service agreements, finance and distribution structuring, protection of intellectual property rights, advising on guild issues and advertising and branding matters.
With the emergence of online social networks, blogs, forums, instant messaging, mobile marketing, e-mail marketing, word of mouth (WOM) marketing and rich media, traditional media takes on a new turn as content is created, transmitted and morphed at drastic speeds and distributed to audience of size much greater than ever anticipated. Along with this rapid emergence comes various legal issues which the media and user communities are faced with, among them intellectual property rights, rights of publicity and privacy, first amendment rights, advertising, database security, e-commerce and internet issues. Our attorneys have been avid users in the emerging media industry since the early days of AOL instant messaging, Vindigo, Friendster, Skype to current Facebook, Linkedin, loopt and whrrl. Given our extensive experience in media and intellectual property law, Di Santo LLP is well-positioned to advise clients of the rudimentary legal issues surrounding this fast-paced and transient environment.
The Firm routinely represents production companies and entertainment industry professionals in a wide variety of entertainment finance transactions. Our attorneys have extensive experience in representing borrowers, financial institutions, completion guarantors and distributors. Our entertainment and corporate attorneys work closely together to assist companies in shaping capital structures and raising debt and equity capital.
We have advised film, television and music industry clients in the following areas:
- Structuring a wide variety of project financing, including traditional bank financing, collateralized loans, “gap” and “super-gap” financing
- Drafting Private Placement Memorandum and Subscription Documents for private equity investment in various projects
- Analyzing structured finance involving entertainment assets, including royalty payments and intellectual property rights
- Drafting Pre-Sale Agreements with a view towards financing
- Advise on requirements to obtain completion bonds and payment guarantors
- Structuring tax-efficient equity investments from domestic and foreign investors
- Structuring joint ventures, strategic affiliations and independent production entities
The Firm advises on a broad spectrum of issues involved in the film and production industry. Our attorneys routinely represent production companies and independent feature filmmakers on financing, co-production, production and distribution agreements.
Our legal services in this area include the following:
- Drafting and negotiating production and distribution contracts and deal memos
- Drafting and negotiating Writer Services Agreements (both WGA and non-union)
- Drafting and negotiating Director Services Agreements (DGA and non-union) and Crew Services Agreements
- Advise on host and talent agreements for television
- Advise screenwriters on the methods for screenplay protection
- Negotiate and document option agreements
Given that several of the Firm’s attorneys are music industry veterans, composers and producers themselves, we are uniquely-positioned to represent songwriters, film scorers, recording and performing artist, producers, publishers, record companies and studios in the music industry. Services include advising on record label/publishing company formation, recording contracts, music publishing agreements, band agreements, music licensing agreements, distribution agreements, talent agreements and artist management agreements and loan-out company formation. With the advent of online music, our attorneys have extensive experience in advising clients on all issues related to online music broadcasting, publishing and distribution. Through its clients’ projects, Di Santo LLP has worked with Grammy® award winning artists, film festival award-winning film scorers, established on-line music publishers and foreign copyright agencies.