Meet Hollywood’s In-House Legal Elite – MASHAHER

General counsel and head of business and legal affairs
Fifth Season

The headline deal for Arias was helping Fifth Season (formerly Endeavor Content) secure a $225 million strategic investment from top Japanese studio Toho in December 2023. As the leader of the company’s 23-person team overseeing all business and legal affairs for its various divisions, from TV and film to labor relations, he’s also been busy with the crime thriller “She Rides Shotgun,” starring Taron Egerton, and Apple TV+ series including “Severance” and the upcoming “Chief of War,” created by and starring Jason Momoa. Says Arias of his leadership philosophy, “I like to operate with mutual respect and camaraderie and let people have a real voice in their work.”

Executive within the chief corporate and strategy counsel
CAA

Brandt, who joined CAA in February 2023, has a wide portfolio that includes overseeing all corporate legal matters, including mergers and acquisitions, compliance, intellectual property, government relations and governance. She helped launch the CAA Vault, an in-house service that can scan, capture and securely store clients’ digital likenesses and voice, which gives talent ownership, control and permission over their digital identities to address issues of consent, credit and compensation related to AI usage.Brandt also spearheaded government relations, while serving as lead in-house attorney on the CAA/Artemis transaction. “Finalizing the sale of a majority stake in CAA to Artemis while Hollywood was navigating both the actors and writers’ strikes was definitely the biggest challenge in the last year,” Brandt says. The AI issue that was crucial to those strikes remains a central concern. “The entertainment industry is at an inflection point right now, and it is imperative that the industry as a whole work together to protect the name, image, likeness and voice rights of creators who make the industry what it is.”

Chief counsel
Walt Disney Television

Disney’s reach in broadcast TV and streaming is seemingly endless, and that means Chung’s work never ends. He oversees attorneys handling brands across ABC Entertainment, ABC News, ABC-owned television stations, Disney Television Studios, FX, National Geographic, Hulu and Disney+. He recently worked with Disney’s production lawyers to create an international practice group so lawyers of all levels and specialties can collaborate with one another. “One of the biggest challenges currently facing our industry is rapid change,” Chung says. “Our work spans a wide range of business areas, all of which are constantly evolving. We must prioritize innovation and creative collaboration with our colleagues across the company to ensure we remain at the forefront of the industry.”

Executive VP, business & legal affairs
Sony Pictures Television — nonfiction

Twenty-five years ago, Coles-English was fresh out of law school and working for an FCC-focused Washington, D.C., firm when she got pulled into the world of kids’ TV regulations. “I quickly realized that helping creators navigate legal challenges while making great content was actually a lot of fun,” she says. She subsequently spent two decades at Discovery handling business and legal affairs across its nonfiction and consumer products businesses, before moving in 2022 to Sony Pictures Television, where she’s negotiated big overall deals with producers including Jeff Collins (“Dance Moms”) and high-profile production agreements (e.g., Sony’s pact for Meghan Markle’s new Netflix lifestyle series).

National executive director and chief negotiator
SAG-AFTRA

As the head of SAG-AFTRA, Crabtree-Ireland shepherded the union through its record-long 118-day strike in 2023, securing a new contract with more than $1 billion in additional compensation and benefit plan funding. During his almost 24 years with the organization, he’s been a central player in several other historic events, including the SAG-AFTRA merger in 2012 and the COVID crisis. It’s pretty impressive for someone whose previous job was as an L.A. County deputy district attorney prosecuting criminal cases in Compton. “I wasn’t particularly connected with the entertainment industry,” remembers Crabtree-Ireland, “but I thought, this sounds like really interesting work.”

Senior director, business & legal affairs, film
Netflix

Netflix’s constant content creation wouldn’t get done without Dormer’s legal expertise, yet he also focuses on the big picture. He oversees the development of tech tools to increase efficiency in contract drafting and workload management and enable the tracking, extraction and analysis of deal financials, rights and obligations. That kind of innovation in data management helps bring individual projects like “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F,” the “Knives Out” sequels and a new “Happy Gilmore” sequel to life. “Securing the rights to extend legacy films like ‘Happy Gilmore’ and ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ present their own set of legal challenges,” Dormer says, “but it’s an exciting opportunity to breathe new life into these beloved characters and stories and give audiences more of what they love.”

General counsel and partner
Independent Artist Group

When agency APA combined with music touring powerhouse AGI to form IAG, it was Finkelstein who guided the merger, heading APA’s legal and negotiating team. Finkelstein then oversaw the business, legal and administrative merging of APA and AGI. “The biggest challenge last year was navigating our aggressive growth strategy even through the double strikes,” Finkelstein says, adding that the debates around AI at the heart of those strikes remain fresh. “I don’t think AI storytelling will replace the essential human-element in storytelling. However, the biggest near-term effect will be the disruption of physical production due to cost savings AI will provide. That will have a major effect on certain segments of our industry: VFX houses, animation and physical production crews.”

General counsel
Boardwalk Pictures

A native of Ukraine, Flores immigrated to Los Angeles with her family at the age of 6. “My parents had three career choices for me — doctor, lawyer or engineer,” she says. “I hated blood and didn’t love math, which pretty much only left being a lawyer.” Fortunately, it’s a profession she both loves and excels at, as evidenced by her accomplishments with Boardwalk Pictures, where in recent months she’s closed deals for numerous series, including Netflix’s “America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders,” “Pop Star Academy: KATSEYE” and “Encounters,” as well as Season 3 of FX’s “Welcome to Wrexham” and a documentary about artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.

General counsel, head of business and legal
Vice Media

Goldstein led Vice Media out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2023. Although the company underwent massive layoffs, Goldstein worked with management on the transition to a new model, Vice Studios Group, with a large library and production arms. Goldstein oversees all legal and business affairs for Vice Media, which comprises the Studios Group, Vice TV and Virtue, its advertising agency. Among his deals: Season 3 of “Gangs of London,” Max’s “Bama Rush” and ESPN’s “American Gladiators” doc. Goldstein notes that one of the biggest challenges was keeping the team’s morale up, but says, “This has been a year of recovery, and we are looking forward to a year of growth and showing our industry what we remain capable of. We have so many wonderful projects in the pipeline that we’re excited about.”

Senior executive VP, chief legal and compliance officer
Disney

Gutierrez, an adviser to the board of directors, returns to the list for a second straight year, thanks to his role overseeing the lawyers who helped Disney defeating a major proxy battle from investor Nelson Peltz. He counsels on corporate governance, public policy and regulatory matters for all of Disney’s legal affairs globally. “I’m so proud of our legal teams’ brilliant work to protect and facilitate Disney’s position as a leader as we enter this new era of entertainment,” he says. As for the innovation of AI, he adds the company is excited about pairing creative talent with technology. While human imagination “always will be at the heart of creativity,” he explains, Disney is committed to exploring how “AI might augment and enhance the capability, efficiency, scalability and velocity of our content.”

Senior VP, deputy general counsel and corporate secretary
Endeavor and TKO

Hilton helped engineer Endeavor’s $21 billion transaction to create TKO Group Holdings in 2023, combining WWE and UFC. It’s just one entry on a long list of deals he’s closed recently that also includes WME’s acquisitions of BDA Sports, music agencies True Grit and Red 11, and literary agency Ross Yoon, as well as TKO’s investment in EverPass Media, a joint venture with RedBird Capital and the NFL. “Sports ownership continues to be a compelling area of focus,” he says, in part because “there’s a finite number of these sports teams and leagues and that drives value for those types of assets.”

Head of business affairs and general counsel
A. Smith & Co. Prods. and Magical Elves for Tinopolis USA

Kephart learned the value of hard work as a young teen toiling as a day laborer for her former Army Green Beret dad’s construction business, and it carries over to her current job at unscripted powerhouse A. Smith & Co./Tinopolis USA, where she’s closed a long list of recent show deals including one for Roku’s WWE series with John Cena, while overseeing legal for the long-running hits “Top Chef,” “American Ninja Warrior” and “Hell’s Kitchen.” “One of my older brothers, who also became a contractor, told me that our dad once scolded him for being lazy and not working as hard as his sister,” she says.

General counsel
Audible

If you’re looking forward to the release of “full-cast” audiobook versions of the “Harry Potter” series in 2025, you can thank Landew and her legal team at Audible for closing the deal with rights holder Pottermore. She also helped win a patent infringement case regarding Kindle and Amazon Music tech and oversaw deals with Mercedes Benz, Air Canada and Sirius XM, as well as sister company Amazon MGM Studios to make TV series adaptations of Audible content. “All of my team members are experts in their specific areas,” she says. “I see myself as a conductor making sure all of their work comes together
in harmony.”

Associate general counsel
Wasserman

Lindley’s pre-law school job as an accountant with Pricewaterhouse-
Coopers gave him solid footing in the nuts and bolts of finance, but these days he has to look way beyond the balance sheet when evaluating M&A targets for Wasserman. “When the core assets of a company you’re buying are people, as opposed to one that just produces widgets, it’s exponentially more complex,” says Lindley, who served as lead in-house counsel in Wasserman’s acquisitions of Paradigm Talent Agency’s U.S.- and London-based live music business in 2021 and 2022, respectively, and Brillstein Entertainment Partners and its affiliated production company Brillstein Creative Partners in 2023.

General counsel
Skydance

McKinnon has been at the center of Skydance’s negotiations to form a new Paramount, a complex two-step transaction that includes the acquisition of National Amusements and the merger of Skydance and Paramount. She did this while continuing to handle legal matters for the studio’s various divisions (film, television, animation, sports and games), as well as its new horror label Nocturna, launched this year in partnership with Andy and Barbara Muschietti. Like the rest of the industry, she’s also pondering potential AI issues. “If the owners of the LLMs [learning language models] change their approach to monetization, the ability of artists and creatives to use those tools may be endangered,” she says.

General counsel
NBCUniversal Studio Group

In 2023, Miller was elevated to general counsel of the newly formed NBCUniversal Studio Group, the content banner combining the company’s film and television studios, when the WGA strike was already ongoing and the SAG-AFTRA strike less than 10 days away. “The industry has changed more in the past five years than the 20 years that preceded it,” he says. “But history has taught us that change is constant, and our industry needs to keep adapting to whatever comes our way.”

Chief counsel
Walt Disney Studios

Olson started as an entry-level production counsel at the Mouse House in 1996 and today oversees all legal matters for Walt Disney Studios’ various production divisions (including Marvel, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Studios, Pixar, Searchlight and its music and theatrical groups), as well as the teams supporting marketing, clearances, rights and licensing, technology and operations. She’s also helped guide the studio through the series of labor issues that have gripped the industry. “Negotiations are about bringing people together to develop solutions that are balanced, sustainable and that allow the entertainment ecosystem to thrive,” she says.

UnJu Paik
Head of global business affairs, licensing and distribution
Wondery

Lee Goldberg
Head of legal
Wondery

When Paik and Goldberg are crafting Wondery’s podcast deals for shows such as Dax Shepard and Monica Padman’s “Armchair Expert,” and Jason and Travis Kelce’s “New Heights” (worth a reported $100 million-plus), one of the key components is the synergies offered by parent company Amazon. “We’ve been one of the most successful companies to use to extend podcast IP into other areas,” says Paik, who manages Wondery’s global content deals. “Not only are we doing TV [adaptations], we’ve done a lot of really great extensions on the e-commerce side.” They’re careful to keep abreast of changes in the regulatory framework. “We monitor to make sure that we’re compliant not only with current regulations, but the regulations that are being considered as well,” says Goldberg.

General counsel
Universal Studio Group

From a young age, Pedorella knew she wanted to be a lawyer. “I like puzzling through problems and coming up with solutions and helping people,” she says. Today, she leads a global team of approximately 75 lawyers and legal staff for USG’s 100-plus active series, ranging from the Dick Wolf-produced “Law & Order” and “One Chicago” franchises to Max’s “Hacks” and Peacock’s “We Are Lady Parts,” as well as its rights acquisitions, talent agreements and outbound licenses to more than 25 platforms around the globe. Previously, she was the lawyer for “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” “Late Night With Seth Meyers” and “Saturday Night Live.”

Head of business affairs, non-scripted
WME

Perez has been working the bleeding edge of artificial intelligence as the leader of the WME team negotiating first-of-their-kind partnerships with technology firms Vermillio and Loti, which combat “deepfakes,” as well as enable clients to control authorized likenesses that can be licensed and monetized. “I think that we’re still some time away from seeing the full potential of how it’s going to apply to our industry, but just look at where we were even a year or two ago and where we are now,” says Perez, who also closed a variety of deals for non-scripted shows, including Julia Fox’s pact to host “OMG Fashun” for NBC/Peacock.

Chief legal officer and corporate secretary
Scopely

Rosenthal was a central player in Scopely’s $4.9 billion purchase by Savvy Games Group in July 2023, which ranks as the seventh-largest acquisition in the history of the video game biz. He’s also engineered strategic partnerships with Marvel, Disney and Warner Bros. and content creators such as MrBeast, and cut numerous deals for Scopely’s hit mobile game Stumble Guys, including integrations with iconic IP (Pac-Man, Barbie, “Ghostbusters,” etc.) and pacts to bring it to Sony and Microsoft consoles. “Right now is an advantageous time to identify ambitious gamemakers looking for a stable, long-term home, so we’re excited to continue exploring new M&A opportunities,” he says.

Chief legal officer
Warner Bros. Discovery

Sims helped facilitate this year’s global rollout of Max, which debuted in Latin America and much of Europe (including Central and Eastern Europe, Poland, the Netherlands, France and Belgium) and is set to launch in Southeast Asia in late 2024. She’s also found time to spearhead Warner Bros. Discovery’s DEI efforts, leading the development of its Diversity in Entertainment Fellowship and its partnership in the Street Law pipeline program, while grappling with industrywide issues. “COVID and the strikes have been uniquely challenging in that those experiences have challenged among other things what it means to engage in shared motion picture viewing and collaborative experiences,” she says.