Variety’s Dealmakers 2024

CEO, All Elite Wrestling (AEW)

In October, 5 years to the week after Khan launched skilled wrestling promotion AEW as a direct competitor to Vince McMahon’s long-dominant WWE, he closed a multi-year media rights take care of Warner Bros. Discovery, value a reported $185 million a yr, that requires AEW’s exhibits and occasions to be broadcast on TBS and TNT and stream on Max. The firm is now valued at greater than $2 billion, making it the third-most-valuable fight sports activities firm on the earth.

Ain’t bragging if it’s true: “Our new association signifies that AEW will make historical past as the primary skilled wrestling promotion to simulcast occasions weekly on high cable channels and a high streaming platform,” says Khan.

Chris Spicer
Marissa Román Griffith
Alissa Miller
Vanessa Roman
Partners
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld

The Akin workforce closed greater than $3.5 billion in offers previously yr, spanning media, leisure and sports activities. Recently, it repped CAT5, an motion movie label backed by Fifth Season, in its preliminary venture, “Levon’s Trade” (Black Bear Pictures), written by Sylvester Stallone, and suggested HarbourView Equity Partners on its funding in Mucho Mas Media, producers of the movies “Rosario” and “The Long Game.”

Be open-minded: “AI will clearly have an effect on all sides of the media and leisure trade, however how a lot and to what extent continues to be TBD,” says the group in a joint assertion. “Our recommendation for anybody within the trade, be it authorized, monetary, artistic, and so forth., is to learn to use the expertise to be extra environment friendly and higher at your job versus be frightened of it. Embrace the change and search for methods to make use of it to your benefit.”

Partners
Alter Kendrick & Baron

Alter and Baron closed nearly $1 billion value of music publishing and grasp recording catalog acquisitions and gross sales previously yr, representing Primary Wave Music Publishing (Neil Sedaka), BMG Rights Management (Peter Frampton), Reservoir Media Management (Louis Prima), Iconic Artists Group (Rod Stewart) and Influence Media Partners (Enrique Iglesias).

Spotlight shining brighter on NIL offers: “There are quite a few consumers which might be — if not getting unique rights in that space, as a result of it’s exhausting to worth, significantly if these sorts of rights haven’t been traditionally exploited — no less than getting the chance to convey issues to the desk,” says Alter. “Some sellers are searching for companions to assist them make the biopic they’ve at all times wished to make or the Broadway jukebox musical they’ve at all times wished to do.” 

Pat Shah
Global head of content material acquisition, technique & partnerships
Rhonda Adams Medina
Head of enterprise affairs
Kristin Lang
Senior director of content material acquisition
Audible

If there was doubt that Audible isn’t nearly audiobooks and podcasts anymore, it was put to relaxation when Shah’s workforce minimize a deal for the corporate’s first musical, “Dead Outlaw,” which premiered Off-Broadway and received a Drama Desk Award. They additionally negotiated pacts with MGM Studios to develop TV diversifications of unique Audible audio titles and Imagine Entertainment to provide a fictional audio sequence exploring unsolved murders by way of the lens of church confessions, in addition to conventional audiobook offers, together with the acquisitions of multi-language audio rights to Andy Weir’s subsequent novel and Matt Dinniman’s “Dungeon Crawler Carl” sequence.

Hear the chances: “Audio is a definite and differentiated method to increase the canvas of what’s doable storytelling-wise, [and] the artistic neighborhood is raring to discover how one can join with audiences each new and present by way of this format,” says Shah.

Robyn Polashuk
Partner; co-chair, leisure and media trade group
Adrian Perry
Partner; co-chair, leisure and media trade group and music trade group
David Lefebvre
Mike Hill
Special counsel
Covington & Burling

Calling Covington & Burling’s Perry, Polashuk, Lefebvre and Hill a dream workforce may very well be an understatement, given the multi-billion-dollar impression of the offers they construction. They represented the Walt Disney Co. within the media licensing elements of its settlement to merge Disney Star India’s $8.5 billion with Reliance’s Viacom 18, and suggested Paramount Global on community distribution issues concerned on its proposed $8 billion merger with Skydance Media. On the sports activities aspect, Hill suggested the NBA on an 11-year, $76 billion media rights settlement with the Walt Disney Co. (ABC/ESPN), NBCUniversal and Amazon.

Better dealmaking by way of science: “This yr is marked by the acceleration of coaching, deployment and adoption of AI applied sciences, which has opened up a brand new content material licensing and monetization marketplace for media and different shoppers,” says Polashuk.

Partners
Davis Wright Tremaine

The Davis Wright Tremaine quartet had a busy yr, dealing with every part from expertise offers to litigation. Miller suggested on above-the-line contracts, tax incentives and manufacturing companies on Seasons 2 and three of Amazon MGM Studios’ “The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power.” Zee dealt with greater than 60 growth offers for ITV Studios America’s partnerships with Tomorrow Studios and Bedrock Entertainment. Wei tackled distinctive manufacturing authorized points, together with the vetting of “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver’s” supply to present Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas $1 million a yr and a brand new RV in alternate for his resignation from the Supreme Court. Palacios suggested on quite a few documentaries for studios together with Imagine Entertainment and Netflix and is lead protection counsel for the Cinemart in a defamation swimsuit arising from its docuseries “Bug Out.”

Pre-strike greenlights turned to purple: “Talent hoped they might instantly go into manufacturing, however so many months had handed in the course of the strike interval that the studios began to take a second have a look at these initiatives, and in some instances scrapped them and began over,” says Miller.

Partners
Del Shaw Moonves Tanaka Finkelstein Lezcano Bobb & Dang

These Del Shaw Moonves authorized eagles span the leisure spectrum from movie, TV and docs to the legit stage. In the previous yr, Bobb minimize offers for expertise starting from director Malcolm D. Lee (Blumhouse/Universal thriller “Help”) to actor David Oyelowo (starring function in National Theatre manufacturing of Shakespeare’s “Coriolanus”). A significant participant within the unscripted house, Cohan grew his sports-related enterprise, chopping offers for Box to Box Films, Vox Media Studios, Pro Shop and the NFL, whereas repping stars like French chef and chocolatier Amaury Guichon and journalists Soledad O’Brien and Antonia Hylton. Lezcano negotiated Sterlin Harjo’s total pact with FX, which spawned the pilot “The Sensitive Kind,” starring Ethan Hawke, and producer Gareth Neame’s deal for a 3rd “Downton Abbey” movie and his new multi-year deal to proceed as chairman of Carnival Television. In addition to often dealing with offers for high leisure execs, Tillers set Quinta Brunson to jot down, produce and star within the Universal comedy function “Par for the Course” (with founding associate Nina Shaw), and Becky Hartman Edwards’ showrunner deal for Netflix’s “One Tree Hill” reboot.

Relaxing expertise holding offers: “The total compensation bundle will not be as profitable because it was, nor are they ordering as many episodes as they did historically, so that they should be a bit of bit extra lenient,” says Bobb.

Founding associate
Del Shaw Moonves Tanaka Finkelstein Lezcano Bobb & Dang

A longstanding chief within the leisure legislation neighborhood, Shaw had one other yr of huge offers, together with pacts for Lupita Nyong’o to hitch the all-star forged in Christopher Nolan’s subsequent film, Quinta Brunson to co-write, produce and star within the Universal function comedy “Par for the Course” (with associate Lily Tillers), Ayo Edebiri to co-star in Luca Guadagnino’s “After the Hunt,” Victoria Mahoney to direct the Amazon MGM rom-com “Clean Air” and Jurnee Smollett to star within the Apple TV+ sequence “Firebug.”

No revenue participation for you!: “We at all times had actually powerful definitions of payouts, however lots of people nonetheless bought paid,” Shaw says. “Now, increasingly, we see this idea that individuals don’t really should take part within the upside.”

Partner; international co-chair, media, sport & leisure
DLA Piper

Ara had a busy yr repping Caryn Mandabach Prods. in its sale to Banijay U.Ok., animation studio Titmouse (“Big Mouth”) in an eight-figure renewal of its first-look pact with Netflix and Korean streaming service Coupang Play in its take care of Major League Baseball for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres to face off in a pair of preseason video games in Seoul in March 2024.

Laying recent income pipelines: “While new dealmaking alternatives in music have emerged from the securitization of royalty earnings streams, financiers are more and more exploring broader sector alternatives,” he says. “This consists of consolidating legacy belongings and making certain regular money flows in an trade that’s continuously evolving.”

Partner; chair of nationwide promoting workforce
DLA Piper

Mulcahy has been on the middle of most of the greatest transactions on the intersection of sports activities and leisure. Most notably, he repped Amazon Prime Video in its 11-year, $21 billion international media rights take care of the National Basketball Assn. for an unique bundle of NBA and WNBA video games, working by way of the 2035-2036 season. The deal, which closed in July, marks the league’s first streaming-only media rights settlement.

Package it up: “Live sports activities is quickly migrating to digital media channels and is getting costlier to accumulate and exploit. So in an effort to construct the size wanted to cowl these prices, we’re seeing opponents workforce as much as bundle their services and products and go to market collectively,” says Mulcahy.

Stacy Marcus
Katherine Imp
Michael Isselin
Partners
David Markman
Partner; co-chair, leisure transactions observe
DLA Piper

This DLA Piper workforce has been a key participant in issues which have widespread impression on the trade, most notably negotiations for SAG-AFTRA’s commercials contract, the place Marcus serves as chief negotiator for the Joint Policy Committee representing the promoting trade, assisted by Isselin as authorized counsel. Imp’s tasks embody serving as lead outdoors counsel for iHeartMedia’s podcast slate with Shondaland and repping Lego Group within the negotiation of content material manufacturing and distribution preparations with studios together with Disney and Netflix, whereas Markman handles all elements of Jeanie Buss and David McLane’s all-female wrestling promotion Women of Wrestling, together with the negotiation of its multi-year distribution take care of Paramount/CBS Studios.

See AI from either side now: “AI is an umbrella and there are lots of actually nice makes use of for it that may enhance creativity and efficiencies,” says Marcus, whether or not the customers are manufacturers, movie and TV producers, creators or performers, so long as they’ve correct protections.

Robert J. Sherman
Partner; co-chair, leisure finance observe
Richard Petretti
Claire Hall
Partners
DLA Piper

Sherman and Hall are on the glowing middle of the red-hot music catalog market. In March, the duo secured roughly $500 million in financing for consumer HarbourView Equity Partners, backed by its music royalty catalog, which incorporates titles by artists together with Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo, Fleetwood Mac’s Christine McVie, Wiz Khalifa and Brad Paisley. They additionally repped main impartial music firm Concord in its issuance of $850 million in asset-backed notes, which will likely be used for added music acquisitions. Meanwhile, Petretti served as administrative agent on JPMorgan’s modification of its $675 million time period mortgage and revolving credit score facility (expandable to $875 million) for Arnon Milchan’s Regency/Monarchy Entertainment group of firms.

Business is nice: “We see a maturing of the marketplace for music securitizations and imagine that music acquisition platforms sponsored by institutional buyers and different subtle capital suppliers will proceed to entry and develop this subsector of the esoteric ABS [asset-backed securities] market,” says Sherman. 

General counsel and head of enterprise authorized affairs
Fifth Season

Arias assisted in securing a $225 million strategic funding from Toho, Japan’s largest movie studio, which empowered Fifth Season to proceed increasing its premium content material slate. He’s offered ongoing oversight of enterprise and authorized practices for Emmy-nominated Apple TV+ sequence “Severance” and Max’s “Tokyo Vice,” and on the movie aspect overseen the thriller “She Rides Shotgun,” starring Taron Egerton, and the comedies “Friendship,” starring Tim Robinson, and “Nonnas,” starring Vince Vaughn.

Election impression on dealmaking: “We may see an easing of regulation on M&A within the media enterprise, which may result in extra consolidation, whereas probably boosting firms which have confronted challenges being aggressive, which is superb for the trade,” Arias says.

Partner; founding chair, leisure & sports activities legislation division
Fox Rothschild

Miller repped husband and spouse shoppers Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance in quite a few issues, together with pacts for her to return for “Mission Impossible — The Final Reckoning” and for him to take over the function of Zeus in Season 2 of the Disney+ sequence “Percy Jackson and the Olympians,” in addition to a first-look deal for the couple’s manufacturing firm with twentieth Television. He additionally closed offers for Chris “Ludacris” Bridges (2024 Super Bowl Halftime Show efficiency), Da’Vine Joy Randolph (starring roles in A24 rom-com “Eternity” and Michel Gondry’s Universal musical “Golden”) and comic/host Taylor Tomlinson (Netflix particular “Have It All”).

One door opens and …: “I see a paradigm shift breaking apart the monopolies, creating extra methods to become profitable and a chance for these nimble sufficient to discover a new mannequin and create their area of interest and construct their viewers,” Miller says.

Partners
Fox Rothschild

Katz and Vaquerano have been working with HarbourView Equity Partners since its founding in 2021, dealing with all phases of negotiations — from due diligence to post-closing — on greater than a billion dollars-worth of offers. This yr, they have been instrumental in securing $500 million in financing for HarbourView, backed by its music royalties catalog, which incorporates titles by artists resembling Fleetwood Mac’s Christine McVie, Wiz Khalifa, Brad Paisley and James Fauntleroy. The bicoastal duo (Katz is in New York; Vaquerano in Los Angeles) additionally just lately represented Merch Collective in its $25 million-plus majority curiosity sale to Sony Music Entertainment.

Thinking globally: “There is heightened curiosity in offers regarding rights originating outdoors of the United States,” says Katz. “We should be certain we’re serving to our shoppers to appropriately analyze the chance vs. reward tradeoff from exploring unfamiliar jurisdictions.”

Partner; chair of leisure & sports activities legislation division
Fox Rothschild

Simon is a pressure within the nonfiction house, closing offers for shoppers resembling Oscar-winning director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (Hulu’s Diane von Furstenberg doc “Woman in Charge”), Alex Stapleton’s House of Nonfiction Prods. (Netflix docuseries about Sean “Diddy” Combs, produced with 50 Cent), longtime AMC Network exec Josh Sapan (total take care of IFC Films), the Obamas’ Higher Ground Prods. and Bloomberg Media.

Streaming for the long run: The continued championing of latest expertise is one thing that Simon feels is vitally vital to {the marketplace}. “I wish to see the emergence of a powerful, consolidated and commercially viable SVOD platform for the good and daring impartial voices of our time and people to come back,” he says.

J. Eugene (Gene) Salomon Jr.
Managing associate
Donald S. Passman
Ethan Schiffres
Daniel S. Passman
Partners
Gang, Tyre, Ramer, Brown & Passman

The Gang, Tyre quartet has a roster of celebrity music, movie and tv shoppers starting from Taylor Swift and Stevie Wonder to Timothée Chalamet, Zac Efron and Heidi Klum. In the previous yr, they amplified their repute as headliners within the music enviornment, chopping offers for Green Day’s “Saviors” album and subsequent stadium tour, P!nk’s $693.8 million-grossing Summer Carnival World Tour and the sale of Randy Newman’s recorded music and publishing rights to Litmus Music. On the movie and TV aspect, they brokered Emma Corrin’s look within the Marvel blockbuster “Deadpool & Wolverine” and Ridley Scott’s producer and director deal for the upcoming Bee Gees biopic “You Should Be Dancing.”

More cross-cultural alternatives: “You’ve bought artists from completely different components of the world making an impression,” says Salomon. “It was that Anglo-American repertoire dominated what was widespread in every single place. That’s changing into much less of the case and also you’re seeing way more range.”

Kevin Masuda
Partner; co-chair, media, leisure and expertise observe group
Benyamin (Ben) Ross
Partner and co-chair, media, leisure and expertise observe group
Steve Tsoneff
Sarah Graham
Partners
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher

The Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher quartet suggested Iconic Artists Group, co-founded by longtime Eagles supervisor Irving Azoff, in its strategic funding from HPS Investment Partners, giving Iconic entry to $1 billion to additional construct out its portfolio. It additionally repped RedBird Capital Partners in its funding in Charles Barkley’s Round Mound Media and its acquisition of indie TV manufacturing and distribution firm All3Media, and suggested on the launch of Gin & Juice by Dre and Snoop Dogg, an alcoholic beverage firm based by Dr. Dre, Snoop, Jimmy Iovine and Main Street Advisors.

Who says deal move is gradual?: “Private fairness involvement in M&A within the leisure trade has accelerated, with a specific deal with catalogs, manufacturing firms, content material libraries and talent-driven companies like expertise businesses, administration corporations and talent-founded shopper manufacturers,” stated the workforce in a press release.

Partners
Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman & Machtinger

The Greenberg Glusker workforce labored collaboratively to chop a wealth of headline-grabbing offers, resembling Tom Cruise’s strategic partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery and a subsequent pact to make an Alejandro G. Iñárritu movie for the studio, each of which have been dealt with by Galsor and Muir. The quartet’s shoppers additionally embody actors Tom Hanks, Chris Hemsworth, Vin Diesel and Alice Braga, filmmakers Joe and Anthony Russo, James Cameron and David Fincher, authors J.Ok. Rowling and Jocko Willink, Silent House Prods., costume designer Colleen Atwood, Ubisoft Entertainment, Riot Games, the estates of J.R.R. Tolkien and Ray Bradbury, and Togethxr, (based by feminine athletes Alex Morgan, Chloe Kim, Simone Manuel and Sue Bird).

Fair compensation for streaming success: “Nobody has the best system, and I believe the formulation that individuals are discussing usually are not going to be those which might be going to be adopted long-term, as a result of they only don’t work,” says Galsor.

Founder & CEO
HarbourView Equity Partners

Launched in 2021, Soares’ HarbourView Equity Partners has established itself as one of many hottest funding corporations within the leisure, sports activities and media markets, with roughly $1.5 billion in belongings at present underneath its administration. Recently, Soares invested in two media manufacturing firms centered on inclusive storytelling, Charles D. King’s Macro (“Judas and the Black Messiah,” “Mudbound”) and Mucho Mas Media (“The Long Game, “Rosario”).

Growth creates alternatives: “I’ve been constantly centered on high-quality IP, whereas bringing an enormous deal with ROI and utilizing information as forex when it comes to who’s watching and the way usually, which can assist to empower all artistic voices,” she says.

Partner
Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole

Johnson has secured over $1 billion in manufacturing commitments for Tyler Perry Studios, together with Netflix offers that closed in 2024 — a multi-year, first-look sequence pact and an settlement to provide a number of faith-based movies — including to a deal he made with the streamer in October 2023, calling for eight movies over 4 years. He additionally dealt with Perry’s BET sequence producing settlement and the launch of two free ad-supported streaming channels that includes all of Perry’s BET output. Johnson’s non-Perry work included a joint-venture settlement between Andy and Barbara Muschietti and Skydance to create horror division Nocturna.

Gaming the deflating manufacturing bubble: “Platforms are being extra discerning in what they’re investing in, so we have to work tougher to indicate the worth proposition to safe long-term, multi-part offers,” he says.

Partner
Kirkland & Ellis

Traxler was on the middle of two of the yr’s greatest music catalog offers, repping Blackstone in its $1.6 billion buy of Hipgnosis Songs Fund in April and Universal Music Group in its acquisition of a 25.8% stake in Chord Music Partners for a reported $240 million in February.

Music catalog market comeback: “Most each consumer I’m in touch with about acquisitions feels that as rates of interest hopefully proceed to come back down and financial situations enhance in numerous international locations, alternatives will re-emerge to accumulate catalogs,” he says. “There are nonetheless loads of fascinating catalogs in any respect sizes and all ranges to draw completely different sorts of music firms. We must work tougher to indicate the worth proposition to safe long-term, multi-part offers.”

Partners
Latham & Watkins

As companions in Latham & Watkin’s leisure, sports activities and media group, Bruington focuses on debt financing transactions and West handles music catalog acquisitions and represents expertise in IP joint ventures and model sponsorship offers, whereas Johnson and Ranger are transactional generalists. In the previous yr, they helped Blumhouse purchase Atomic Monster and purchase out ITV’s fairness pursuits in Blumhouse Television; suggested Skydance Media in its merger with Paramount; negotiated KKR’s sale of Chord Music Partners; and represented Brittney Griner in an unique life rights and producing settlement with ESPN and ABC.

Turbulent instances fire up alternatives: “The massive means it’s performed out is that personal capital has turn into much more nimble within the leisure [space],” says Ranger. “There are new and extra buyers, and so they’re more and more open to deploying capital throughout quite a lot of funding methods, somewhat than conventional fairness, conventional debt offers.”

CEO
Legendary Entertainment

Grode led Legendary’s buyback of Beijing-based Wanda Group’s remaining fairness curiosity within the studio in October, placing its possession solely within the palms of its administration and personal fairness funding agency Apollo Global Asset Management. Grode says it provides them the liberty to pursue M&A alternatives “with out the augmented regulatory danger that comes from having a international proprietor in our enterprise.” Legendary was capable of do it with money available, because of back-to-back blockbusters “Dune: Part Two” and “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,” which grossed a mixed $1.2 billion worldwide.

AI can localize social media posts: “It’s proving to be very environment friendly in getting changes out the door rapidly and at an excellent value level,” he says.

James Feldman
Managing associate
Stephen Clark
Melissa Rogal
Jonathan Shikora
Partners
Lichter, Grossman, Nichols, Feldman, Rogal, Shikora & Clark

Feldman minimize function offers for, amongst others, brothers Benny Safdie (write/direct “The Smashing Machine”) and Josh Safdie (co-write/direct “Marty Supreme”). Feldman and Rogal set Viola Davis for the HBO sequence “Waller,” whereas Rogal and Shikora negotiated a multi-script growth deal at Amazon for “Poker Face” showrunners Lilla and Nora Zuckerman. Clark serviced shoppers together with Rian Johnson and Ram Bergman (Will Ferrell golf comedy sequence for Netflix) and “Shōgun” creators Justin Marks and
Rachel Kondo.

Why streamers at the moment are offering viewer information: According to Feldman, it’s not nearly WGA and SAG-AFTRA contract calls for. “It’s additionally largely pushed by the truth that all of the streamers try to promote advertisements now, and these advertisers have much more leverage than the writers did to demand the equal of scores,” he says.

Partner
Manatt, Phelps & Phillips

Chatham repped Dr. Phil (McGraw) within the April launch of his tv community Merit Street Media, which is accessible to greater than 80 million properties by way of partnerships with a mixture of broadcast, cable, satellite tv for pc and FAST channel platforms. Other shoppers embody Logan Paul, Gabriel Macht, Demi Moore and Gabrielle Reece.

Products positioned just-so: “Now we’re negotiating offers the place content material, commerce and neighborhood blur collectively,” he says. “Our shoppers are constructing strong first-party information operations by way of their content material, then leveraging that to launch every part from spirits, sports activities drinks, condiments and way of life manufacturers. The content material is actually a advertising and marketing catalyst for his or her broader enterprise empire.”

Partner
Manatt, Phelps & Phillips

Meller led the Manatt workforce that suggested Chord Music Partners on its sale, during which KKR’s majority stake was purchased by a consortium consisting of Universal Music Group and Dundee Partners for $240 million, leading to a valuation of $1.85 billion after the deal closed in February. 

Building out enterprise: “The music trade continues to development towards artists and songwriters proudly owning and exploiting their very own copyrights and relying much less on firms and gatekeepers,” he says. “Artists can set their very own future. We assist songwriter shoppers self-administer and get probably the most worth from their works. Building manufacturers outdoors of the standard leisure trade can also be a important component to an artist’s long-term monetary success.” 

Partner
Manatt, Phelps & Phillips

Over the previous yr, Custer dealt with 23 multi-million-dollar music catalog offers, 21 of which have been on the customer aspect. Among these have been 13 for Reservoir Media Management (together with publishing belongings of Tupac Shakur producer Big D Evans) and 6 for Seeker Music (together with royalties for B.o.B.). On the vendor aspect, he closed main offers for Pat Benatar and Jay Gruska. He additionally serves as common counsel for artists together with Neil Young and the Pixies.

These are the great ol’ days: It’s been a rocky highway for the music trade since Custer launched his profession in 1997, however he’s blissful the place it’s at this time. “Now with the ascendency of streaming, touring and music asset gross sales transactions, there’s by no means a boring day,” he says.

Partner
Manatt, Phelps & Phillips

Stapleton suggested Pophouse Entertainment on its $300 million acquisition of the catalog, model identify and IP of rock band Kiss and its buy of a majority share of Cyndi Lauper’s publishing and recording income. He additionally serves as counsel for Jack White’s Third Man Records, recording artists Em Beihold and La Lom, and Emmy-winning director-producer Jeff Zimbalist (“Skywalkers: A Love Story”).

Wolf on the door, thy identify is AI: “Performers and songwriters have been preventing for nicely over a decade to get their justifiable share of streaming revenues,” he says. “Now, with AI applied sciences boosting the prevalence of streaming fraud and flooding DSPs with authorless music, artists are dealing with a brand new menace to their hard-won share of the streaming ecosystem.”

Navid Mahmoodzadegan
Co-founder & co-president
Carlos Jimenez
Global head of media, sports activities & leisure
Moelis & Co.

Mahmoodzadegan and Jimenez have been on the middle of Hollywood’s greatest deal of the yr, advising Skydance Media on its $8 billion merger with Paramount, which closed in July. “There are lot of transactions which might be curler coaster rides,” says Jimenez. “This one was in all probability the steepest.”

Prospects for the “New Paramount”: “It’s a enterprise that, in totality, clearly has a few of its challenges forward of it,” says Jimenez. “But I’m very bullish about [Skydance’s] David Ellison and the RedBird [Capital Partners] workforce that they’ve assembled. If anyone’s going to show the Titanic, I believe they’ll.”

Partners
Myman Greenspan Fox Rosenberg Mobasser Younger & Light

Before Dead & Company grossed greater than $130 million with their 30-day residency on the Sphere in Las Vegas this previous summer season, Greenspan and Arnst negotiated all-encompassing agreements involving the progressive venue, together with ones that secured varied rights and clearances for merch and visible IP integrated into the live performance. Greenspan additionally repped Red Hot Chili Peppers singer Anthony Kiedis in Universal’s possibility of the film rights to his autobiography “Scar Tissue” and chef and TV character Giada De Laurentiis in her spokesperson pact with Oceania Vista cruise ships.

Old faculty nonetheless guidelines: “There was a second a couple of years in the past that everyone was chasing TikTok artists and it was nearly like TikTok changed the A&R division,” says Greenspan. If you wish to construct a protracted and sustained profession, “get out on the highway, play your songs, take care of folks individually, allow them to know who you’re.”

Chairman, international promoting & partnerships
NBCUniversal

Marshall oversaw the workforce that secured a document $1.25 billion in promoting income for NBC’s Summer 2024 Olympics and Paralympics protection. Seventy % of the advertisers have been Olympics first-timers, contributing $500 million to the ultimate tally, thanks partially to Marshall’s efforts the assistance smaller entrepreneurs break into the once-exclusive tv enviornment by way of programmatic advert buys.

Trend spotter: “In measuring the impression of promoting, we’re evolving from proxies to an authorized measurement ecosystem proving the true impression of a consumer’s media goals,” he says. “As the suggestions loop has strengthened, it’s indeniable that probably the most impactful promoting campaigns are in premium video that’s working throughout linear and streaming.”

Amy Siegel
Partner; co-chair of the leisure, sports activities and media group
Matthew Syrkin
Partner; co-chair of the media tech group
Lindsay Conner
Silvia Vannini
Partners
O’Melveny & Meyers

In response to lingering challenges from 2023’s strikes, this O’Melveny & Meyers quartet bought artistic to assist shoppers adapt and thrive. With Siegel within the lead, the workforce repped Fifth Season within the sale of a 25% stake to Japanese studio Toho for $225 million and suggested HighLevel Media Advisors in reference to Shamrock Content Strategy’s acquisition of a media portfolio of greater than 550 function movies, 2,000 hours of TV programming and 450 songs. With Cooper working level, they dealt with a number of transactions for ITV, together with the sell-back of the 45% stake in Blumhouse Television it purchased from Blumhouse in 2017 and its co-production settlement with Amazon MGM Studios for the tv sequence “The Better Sister.”

AI drawing trade deeper into uncharted territory: “It’s altering how content material is created and the way Hollywood does enterprise, creating each alternatives and potential liabilities for our shoppers,” says Siegel “We are intently following the authorized panorama round AI because it continues to evolve.”

Partner, leisure & media group
Reed Smith

Love’s deal with the intersection of music, digital media and rising applied sciences makes him a trusted consultant for rising and established musical artists, songwriters, music firms and institutional buyers. Whether appearing as outdoors counsel to funding collective PleasrDAO, representing South Korea’s YG Entertainment, nu metallic band Korn and jazz legend Thelonious Monk’s property in transactional music issues or serving as Concord Music Group’s lead music legal professional on its $468.8 million acquisition of Round Hill Music Fund, Love is aware of his success will depend on his shoppers’ success.

Doing good works: “We’ve labored on nicely over $1 billion in music catalog transactions this yr, however serving to Kesha to determine Kesha Records and seeing her thrive as a totally impartial artist is my proudest second,” says Love.

Partner; co-chair, leisure & media trade group
Reed Smith

Sessa spent a big a part of the previous yr dealing with main music acquisition offers for shoppers together with Concord, Sony, Lyric, Kobalt, Hipgnosis, Litmus, Shamrock, Seeker, Pophouse and Flexpoint. Other highlights embody advising the Smashing Pumpkins on a stadium tour with Green Day and Bon Jovi on varied points (together with his Hulu docuseries “Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story”) and helping Kesha in launching her new document label.

Another document yr for music catalog gross sales predicted: “Simply acknowledged, music rights are a bankable asset class for the monetary trade,” he says. “The mannequin works so you’ll proceed to see extra consumers enter the house.”

Leif Cervantes de Reinstein
Shaun Clark
Aerin Snow
Partners
Joseph Ireland
Associate
Sheppard, Mullin, Richter and Hampton

Cervantes de Reinstein and Snow closed high-profile offers for shoppers together with Lionsgate ($375 million acquisition of indie content material platform eOne from Hasbro), whereas serving as outdoors company counsel dealing with fairness financing transactions and joint ventures for 101 Studios (dwelling to Taylor Sheridan’s “Landman,” “Tulsa King” and the “Yellowstone” franchise), together with a strategic take care of Paramount Global for a number of sequence from A-list government producers together with Antoine Fuqua and George Clooney. Clark and Ireland have been equally busy, repping Creative Wealth Media Lending in its acquisition of Bron Studios and Sony Pictures in its buy of Alamo Drafthouse Cinema. Other shoppers embody studios Legendary Pictures and Fremantle and iconic manufacturers resembling Peloton, Mazda, QVC and the Hershey Co.

Optimistic in regards to the coming yr: “[We] anticipate that we are going to proceed to see strategic collaborations between firms in numerous industries, [including] tech firms working with content material suppliers, manufacturers collaborating with celebrities, sports activities leagues collaborating with entertainers, and networks searching for new methods to generate income,” says Clark. “The M&A market additionally appears extra bullish.”

Robert A. Darwell
Senior associate; head of worldwide media
Ramela Ohanian
Partner
Nicolas Urdinola
Senior affiliate
Tiago Aquino
Associate
Sheppard, Mullin, Richter and Hampton

The multilingual workforce led by Darwell has been busy dealing with the event, manufacturing and rights agreements on a slew of worldwide initiatives for firms together with Meta, Paramount, TelevisaUnivision, Gaumont, Globo and, most importantly, Amazon MGM Studios. As the skin counsel for the latter, they just lately labored on offers for the Spanish function “La Virgen Roja,” the Mexican sequence “Cada Minuto Cuenta,” the Colombian movie “Pimpinero,” starring Medellín-born rock star Juanes, and an eight-part restricted sequence adaptation of Chilean-American creator Isabel Allende’s novel “House of Spirits,” which is Amazon’s highest-budget Latin American manufacturing up to now. For Meta, they assisted its in-house authorized workforce in negotiating the expertise agreements for a sequence of AI chatbots embodying public figures resembling Tom Brady, Kendall Jenner and Naomi Osaka.

Look for extra experiential leisure: “It’s bringing new methods for audiences to attach with each other and, on the enterprise aspect, there’s ancillary income streams for each studios and expertise,” says Ohanian.

Partner; co-leader, international leisure, sports activities and media observe
Sidley Austin

If Dwayne Johnson have been Thompson’s solely consumer, he’d nonetheless be a really busy man. In the previous yr, the legal professional dealt with the launch of the massively muscled multi-hyphenate’s Papatui line of private care merchandise, the merger of the XFL (which Johnson purchased out of chapter in 2020 with ex-wife Dany Garcia and different buyers) with the USFL to create the United Football League in partnership with ESPN and Fox, and a deal for him to hitch the board of WWE father or mother firm TKO Group Holdings, re-enter the ring and take full possession of his nom de wrestling “The Rock.”

Placing extra bets on unique IP: “While which may not be the wisest transfer from a pure economics standpoint, with a extra various panorama of daring new content material, it is going to improve competitors for folks’s eyes and ears,” says Thompson, who additionally repped “Call Her Daddy” podcast host Alex Cooper in her new $125 million take care of SiriusXM.

Managing Partner
Singh, Singh & Trauben

A onetime in-house lawyer for Universal Music, Singh often moonlights as a producer, most just lately with the 2024 Peacock docuseries “Reggaeton: The Sound that Conquered the World,” which he exec produced with consumer Daddy Yankee. But his day job is chopping offers for the likes of Missy Elliott (“Out of This World” tour), Latin music star Ozuna (publishing catalog sale to Kobalt/KMR Holdings), Flow La Movie (catalog sale to Cinq Music), FloyyMenor (take care of UnitedMasters) and Grupo Firme (new distribution settlement with Virgin and publishing take care of Universal).

The energy of music catalog gross sales: “This development has reshaped how legacy artists, songwriters and producers method their long-term monetary methods,” he says.

David Eisman
Partner; head of media and leisure group
Glen Mastroberte
Partner, media and leisure group
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom

M&A specialists within the leisure sector, Eisman and Mastroberte stored busy engaged on transactions spanning movie, tv, music, gaming and sports activities because the trade recovered from final yr’s strikes. They’ve helped indie music labels like Drake’s OVO Sound and DJ Khaled’s We the Best Music strike main offers, and represented Parkwood Ventures in Beyoncé’s three way partnership with Moët Hennessy and the event, advertising and marketing and launch of her SirDavis whisky model.

Proudest second in 2024: For Eisman, it was dealing with UTA’s acquisition of high European soccer company Roof. “That was the biggest deal that UTA has ever accomplished in its historical past,” he says.

Rick Offsay
Partner; international co-chair, leisure, sports activities & media observe
Justin Hamill
Partner; international co-chair, mergers & acquisitions and personal fairness observe
Latham & Watkins

Hamill and Offsay deal with advanced strategic transactions, like advising Skydance Media in a merger with Paramount and an investor group in a $8 billion-plus funding in Paramount Global and the acquisition of National Amusements. Separately, Offsay suggested Carlyle in offering an $800 million asset-backed credit score facility to Park County (“South Park”), whereas Hamill suggested Endeavor in a $25 billion take-private acquisition of the corporate by Silver Lake.

Staying forward of the curve: “Comcast’s latest spin out of its cable networks, and Warner Brothers — [which has gone] by way of quite a few transactions, together with with Discovery — now must determine one thing else out,” says Offsay. “All of those legacy media firms try to determine the subsequent factor.”

Exec VP, international head of company
Sony Pictures Entertainment

Anguelova performed a key function in securing Sony Pictures Entertainment’s acquisition of the dine-in theater chain Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, marking the primary time a significant studio has re-entered the theatrical exhibition enterprise for the reason that 1948 Paramount Consent Decrees have been lifted in 2020. The studio plans to harness Alamo’s 4 million loyalty membership members to “eventize” its IP, together with content material from anime-centric subscription VOD streamer Crunchyroll.

Managing the downturn: “Certainly, our supply constructions are adapting and changing into extra nuanced to be reflective of the brand new realities of the market, and to align with each vendor and purchaser pursuits,” says Anguelova. “The market is exhibiting resilience for premium firms regardless of present challenges, as evidenced by latest high-profile transactions just like the All3Media sale to RedBird.”

Greg Akselrud
Partner; chair of web, digital media and leisure observe
Cathleen Green
Senior counsel
Stubbs Alderton & Markiles

Influential Network may’ve used an enormous white shoe legislation agency to deal with its $500 million acquisition by Publicis Groupe. Ex-Disney exec Ben Sherwood and former Hearst chief content material officer Joanna Coles may’ve accomplished the identical after they took the editorial reins on the Daily Beast in a deal that gave the duo near a 50% fairness curiosity within the publication. Instead, they known as on mid-size Sherman Oaks-based Stubbs Alderton & Markiles. According to Akselrud, it’s as a result of not solely are they well-versed within the points, in addition they have the power to see the blind spots in a deal and “suppose across the nook.”

Can’t promote a brand new product on stars energy alone: “You must have a celeb with a comparatively respectable following to launch the model, however then you definately actually should have advertising and marketing {dollars} to facilitate the expansion,” says Akselrud.

Global head of music enterprise growth
TikTok

Obermann performed a key function in bringing Universal Music Group catalog again to TikTok in May 2024 with a brand new licensing settlement that includes enhanced AI protections. He’s additionally offered promotional and artistic help for the platform’s partnerships with artists together with Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Sabrina Carpenter and Post Malone.

No must panic about AI: “A yr and a half in the past, the sensation within the music trade was the sky could be falling as a result of AI is coming at us in a quick and livid means, and we don’t know if we have now the best guardrails,” he says. “We had ‘Fake Drake’ [in April 2023] and a few different cultural moments with AI in music, but it surely’s gone fairly quiet, if you concentrate on it.”

President, platform distribution
The Walt Disney Company

Disney’s roster of networks (together with ABC, Disney-branded channels, ESPN, FX and National Geographic) had been darkish on DirecTV for practically two weeks in September earlier than Connolly, serving as chief negotiator, hammered out an settlement. The multi-billion-dollar deal he facilitated lined carriage of the Mouse House’s linear channel portfolio, as nicely the choice for shoppers to subscribe to its streaming companies (Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+) by way of choose DirecTV packages or on an a la carte foundation.

The upside to unhealthy instances: According to Connolly, the manufacturing downturn “has created better demand for content material within the market and extra alternatives for us to strategically license our best-in-class, non-branded library content material to 3rd events.”

Adam Glick
Exec VP, enterprise operations, Warner Bros. Television
Matt Matzkin
Exec VP, operations, Warner Bros. Unscripted Television and Warner Bros. Animation
Shanon Muir
Senior VP, authorized, Warner Bros. Television Group — Animation
Warner Bros. Television Group

Collectively, this Warner Bros. trio dealt with the dealmaking for just below 90 sequence for a large number of platforms. Glick minimize straight-to-series offers for an untitled HBO comedy from Bill Lawrence starring Steve Carell and the John Wells’ medical drama “The Pitt.” On the unscripted aspect, Matzkin launched the Food Network’s “Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking,” Max’s “Fast Friends” and the syndicated “True Crime News” and secured renewals for “Extra” and “The Jennifer Hudson Show.” Muir negotiated three new Cartoon Network sequence orders for “Foster’s Funtime for Imaginary Friends,” “Adventure Time Side Quests” and an untitled “Regular Show” venture.

Dealing digital dietary supplements: “We have quite a few podcasts that we produce on our personal, and we’re additionally collaborating with different podcasts that aren’t produced by us, and making an attempt to get our expertise on to them,” says Matkzin.

Partner
Weintraub Tobin

Gordon negotiated a number of headline offers for “Call Her Daddy” host and government producer Alex Cooper, together with a brand new multi-year $125 million pact with SiriusXM that can convey Cooper’s Unwell Network household of podcasts to the platform starting in 2025. Other shoppers embody actors Diane Lane and Zosia Mamet, podcasters Guy Raz and Caleb Pressley, novelist/screenwriter Maria Semple, dancer/singer/social media character Niana Guerrero and actress/author/comic Jenny Lorenzo.

Added visuals imply larger bucks: “Video podcasts proceed to realize recognition, and video has due to this fact turn into a key component, not solely in driving viewers engagement, but in addition offering nice alternative for promotion by way of clips on social media,” he says.

Ariel Emanuel
CEO, TKO
Nick Khan
President, WWE
Mark Shapiro
President & chief working officer, TKO
Andrew Schleimer
Chief monetary officer, TKO
WWE

Last yr, Endeavor merged Ultimate Fighting Championship with World Wrestling Entertainment underneath the TKO Group Holdings banner. In January 2024, TKO’s management quadrumvirate closed a $5.2 billion, 10-year deal to make Netflix the unique dwelling of WWE’s flagship present “Raw” within the U.S., Canada, U.Ok., Latin America and different territories starting in January 2025. As a part of the pact, Netflix would be the dwelling for all WWE exhibits and specials outdoors the U.S. from that date ahead, giving roughly 80% of worldwide territories speedy entry to 100% its content material, with the remainder of the globe filling out their WWE lineups as excellent offers expire.

Added worth with Netflix: “While the cash is very vital, the downstream impression and ancillary advantages to being with the distributor and simply south of 300 million properties globally was one thing that bought us very excited,” says Schleimer.

Co-founder & managing associate
Yorn Levine Barnes Krintzman Rubenstein Kohner Endlich Goodell & Gellman

Yorn stored his 29-year-old agency on the entrance of the leisure legislation pack in 2024, chopping offers for shoppers together with Scarlett Johansson (starring function in “Jurassic World Rebirth”), Ellen DeGeneres ($20 million pact for Netflix comedy particular), Zoe Saldaña (Golden Globe-nominated function in “Emilia Pérez”), Jonah Hill (write, produce and act in Apple TV+ film “Outcome”) and Matthew McConaughey (Apple TV+ sequence “Brother From Another Mother”).

Belt and suspenders therapy for AI: “We attempt to guarantee that we add further safety on high of what SAG has achieved with respect to studio offers for movie and tv,” he says. “We strive for a zero-use coverage throughout the board however are at all times open to see if AI could be useful for all involved.”

Partner
Yorn Levine Barnes Krintzman Rubenstein Kohner Endlich Goodell & Gellman

Barnes has been within the Snoop Dogg enterprise for greater than 1 / 4 of a century, and enterprise was excellent this yr, with the legal professional closing offers for the rapper’s high-profile function in NBC’s Summer Olympics protection and his decide gig on the community’s singing competitors present “The Voice.” He did that whereas concurrently serving to arrange his premium spirits firm Still G.I.N., launched in partnership with Dr. Dre.

Buckle up for Trump 2.0: “There could also be an preliminary chilling impact on various hiring and productions,” he says. “And with such an unlimited ideological divide throughout the leisure trade and past, some could also be denied employment or entry to capital based mostly on their views.”

Partner
Yorn Levine Barnes Krintzman Rubenstein Kohner Endlich Goodell & Gellman

Endlich just lately negotiated comic Bert Kreischer’s deal for 2 upcoming Netflix stand-up specials, and director/producer pacts for Taika Waititi’s Sony function adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel “Klara and the Sun,” starring Amy Adams, and Jaume Collet-Serra’s Netflix thriller “Carry On,” starring Taron Egerton. He additionally set D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai to star in A24’s “Warfare.”

World domination has its advantages: “Given the worldwide attain of the most important streaming platforms, there’s better alternative to work with worldwide shoppers and make progressive offers with international manufacturing firms which have partnered with the streamers to provide applications for each a U.S. and worldwide viewers,” he says.

Partner
Ziffren Brittenham

As the co-executor and supervisor of Michael Jackson’s property, Branca engineered a 50% sale of the late celebrity’s music publishing and document masters to Sony Music value a reported $600 million, whereas retaining management for the property, which up to now has yielded $2 billion from productions together with the Tony-winning “MJ: The Musical.”

Disruption on infinite rotation: “When you hint the impact of expertise within the trade, whether or not it went from piano rolls to wax discs to albums, and 45s to free obtain to streaming, it retains altering the trade,” Branca says. “The most vital factor that content material house owners are doing is making an attempt to guard their IP rights from being principally taken at no cost whereas someone else creates a brand new asset.”