As an entertainment business owner, managing contracts, rights issues, and quick deals can be a hectic process — and sometimes, there's no legal team at the helm to foresee potential issues before they become costly. That's when an Outside counsel for entertainment businesses in Los Angeles is indispensable. Whether it's negotiating new hires or safeguarding IP, a specialist lawyer can offer industry-specific expertise that a general business attorney could never. For studios, production companies, and independent creators all over Hollywood, Lastine Entertainment Law's practice is defined by its ability to resolve just these issues.
Legal Risks Faced by Entertainment Companies
There isn't a typical entertainment deal that is the same for everyone. Each project has multiple layers of contracting – talent, crew, vendors, locations – as well as rights and licensing that differ from platform to platform and territory to territory. The missing clause or ambiguous ownership specification can stall a production, reduce profits or result in a lawsuit after the work is done. Those that skip legal scrutiny will inevitably pay a premium price for it later on as a result of renegotiated deals, IP issues, or compliance fines.
Outside Counsel actually covers
Outside counsel isn't just contract review. A firm such as Lastine Entertainment Law provides a business with assistance throughout the entire process of a project's life cycle:
Pre-production: Coordination of the production companies, development of the operating agreement, and distribution of the share to the creative partners.
Production: Negotiation with the actors, writers, directors, composers, and below-the-line crew, and obtaining permits for shooting on location.
Post-production and distribution: Licensing and distribution management.
Continuing operations: Counselling companies as they expand on brand deals, endorsements and influencers.
This whole of business approach can prevent legal complications from spiraling out of control.
What makes local knowledge crucial?
There are “union rules” and “Los Angeles and county film permits” and state-specific labor regulations that vary greatly from other parts of the country to consider when dealing with entertainment law in Los Angeles. An on-site company can expedite your city approvals, talent contracts and film office coordination, versus a company working out of town. This local familiarity will be of great benefit to them over general counsel who don't know entertainment regulations.
Protection for business formation and long term protection.
A lot of entertainment companies begin with one project and expand into an enterprise with staff, regular contracts and various revenue streams. It's a process that is essential to be done right from the beginning, and Outside counsel for entertainment businesses in Los Angeles is the perfect resource to assist you with a number of key considerations, including selecting the right entity type, safeguarding IP rights, and clearly defining roles and expectations with partners before issues arise. This structure is important to get right from the beginning as otherwise it is costly to restructure later.
Selecting the appropriate legal partner.
Not all law firms are familiar with the speed of the entertainment industry or the "rules of the road. The right person has both the legal acumen and real-world experience of how deals are struck in Hollywood. When it comes to entertainment business contracts, partnering with seasoned outside Los Angeles counsel means having a legal team with an understanding of the contracts and the industry that goes along with it. Whether you are starting your business, in production, or facing other issues, Lastine Entertainment Law is with you every step of the way, ensuring your work is protected and you're not blindsided by legal issues.
