Experience

Village Roadshow Entertainment Group

• Entertainment
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Senior Director, Business & Legal Affairs

  • Jun 2021 - Present

  Provide legal and business affairs support to the feature film, scripted television, and unscripted television divisions, both during development and production, as well as to the rest of the BA and legal team. Provide legal and business affairs support to the feature film, scripted television, and unscripted television divisions, both during development and production, as well as to the rest of the BA and legal team.



Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County

• United States
• Law Practice
• 100 - 200 Employee

• Volunteer

  • Aug 2020 - Jun 2021

  Provide legal advice to tenants and inform them of their rights when facing eviction or other issues with their landlord, often, but not exclusively, related to Covid-19. Provide legal advice to tenants and inform them of their rights when facing eviction or other issues with their landlord, often, but not exclusively, related to Covid-19.



WWE

• United States
• Entertainment Providers
• 700 & Above Employee

• Manager, Business & Legal Affairs

  • Feb 2017 - Jun 2021

  WWE Studios is, at its heart, an independent. Which means that everyone working here wears a dozen hats. As a lifelong fan of WWE, I am fortunate to be able to consult on the creative direction and brand faithfulness of many projects. My official capacity is as follows. As a Manager of Business and Legal Affairs for our motion pictures, it is my responsibility to: (a) help draft distribution and co-financing deals; (b) solely draft above and below-the-line cast and crew agreements, licenses (music, stock footage/images), location agreements and various other documents related to production; (c) oversee and approve of the work of outside counsel (if any), line producers, clearance coordinators, and music supervisors; (d) research and address all rights issues including chain of title, contractual obligations, and copyright registration; (e) clear all projects and complete all SAG, WGA, DGA, and/or foreign guild obligations; and (f) manage all legal clearances and complete delivery of motion pictures to distributors. Extended responsibilities include: (a) recommending, tracking, and analyzing audit results; (b) structuring collection account management agreements, including ensuring accuracy of waterfall calculations; (c) ensuring that the studio and all projects are insured, and that all coverage is current and satisfactory; (d) managing residual obligations to all necessary guilds; (e) accounts payable and receivable; and (f) office management [rent, IT, repairs, overhead, facilities]. Show less



Sony Pictures Entertainment

• United States
• Entertainment Providers
• 700 & Above Employee

• Business & Legal Affairs Executive Trainee

  • May 2016 - Feb 2017

  As the inaugural Business and Legal Affairs Trainee at Sony, the first task was discerning exactly what the position was meant to encompass, as the only instruction was to utilize the immense access to a major studio to gain experience. As a Trainee, assisted the heads of business affairs for the Columbia and TriStar brands as they negotiated deals by researching quotes, studio precedent, drafting deal memos, helping to craft meaningful back ends, and lending advice where possible to close deals. On the legal side, immediately began creating initial drafts based on the above-mentioned deal memos, as well as overflow memos from the other attorneys. As the legal team gained confidence in my ability, my responsibilities expanded to include responding to comments, sending out redrafts, and eventually getting on the phone with attorneys at major firms to close out the agreements. Other responsibilities included checking location agreements to the satisfaction of the Risk Management team, liaising between Business Affairs and the Intellectual Property team to clear titles for upcoming projects, and creating a framework for future trainees to benefit from the existence of the program. Show less



Plummer Law Group, PC

• Sherman Oaks, CA

• Associate

  • Sep 2014 - May 2016

  Private practice focused on servicing music clients including Snoop Dogg, Alexander Hamilton, Tisha Campbell and Far East Movement. Responsibilities as an Associate included voluminous drafting and redlining of agreements for producers, managers, labels, additional musicians, and registration of properties with the US Copyright Office, SoundExchange, and foreign PROs for neighboring rights administrators. Alongside the heavy focus on music deals were the negotiation and drafting of deals for personal appearances by various artists, and rights of publicity for use in stock footage in various programs. Show less



Gary A. Watson & Associates

• Century City, CA

• Associate

  • Jun 2015 - Feb 2016

  Continued drafting and redlining, court filings, copyright and trademark registrations, as well as general office tasks and legal research. Helped negotiate and draft music agreements for music licenses, musicians, producers, composers, and recording studios all in the commission of an independently produced album for former Starbucks executive turned musician, Paula Boggs. Became familiar with federal mechanical royalty requirements. Aided in a labor law claim against an employer with extensive research into domestic and foreign labor laws. Show less



Jafari Law Group, Inc.

• United States
• Law Practice
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Intern

  • Feb 2014 - May 2014

  Firm specializing in intellectual property tasked me with responding to the needs of several supervising attorneys with legal research and copyright filing information. Aided in the successful labor law claim by organizing and participating in depositions and familiarizing myself with California Labor Codes. Firm specializing in intellectual property tasked me with responding to the needs of several supervising attorneys with legal research and copyright filing information. Aided in the successful labor law claim by organizing and participating in depositions and familiarizing myself with California Labor Codes.



Gary A. Watson & Associates

• Intern

  • Feb 2013 - Dec 2013

  Gained entry level legal exposure in a private entertainment practice. Included drafting and redlining, court filings, copyright and trademark registrations, as well as general office tasks and legal research. Gained entry level legal exposure in a private entertainment practice. Included drafting and redlining, court filings, copyright and trademark registrations, as well as general office tasks and legal research.