Director of Business Affairs

This is a Full Time Job

Business Affairs Director

Overview

Hearst Media Production Group (HMPG) is seeking a Business Affairs Director to join our team. This position will primarily focus on compliance with FCC-mandated rules for Educational/Informational (E/I) television production and distribution and oversight of rights, clearances, and general production documentation in addition to business issues surrounding HMPG's general market entertainment. Will work with leadership to maintain HMPG brand integrity of all current series and to manage day-to-day business affairs for development and production. The Business Affairs Director will also draft, review and close various short-form business and production documents. As such, a legal background and/or related experience in the media and/or entertainment industry is required.

The position reports to the Vice President, Business Affairs.

The position is on-site for four (4) days at our Hearst offices in either Glendale, CA or Charlotte, NC.

Responsibilities
• Review, negotiate, and draft short-form business, production, and vendor documents including location, third-party acquired materials, and appearance releases, production services agreements, permits, letters of intent, NDAs, etc. in coordination with the production management team, Rights & Clearances team, and in-house and external counsel.
• Partner with management, sales, production, post-production, regulatory counsel, and network partners to ensure content compliance with applicable FCC, FTC, COPPA, and other regulations, while maintaining HMPG brand integrity and industry standards.
• Assist Vice President, Business Affairs in overseeing Rights & Clearances and Standard & Practices.
• Support Standards & Practices team responsible for content review, with an emphasis on compliance with E/I regulations, legal clearance, and appropriate execution of branded content.
• Assist on rights management efforts via the RightsLine database.
• Engage in logistics and issues surrounding program sponsorships, schedules, content and contractual obligations.
• Collaborate with internal and external counsel when necessary.

Experience
• Minimum of 5 years of experience working in television business affairs department, legal affairs department and/or entertainment law firm.

Qualifications
• Precision in reviewing, annotating, and drafting agreements.
• Familiarity with FCC, FTC, and COPPA (and related online privacy) regulations.
• Familiarity with copyright and trademark laws and regulations.
• Previous experience in performing legal and/or clearance review of episodic or long form audio/visual content.
• Experience with market-leading enterprise rights management systems.
• Skilled at maintaining positive relationships with showrunners and sales executives while enforcing standards and decisions and protecting HMPG's interests.
• Ability to make judgement calls on sensitive topics, removing personal opinions from decision-making process.
• Proven ability to manage a high volume of projects with competing deadlines.
• Excellent organization and time management skills.
• Superior written and oral communication skills, with proven ability to communicate effectively and collegially with C-Suite and all colleagues, as well as with outside parties in negotiations.
• Detail-oriented with strong analytical capabilities and judgement.
• Familiarity with music rights and cue sheets, production insurance, and union issues a plus.
• Working knowledge of project management software, preferably Monday.com.

Education
• Law degree (J.D. or LLM) a plus.
• HMPG is a proud supporter of military veterans. Related military training and experience will be considered.

Values in Action

At Hearst Television we tell stories every day. Stories about people of all cultures, backgrounds, perspectives, and identities. That's why, behind the scenes, we believe in being an organization as diverse and varied as the audience we reach, ensuring that the content we create is more compassionate, and more representative of the communities we serve.