Senior Counsel / VP, Business and Legal Affairs, Scripted TV

Full Time Job
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. ("MGM") is seeking an experienced Attorney to join the Business and Legal Affairs team to handle development and production of original programming for MGM's international scripted projects.

Responsibilities:

• Structuring, negotiating, and drafting a wide variety of development, acquisition, co-production, and production agreements, including literary acquisition, rights, format agreements, co-finance and distribution agreements, producer agreements, writer agreements, and other development and production-related agreements
• Evaluating underlying rights and chain-of-title issues
• Evaluating international co-production and treaty issues and tax credit/rebate issues
• Analyzing and interpreting contracts and providing thoughtful legal advice on potential risks and issues in a wide range of legal areas, including potential contractual obligations, intellectual property issues, guild issues, and other matters
• Managing business affairs and legal matters during the course of development and production
• Advising internal personnel on day-to-day production matters
• Interfacing on a day-to-day basis with various internal groups (creative, production, talent, etc.) and production personnel as needed

Requirements:
• JD. from an accredited law school
• 5-7 years of day-to-day experience drafting and negotiating scripted television contracts
• 5-7 years of experience handling development and production legal affairs matters on high profile scripted television projects at a studio or production company
• Substantial experience working on US co-productions or with international partners preferred
• Experience with international production a plus
• Strong legal acumen with the ability to demonstrate sound judgment
• Working knowledge of entertainment guild regulations
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Excellent ability to evaluate issues and propose/implement solutions
• Team player with the ability to work quickly and independently while being able to contribute successfully to cross-functional teams