Counsel, Business & Legal Affairs

This is a Full Time Job

Wheelhouse is looking to add a Counsel, Business & Legal Affairs to our growing in-house team to support production, digital and branded content operations across Wheelhouse's portfolio of entertainment companies, including, Spoke Studios and Wheelhouse DNA. As a member of the team, you will be responsible for all production-related legal matters and you will be based in our Los Angeles office.

Key Responsibilities

• Draft, negotiate and finalize time-sensitive production and rights-related agreements for complex, original and non-scripted projects, including: production services agreements; license agreements; rights options; development and coproduction agreements; producer, showrunner, director, talent and other above-the-line agreements; appearance and materials releases; location agreements; rental agreements and leases; independent contractor agreements; confidentiality/non-disclosure agreements; and music licenses.

• Handle all aspects of production legal, including evaluating rights issues (chain-of-title, copyright, trademark, defamation, publicity and privacy), review cuts, liaise with production and manage legal deliverables.

• Providing strategic advice to business, casting, creative, production, finance executives and crew regarding legal matters related to intellectual property, compliance, tax incentives, claims and insurance coverage, union/guild collective bargaining agreements and employment.

• Work closely and build strong relationships with third-party partners, agents, production counsel and other representatives across the entertainment industry.

Qualifications
• 2+ years of production legal experience with a studio, media company or entertainment law firm
• Admission to at least one US state bar (California bar admission preferred)
• High degree of professional ethics and integrity
• Sound judgment and ability to analyze complex legal situations and information
• Strong attention to detail
• Outstanding communicator and exceptionally responsive team members who can translate business objectives and legal concepts into agreements and give concise, practical legal advice to non-lawyers under tight deadlines
• Even-tempered, grace under pressure
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively on cross-functional teams across time-zones is essential in this fast-paced environment.