Director, Business & Legal Affairs

Job Description

The Director Business & Legal Affairs is responsible for handling business negotiations, drafting of documentation, and content-related legal issues for a wide variety of programming transactions.

Key Responsibilities
• Assume responsibility from start to finish for project/deal negotiations and preparation of contracts for developing, producing, financing, and/or acquiring content for Discovery's networks/platforms.

• Negotiate all business and legal terms with lawyers, agents or other representatives, including standard terms and conditions, back-end participation and ancillary deal components such as the licensing and the granting of rights.

• Independently draft and/or review development, commission, co-production, acquisition, and other related agreements.

• Negotiate and draft all terms of a variety of talent deals including, but not limited to, series deals, pilot-to-series deals, holding deals, ad sales-driven commercial deals, brand influencer deals, licensing deals, event releases, and overall services agreements with business and legal terms, including exploitation and promotional rights, exclusivity, options, back-end participation, endorsement services, and all other applicable talent deal terms customary to the entertainment industry.

• Manage all aspects of the provision of personal services to Discovery throughout the life of the talent deal, including oversight of all business transactions between the talent and the Discovery units that utilize talent's services.

• Liaison with talent representatives, ad sales and third-party advertisers with respect to commercial deals.

• Advise and support senior network executives and internal business units (including production management, finance, standards and practices, digital, marketing, consumer products/licensing, publicity, and ad sales) on production and key talent business and legal issues, including risk management, general labor/guild issues (SAG-AFTRA, DGA and WGA), defamation, copyright, trademark, right of publicity, music, advertising and other related issues.

• Review and draft ancillary production related documents such as access agreements, format licenses, participant releases, and consultant agreements.

• Assume accountability for deals under tight timelines while acquiring appropriate rights within budgetary parameters.

• Manage business practices in concert with network editorial/creative and production management.

• Build collaborative business relationships with representatives of key production companies and on-screen talent.

Requirements
• At least five (5) years of experience working in-house in the business affairs or legal department of an entertainment company or within the entertainment practice of a law firm. Preferred experience with a cable or broadcast television exhibitor, studio, or production company.

• J.D. degree from an ABA-accredited law school and admission to a state bar.

• Knowledge of television programming and talent agreements and/or unscripted content industry.

• Knowledge of defamation, privacy, and copyright laws.

• Excellent writing, organizational and interpersonal skills, including clear and effective written and verbal communication skills.

• Creative, business-friendly approach to problem solving and the ability to provide high-quality legal support are vital.

• Relationships with entertainment attorneys, talent agents, talent managers and/or talent publicists along with a working knowledge of union and guild issues a plus.

• Applicants must be industrious and self-motivated with demonstrated ability to take initiative, be decisive, manage projects, and offer a high level of customer service in a fast-paced, high volume environment.

• Excellent people skills and ability to develop and maintain productive working relationships with internal and external partners.

• Excellent business and legal judgment.

• Experience with Gmail, Google Docs Editors suite, SmartSheet, and other software applications required.

• Must have the legal right to work in the United States.

Nearest Major Market: Manhattan

Nearest Secondary Market: New York City

Jobcode: Reference SBJ-rj2o42-3-135-190-232-42 in your application.