Vice President, Legal Affairs

Job Description

Responsibilities
The Vice President of Legal Affairs will be part of a team responsible for negotiating and drafting acquisition, development and production agreements, which includes agreements for talent, on behalf of Universal Pictures.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
• Responsible for all legal matters during production, including but not limited to evaluating rights/chain of title issues, clearance matters, guild issues, advertising, promotion and publicity issues.
• Draft, review, analyze and interpret contracts in an accurate and timely manner and provide timely and thoughtful legal advice on potential risks and issues.
• Structure, negotiate and draft a variety of complex, high-profile first-look/overall deals, rights/acquisitions deals, development and production services deals.
• Provide guidance to production counsel responsible for below-the-line contracts.
• Identify and implement improvements to forms and processes.
• Advise on questions that arise under applicable union and guild collective bargaining agreements.
• Maintain relationships with attorneys, agents and other representatives in the entertainment community.
• Advise and interface with a broad range of departments to implement production legal policies and procedures, including creative, business, production, finance, labor and employment, marketing, promotions, insurance and tax.

Qualifications/Requirements
• Minimum of 10+ years of production legal experience at a motion picture or television company or major entertainment law firm.
• JD degree from an accredited law school.
• Member of the California State Bar or Registered with the California Bar as in-house counsel.
• A strong background in copyright law (both US and foreign) and intellectual property matters is required.

Desired Characteristics
• Demonstrate excellent interpersonal skills which will enable him/her to interact with a range of personalities and styles and be able to establish effective relationships at all levels of the organization.
• Have a problem-solving approach.
• Excellent communication skills, computer literacy and the ability to work independently and as part of a team in a fast-paced environment.
• Be self-motivated and have a very strong work ethic.
• Outstanding negotiation, drafting and analytical skills.
• Sound business judgement and flexibility/adaptability to manage multiple, wide-ranging matters, conflicting deadlines and new areas of expertise as business needs change.
• Superior organizational skills and ability to handle and track a high-volume workload.
• Ability to explain complex legal concepts to business and creative executives, build consensus across business units, think creatively, and collaborate with other executives to address business needs.

Jobcode: Reference SBJ-d59wn0-3-141-2-96-42 in your application.