Legal Counsel of Local Production, Warner Bros Discovery
French
Office located in Theobald's Road, London
Entertainment company
Open for applications
Entertainment company
1001+ employees
Open for applications
Office located in Theobald's Road, London
1001+ employees
Company mission
To take the world’s greatest possibilities and make them a reality - creating impact, inspiring imagination, and building connections.
Role
Who you are
- University Degree in Law from an internationally recognized university
- Ability to work in English and French essential
- Evidenced interest in intellectual property/copyright/media law
- Some hands-on experience, in audiovisual companies, of the types of contracts and agreements handled in the role is preferable
- Numerate and able to review financial documentation
- Ability to access legal databases to carry out research
- Detail-oriented, organized and diligent
- Enthusiasm for local film production, Max France scripted and documentary programming
- Friendly and collegiate person, willing to learn from others, share information and find ways of being supportive
- Independent worker, keen to learn
What the job involves
- The Counsel role will support the production activities relating to:
- 1) Original Programming, Max France
- 2) Local Film Production in France and across EMEA/APAC as required
- 3) potential remake licences; and other production releated activities as required
- Researching and preparing reports on copyright and other legal matters
- Reviewing underlying rights and other production and development agreements and preparing reports thereon
- Drafting, including initial drafts and amendments to development, production and distribution agreements, including format options and licenses, book option agreements, development and co-development agreements, scriptwriter agreements, production commissioning agreements, production services agreements, co-production agreements, and agreements with international distributors for the distribution of original programming for Max France and local film production, Warner Bros. content
- Reviewing and commenting on a variety of agreements related to day-to-day production work, including agreements for the services of directors, actors, crew, locations, facilities and suppliers
- Reviewing union agreements relating to the services of actors, creators, writers and crew in the region, including familiarization with the relevant collective agreements
- Arranging execution and filing of contracts. Management of data capture sheets and other rights’ management systems
- Assisting with clearance work, including reviewing scripts and advising on the clearance of intellectual property included in programmes
- Familiarization with, and providing advice on, subsidies, tax rebates and other incentives, assisting in the assessment of security, completion bonds, insurances and company data
- Work as needed for the review and approval of delivery of production contracts
- General assistance to the Original Programming and local film production legal team, as needed
- Key Relationships and Reporting Lines (Manager):
- Director of Legal and Business Affairs, France
Salary benchmarks
Our take
Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) is an entertainment company formed from the 2022 merger of Warner Bros and Discovery. It is a leader in the creation, production, distribution, licensing, and marketing of content, with Warner Bros alone boasting a huge library – more than 100,000 hours of programming – before the companies were joined. WBD’s portfolio includes Discovery Channel, Warner Bros. Entertainment, Discovery+, HBO Max, and franchises like “Batman” and “Harry Potter”.
Both of the company’s previous businesses have operated throughout the digitisation of the media space. David Zaslav, CEO of WBD, headed Discovery during its expansion into digital media, to make it a “content company” over a “cable company”. The recent focus for Warner Bros has been on next-gen distribution efforts, expanding the availability of its content across platforms and devices to reach the modern viewer. The new company has plans to migrate to one tech stack, which will require extensive retooling, as well as exploring cost-saving automation opportunities for its operations.
Since the merger, the new giant that is Warner Bros Discovery has had a shaky start, forcing the company to wind down operations and cut back on content, which included the very public scrapping of the “Batgirl” movie. However, it now seems the company may have been ahead of the curve, as a wider trend of cutbacks has been seen from peers in the space. This early move, combined with a hyper-focus on cash generation, seeks to establish WBD as an outperformer in an industry on the downturn.
Kirsty
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
Company
Company values
- Act as One Team: Trust each other, succeed together, and growth together
- Create What's Next: Be curious, innovate, and focus on the future
- Empower Storytelling: Put creators, consumers and partners at the center, and share extraordinary stories
- Champion Inclusion: Empower others, have courage, and pursue equity
- Dream It & Own It: Advocate the mission, ove with speed, and drive results
Company HQ
Midtown Manhattan, New York, NY
Articles
Leadership
David Zaslav
(CEO, not founder)Spent 17 years at NBCUniversal including as President of NBC Cable LLC and NBC Media LLC.
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