Lee Rudnicki Esq

Serve as Executive Vice President and founding General Counsel of a boutique animation studio helmed by Jay Oliva, with series in production with Netflix, Studio Wildcard, and others. Build and maintain relationships with companies throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. Negotiate and draft agreements to develop properties and secure rights and financing for production, including talent, rights acquisition, distribution, music, option purchase, development, financing, and production service agreements, clearances, chain-of-title management, tax incentive qualification, insurance and risk management, corporate and employment matters, internal and external policies and procedures, and rights and portfolio management. Advise the corporation on a broad range of matters from talent offers and negotiations to production financing and distribution, and business-to-business transactions such as engagements for production services, first-look and overall deals, options, and agreements relating to ancillary exploitation of rights and content. Represent the company in complex financial transactions. Advise the corporation regarding guild and union compliance, including IATSE, WGA, DGA and SAG-AFTRA. Oversee and manage outside counsel, producers, and support staff.

Represent a select number of investors, talent, and executives from the United States, Japan, and Italy. Further information available upon request.

Founding General Counsel for a production company financed by a multi-national venture capital group. Built and maintained relationships with companies throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. Negotiated and drafted agreements to develop properties and secure the rights and financing for international production, including talent, rights acquisition, distribution, music, option purchase, development, financing, and production service agreements. Advised the corporation on a broad range of matters from talent offers and negotiations to production financing and distribution, and business-to-business transactions such as production services engagements, first-look and overall deals, options, and agreements relating to ancillary exploitation of rights and content. Represented the company in complex international financial Advised the corporation regarding guild and union compliance, including IATSE, WGA, DGA and SAG-AFTRA. Oversaw and managed outside counsel, producers, and support staff. Produced the motion picture Wonderwell, starring Carrie Fisher, relocated to Italy for seven months to oversee production.

Served as lead business affairs executive and general counsel for a multi-national JapaneseAmerican production and distribution company founded by Junichi Suzuki. Built and maintained relationships with individuals and companies throughout Asia, North America, and Europe. Negotiated and drafted agreements to develop properties and secure the rights and financing for international co-production, including talent, rights acquisition, distribution, option purchase, development, financing, and production service agreements. Advised the corporation on a broad range of matters from talent offers and negotiations to production financing and distribution, and business-to-business transactions such as production services engagements, first-look and overall deals, options, and agreements relating to ancillary exploitation of rights and content. Represented the company in complex international financial transactions. Advised the corporation regarding IATSE, WGA, DGA and SAG-AFTRA relations and compliance. Oversaw and managed outside counsel, producers, and support staff. Helped build a film library of hundreds of titles through an aggressive international distribution and licensing strategy.

Served as an entertainment litigator on behalf of iHeartMedia and other corporations.

Served as corporate counsel and lead negotiator for an fully-financed internet start-up. Initiated the creation of a bank of form agreements, resulting in greater uniformity and fewer drafting errors. Crafted agreements with an emphasis on the importance of technical and legal deliverables. Reviewed agreements, explained implications to clients and advised as to appropriate next steps. Wrote opinion letters relating to intellectual property issues. Registered copyrights and renewed trademarks. Drafted operating and partnership agreements. Advised start-up companies and drafted terms of use, privacy policies and related documents.