Film

The tradition of advising the film industry is one which started with the establishment of Marriott Harrison in 1985. Recently, we have acted for a number of independent producers and have advised on the successful financing of British made feature films utilising EIS funding.

Some of the main areas on which we are able to assist relating to motion picture production are rights acquisition, forming production entities, financing the contractual arrangements with the individual talent including the director, the actors and other performers; location agreements and studio licences; all aspects of the creation and exploitation of music soundtracks including commissioning composers and clearing rights on existing compositions and recording for use in films; commissioning post-production and VFX shots; negotiating sales and distribution agreements; the licensing of finished films for television and video/DVD exploitation; and clearance issues including the use of the existing audio-visual clips and stills. As part of our film & television practice, we also advise on book publishing, sponsorship and distribution.

On the other side of the coin, we also regularly advise individual performers and creators of films on their contractual and other legal requirements.

Relevant work in this area includes:

• Advised Sherezade Film Development on its investment in “Malice in Wonderland”.
• Advising Carnaby Films in relation to many of its films including “Rise of the Footsoldier” and the upcoming release “Doghouse.”
• Advising Picture Players in relation to “The Killing of John Lennon”.
• The Senate Visual Effects on a host of its special effects deals including “Doomsday”, “10,000BC” and “1408”.