Philip Lee is a leading business law firm with offices in Dublin, Brussels and San Francisco.

We specialise in media and entertainment. We have been engaged in connection with almost every feature film, major television drama and animation series produced in Ireland in recent years.

We assist our clients in commercialising and protecting their content across platforms. From the moment a film or television project is conceived we advise on securing or acquiring the rights to the project; the contractual arrangements to finance and produce the project; and the sales and distribution of the project around the world. Our team is experienced in advising clients on structuring the financing arrangements for film and television projects and we have particular expertise on advising on Ireland’s tax incentive for film, television and online-distributed projects, Section 481.

The media and entertainment group is led by Jonathan Kelly. Brian Gormley became a partner in the group in 2012. Jonathan and Brian are supported by associates, Cian McElhone and Jessica Gorman.

TYPES OF WORK

Our media and entertainment group advises on every aspect of film and television development, production and distribution including the following:

Development:                  Chain of Title - option agreements; screenplay/writer agreements; life story rights; development financing agreements; development director agreements etc. 

Production:                        director agreements; cast agreements; heads of department and crew agreements; animator agreements; storybook artist agreements; clearances and releases; production insurance and errors and omissions insurance; collection agreements; composer agreements; and music licences.  

Financing:                           equity investments; gap-financing; discounting; security arrangements; completion bonds.

Post-Production/VFX:   post production services agreements; VFX services agreements.

Co-Productions:               co-production agreements; official co-productions pursuant to the European Convention or with Treaty countries such as Canada and Australia; Eurimages funding. 

Distribution:                      sales agency agreements; distribution agreements; format rights.

Talent Contracts:             actors; voice talent; directors; directors of photography; writers etc.

COMMENDATIONS

Legal 500: Jonathan Kelly is ‘cool under pressure’, and he and Brian Gormley have ‘a wealth of knowledge across all areas of film and television’. Brian Gormley has been commended as “extremely dedicated” and “very capable”.

Chambers:  Jonathan Kelly wins strong praise for his media practice. Clients say: "He is very innovative in his solutions, very practical and works through complex issues with great clarity. He will logically unpick issues and come up with a clear solution."