2020-03-26_The_Hollywood_Reporter

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 68 MARCH 26, 2020

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LITIGATION

Michael Weinsten

Lavely & Singer

GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL

After a couple of years in court, Weinsten helped

the founders of Gurney Productions (Duck Dynasty)

settle a very bitter power struggle with the U.K.’s ITV.

He’s now representing Ellen DeGeneres and Sandra

Bullock in a lawsuit against anonymous operators of

websites touting their false endorsements, and has

a heavy #MeToo caseload including defending actor

David Caruso.

TA LE N T

Alan Wertheimer

Jackoway Austen

STANFORD LAW SCHOOL

Wertheimer is a master at negotiating tentpole

terms, including J.J. Abrams’ return to the Lucasfilm

fold to direct Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and

Patty Jenkins’s upcoming Wonder Woman 1984.

Among other clients, Nicole Kidman made the

awards rounds for her performance in Bombshell and

Wes Anderson is headed back to the box office with

The French Dispatch.

LITIGATION

Douglas Wigdor

Wigdor Law

CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW

Wigdor is best known as a thorn in the side of Fox (he

has repped some 20 current and former staffers in suits

involving claims of sexual harassment, retaliation and

racial discrimination). He also was at the center of the

biggest #MeToo case to hit Hollywood, representing

six Harvey Weinstein accusers including model Tarale

Wulff, who testified during the convicted mogul’s trial.

“It was really gratifying to have played a role in that

prosecution,” Wigdor says. Also explosive was the

EEOC complaint he filed on behalf of ousted Recording

Academy CEO Deborah Dugan, citing gender discrimi-

nation, sexual harassment and unlawful retaliation.

Please reboot The Paper Chase

TA LE N T

Bryan Wolf

Ziffren Brittenham

COLUMBIA LAW SCHOOL

Wolf has proven himself uniquely adept at getting

fledgling Hollywood companies up and running. The

suit helped guide Michael Ellenberg’s outfit MediaRes

into production on Apple TV+ flagship series The

Morning Show (starring client Steve Carell), as well

as three more upcoming series. As he did with client

Hasbro, the lawyer is assisting Scholastic with its

Hollywood ambitions — the children’s book publisher

made a deal to give access to its IP for development

to Erik Feig’s Picturestart. Speaking of Hasbro, the toy

manufacturer paid a massive $4 billion to acquire indie

studio Entertainment One.

TA LE N T

Kevin Yorn

Morris Yorn

TULANE LAW SCHOOL

Scarlett Johansson and Zoë Saldana reaped benefits

from deals made in previous years thanks to the

performance of movies such as Avengers: Endgame.

Saldana also renegotiated her deal for a third

Guardians of the Galaxy while Johansson became

the highest paid actress in Hollywood. Ansel Elgort

signed on for Steven Spielberg’s take on West Side

Story and finalized a deal to star in HBO Max’s To k y o

Vice. Other clients include Ellen DeGeneres, Jenny

Slate and Neil Meron.

CORPORATE

Susan Zuckerman Williams

Paul Hastings

USC GOULD SCHOOL OF LAW

Continued consolidation is driving Zuckerman

Williams’ business. She advised Vine Alternative

Investments in its acquisition of Lakeshore

Entertainment’s 300-title library and international

sales operation, and the ongoing deal for Vine to take

over a restructured EuropaCorp, in which it has a con-

trolling stake. She repped SunTrust Bank in arranging

a syndicated loan facility to Industrial Media, the indie

TV company whose assets include American Idol and

So You Think You Can Dance, and also Sight Unseen

Pictures in its financing of Bad Education.

Hollywood’s 2020 priority “It’s all about the

virus now.”

Profiles written by Trilby Beresford, Ashley Cullins, Mia

Galuppo, Eriq Gardner, Lesley Goldberg, Natalie Jarvey,

Katie Kilkenny, Borys Kit, Pamela McClintock, Ryan

Parker, Bryn Elise Sandberg, Patrick Shanley, Tatiana

Siegel, Piya Sinha-Roy, Rebecca Sun and Georg Szalai

David Byrnes

Ziffren Brittenham

Byrnes engineered Beyoncé’s

Netflix deal for Grammy-winning

film Homecoming, with colleague

David Lande, and her role in Lion

King. He also oversaw the post-

humous release of Mac Miller’s

Circles and negotiated Blake

Shelton’s contract for T h e Voi ce.

Damien Granderson

Granderson Des Rochers

Clients don’t get much bigger

than Granderson’s: Kanye West,

Cardi B, A$AP Rocky and J Balvin

— who the rep says signed a “rev-

olutionary” deal with Universal

Music Latin Entertainment.

Grace Kim

Grubman Shire

In 2012, Kim met and signed a

Minneapolis artist who could

belt tunes, spit rhymes and play a

killer flute — and the rest is Lizzo

history. “I hate when people on

their way to being established

have shitty deals,” says Kim, who

recently inked the star’s publish-

ing pact with Warner Chappell.

David Lande

Ziffren Brittenham

Lande negotiated Shakira’s Super

Bowl halftime show and Justin

Timberlake’s return to the Tr o l l s

franchise, both as an actor and

the executive producer of the

sequel’s soundtrack. For break-

out artist Rosalía, whose “rise

to celebrity has been extraordi-

narily fast,” Lande renegotiated a

deal with Columbia.

Dina LaPolt

LaPolt Law

LaPolt has been “buried” in

21 Savage’s deal to executive

produce the soundtrack to Saw

film Spiral. Meanwhile, she

signed TikTok star Jadn (Jaden

Hossler) and continues to rep

Britney Spears, Nicki Minaj and

Steven Tyler.

Doug Mark

Mark Music & Media Law

Billie Eilish “exploded critically

and commercially,” says Mark,

who co-captains the singer with

partner and “long-standing

protege” David Ferreria. Mark

also reps Guns N’ Roses and

Bret McKenzie, who’s writing

the music and lyrics for the

Paddington stage adaptation.

Kenny Meiselas

Grubman Shire

In November, The Weeknd

unveiled “Blinding Lights,”

the first single from his new

album After Hours, in a

Mercedes-Benz ad thanks to a

partnership Meiselas arranged.

Other chart-topping clients

include Lady Gaga, Usher, Nas

and Lizzo, whom he co-reps

with Kim.

Aaron Rosenberg

Myman Greenspan

Rosenberg “did a little thing

called the Super Bowl” for

Jennifer Lopez, orchestrated

Ariana Grande’s world tour for

Grammy-nominated album Thank

U, Next and renegotiated John

Legend’s deal for T h e Voi ce.

Jess Rosen

Greenberg Traurig

Rosen repped Kenny Chesney

in a stadium tour, Kacey

Musgraves in an Amazon

Christmas special, Brad Paisley

for his ABC variety show Brad

Paisley Thinks He’s Special and

Reba McEntire in her return to

Universal Music.

Debbie White

Loeb & Loeb

Few lawyers are on a first-

name basis among legions of

music fans, but White is to

BTS’ loyal ARMY. Her work

for the worldwide sensation

includes a distribution deal

for its concert documentaries,

a multimillion-dollar

merchandise pact with Live

Nation (including pop-up stores

on three continents) and a slew

of eye-popping performances.

Top Music Dealmakers

MEET THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO NEGOTIATE TOURS, BRAND

DEALS AND HOLLYWOOD ROLES FOR A-LIST ARTISTS

Grace Kim signed Lizzo in 2012 after seeing her perform.

Wertheimer

Wigdor

Wolf

Yorn

Zuckerman

Williams

10fea_lawyers1-17_L [P]{Print}_53606986.indd 68 3/25/20 10:43 AM