Film and Television Law Conference: Recovery and Beyond
In this timely and practical conference you will delve into how to navigate the many legal risks and challenges that the industry is facing right now. Gain a global perspective on the industry from a major film distribution company in New York. Examine strategies and protocols to successfully reignite production while avoiding the related legal risks. Explore how to navigate the latest legal issues in insurance, immigration, structuring, contracting and more.
Description
Attend and earn 7 CPD units in Substantive Law
This program is applicable to practitioners from all States & Territories
Co-Chairs: Mark Bamford, Director, Simpsons Solicitors and Sonia Borella, Consultant, Simpsons Solicitors
9.00am to 9.05am: Welcome from the Chairs
COVID-19 PRODUCTION IMPACT: LEGAL RISKS & RECOVERY STRATEGIES
9.05am to 9.30am: Keynote Address Live from New York: The Global Perspective
Examine and analyse the legal challenges and the impact of COVID-19 on traditional film release and distribution and look beyond to what the future may bring for the industry from a global perspective.
Presented by David Morrison, Head of Business Affairs, Magnolia Pictures
9.30am to 10.35am: Update on COVID-19’s Production Impact: The Opportunities, Legal Pitfalls and Lessons Learned
- IR and WHS risks: contracting and working safely
- Practicalities of managing production: cast and crew and on location
- The cost impact of complying with COVID-19 safe production methods: What is the real cost?
- Financing productions during COVID-19: investors, financiers, broadcasters and distributors
- Screen Australia on managing the Government’s $50M underwriting of COVID-19 risks
- Review of current production: challenges and opportunities
Panellists:
Georgina Waite, Facilitator, Head of Content Business, Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Max Dalton, Head of Business and Legal Affairs, Fulcrum Media Finance
Tim Phillips, Head of Business Affairs and Offset, Screen Australia
Zoe Angus, Director, Industry and Commercial, Screen Producers Associations, Australia
Kate Hynes, Head of Legal and Business Affairs, Hoodlum
Lyn Norfor, Acting Head of Producing and Production, Australian Film Television and Radio School
Sally Caplan, Head of Content, Screen Australia
10.35am to 11.10am: COVID-19 Safe Guidelines for the Film and Television Industry: Navigating the Legal Issues
Presented by Michael Tooma, Managing Partner, Clyde & Co
11.10am to 11.25am: Break
11.25am to 12.10pm: Managing Insurance Risks around Recovery and Beyond
Presented by David McEwan, Founding Director, Galvaniize Insurance
12.10pm to 12.55pm: Immigration Law: Border Restrictions and Critical Skills Update
- Border and quarantine: what is happening
- Visa processing: who is getting visas
- Where to next
Presented by Ron Kessels, Partner and Navpreet Kanwar, Solicitor and Team Manager, Ajuria Lawyers
12.55pm to 1.00pm: Q&A and Closing Comments from the Chairs
1.00pm to 1.45pm: Lunch Break
FINANCE AND COMPANY STRUCTURING
1.45pm to 2.35pm: Supporting Australian Stories on our Screens: The Government Options Paper
- The rise of digital platforms, and the challenge for the traditional broadcaster regulatory framework
- Developments in screen finance across different types of programming
- Proposals on the table, with models from no change to complete deregulation
- The position of the various players, and the future of the film and TV industry in Australia
Presented by Michael Brealey, COO, Screen Australia and Daniel Pearce, Partner, Holding Redlich
2.35pm to 3.25pm: Production Company Structuring
- New solutions to traditional corporate and financing structures
- Issues affecting foreign-owned production companies
- Trends in cashflow and gap financing, including corporate guarantees and personal undertakings
- Impacts of revised production deadlines on financing documents
Presented by Nick Mark, Associate, Blueprint Law and Tony Nagle, Principal, Nagle Accounting
3.25pm to 3.40pm: Break
CONTENT AND CONTRACTING IN TODAY'S ENVIRONMENT
3.40pm to 4.10pm: Australian Content Quota: Are we Maintaining a Cultural Identity?
- Setting out the existing Australian content quota system
- The context of how they work, why they are outdated/why or where there is a policy failure in terms of their operation
- The current government review, what they are looking at & options for the future
Presented by Sarah Waladan, Head of Legal and Regulatory Affairs, Free TV Australia
4.10pm to 4.50pm: Contracting Cast and Crew in the Film and Television Industry
- Industrial framework for contracting cast and crew
- Contracting for offshore productions
- Common contracting and employment issues
Presented by Zachary Parker, Lawyer and Angela Scurrah, Consultant, Simpsons Solicitors
4.50pm to 5.00pm: Final Q&A and Closing Comments from the Chairs
Presenters
David Morrison
David Morrison is Head of Business Affairs at Magnolia Pictures and 2929 Entertainment, where he oversees all business and legal affairs relating to the companies’ film, television, entertainment, and corporate matters. Previously, David has been a partner at Thompson Bukher in New York, where he led the firm’s media and entertainment practice, and a faculty member at the Cardozo School of law, where he co-founded and directed The Indie Film Clinic – the first non-profit clinical program in New York dedicated to providing production and clearance representation to scripted and documentary film productions.
Mark Bamford
Mark is a director at specialist entertainment and media law firm, Simpsons Solicitors, with over 25 years' experience in film and television. His clients are involved in all facets of financing, creating and commercialising content. He acts for producers, production houses and studios, and has advised on hundreds of TV and film productions ranging from large-budget studio features to award-winning, locally-produced TV animations. His clients also include directors, composers and marquee actors. Mark has particular expertise in media finance and represents a number of banks, financiers, government funders and private equity interests
Georgina Waite
Georgina Waite is Head of Content Business at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, where she has recently been appointed to oversee strategic business planning to source content, manage expenditure and secure the rights to support the ABC’s content output and connection to audience. She manages the teams responsible for negotiating deals terms, budgets and contracts for commissioned and acquired content and oversees reporting on those activities. Georgina has worked at the ABC for many years as Head of Business Affairs and as a Senior Lawyer in the ABC legal team.
Max Dalton
Max joined Fulcrum in February 2018 as Business & Legal Affairs Manager and was given the new title of Head of Business & Legal Affairs in January 2020. Prior to joining Fulcrum, Max was a Lawyer at Holding Redlich, a national Australian commercial law firm. Max’s legal experience includes working in a wide range of areas of commercial law, including intellectual property, banking and finance, bankruptcy and insolvency, corporate compliance, competition and consumer law, privacy and commercial disputes. Max’s experience in the media and entertainment industries includes a clerkship in the entertainment practice group at Melbourne based law firm Marshalls + Dent.
Tim Phillips
Tim has worked as a Senior Investment Manager at Screen Australia across feature film, television, online, children’s content and game production. In his current role as Head of Business Affairs and Offset, he leads the Legal, Contracts Management and Producer Offset and Co-production teams. Tim has previously worked as Legal and Business Affairs Manager at the Australian Children’s Television Foundation and as an intellectual property lawyer at Minter Ellison.
Zoe Angus
Zoe Angus is the Director of Industry and Commercial at Screen Producers Australia and is responsible for SPA's industrial negotiations as well as providing advice to SPA members on commercial and industrial matters. Zoe previously held the role of National Director of Equity at the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance for six years and has more than two decades experience in employment law and industrial relations. She holds Juris Doctor and Master of Commerce (Honours) degrees from Melbourne University and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree from Queensland University.
Kate Hynes
Kate leads the legal and business affairs function for production house Hoodlum, as well as acting as Group company secretary. In this role she has overseen the financing, production, broadcast and distribution of more than 40 hours of broadcast television in Australia for ABC and Network 10 and internationally for Netflix, Disney and NBCU/Sky Studios. In March 2020 Kate had the dubious honour of being the first production lawyer to stand down more than 400 Australian cast and crew in response to the COVID19 crisis. Since March, Hoodlum has stood up its cast and crews and managed to complete covidsafe production on television series HARROW and FIVE BEDROOMS
Lyn Norfor
Lyn Norfor is Head (Acting) of Producing and Production at the Australian Film Television and Radio School where she is responsible for all production for both the BA and MA courses (approx. 200 projects per year) as well as the MA in Producing. Lyn is also a founding partner of Emerald Productions with Sheila Jayadev and Prue Williams and has produced numerous award-winning short and feature films including UNDERTOW (W/D Miranda Nation; selected for screening at Edinburgh and Austin Film Festivals), HOT MESS (W/D Lucy Coleman, Netflix) and currently in production HERE OUT WEST, an anthology feature film in association with CoCurious with directors Ana Kokkinos, Leah Purcell, Lucy Gaffy, Julie Kalceff and Fadia Abboud. Lyn worked with the National Screen Sector Taskforce on the COVIDSafe Screen Sector Guidelines.
Michael Tooma
Michael Tooma is the Managing Partner of Clyde & Co Australia as well as the Global Head of Clyde & Co's Occupational Health and Safety practice. He is recognised as one of leading health and safety lawyers. While Michael resides in Australia, his work is truly global. He has acted in matters around the world and is often called upon to review the safety management systems of clients in a wide variety of industries globally. Michael holds a Bachelor of Commerce, a Bachelor of Laws with Honours and Masters of Laws. He is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Health and Safety and a recipient of its Lifetime Achievement Award. He has lectured at Sydney University, the University of NSW, Australian National University and University of Auckland. Michael has written and lectured extensively on OHS law and is the author or co-author of over 20 books. His latest book is on Mental Health at Work and is published by CCH.
David McEwan
David McEwan is the Founding Director of Galvaniize Insurance. He has over 20 + years’ experience. Having worked within small, medium and large international insurance firms, then establishing his own firm his knowledge of the insurance industry is vast, considerable and provides a wealth of expertise and experience to his clientele. David McEwan Galvaniize Insurance has established themselves as one of the leading Film & TV insurance brokers in Australia focussing on helping the industry as a whole from small to large productions.
Daniel Pearce
Dan Pearce works extensively in the entertainment industry, providing legal advice to producers or film, television, advertisements and on-line content, as well as other participants in the sector (including writers, performers, broadcasters, distributors, investors and funding agencies). In this capacity, Dan assists on projects from the earliest stages of development, through negotiation of the financing transaction documents, to production issues and arrangements for the exploitation of the program. Legal issues addressed include copyright creation, ownership and licensing, defamation and misleading conduct, privacy and confidentiality, and access to the various sources of funding in the sector (including the Producer Offset and other government screen incentives).
Nick Mark
Nick holds a Bachelor of Law and Arts from University of Sydney and has been practising in general commercial law, banking and finance since 2015. Since joining Blueprint Law, Nick has provided legal services to financiers, production companies, completion guarantors and screen agencies on a range of Australian and international feature film, television and documentary projects.
Tony Nagle
Tony Nagle is the founding partner at Nagle Accounting Pty Ltd – a leading film industry tax specialist. He has worked on over 500 film and television projects over the last 25 years. Tony has extensive experience in navigating the myriad of legal and accounting issues facing producers filming in Australia. Nagle Accounting has over 3000 active clients spread throughout Australia and overseas. Tony works with all major producer offset lenders, completion guarantors and film lawyers. He is currently working extensively with international producers as more offshore productions continue to look at Australia as an attractive place to film.
Sonia Borella
Sonia Borella has worked in the film and television industry for over 20 years as a Media, Entertainment and Corporate Lawyer, and since 2016 also as a Producer and Executive Producer. She advises the industry as a Consultant at Simpsons Solicitors and through her company, Borella Buchanan. She has been the lead production lawyer on numerous major feature films, for studios and independent production companies, has advised many local and international television production companies, as well as financiers, investors, broadcasters, screen agencies and talent. She has a particular expertise in international co-productions. Sonia is a former Partner of Holding Redlich, where she chaired the firm's national media, entertainment and technology group. She is also a former member of the advisory committees of each of Ausfilm and Screen Producers Australia, and lecturer at the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS). Sonia holds Bachelor of Laws (Hons) and Bachelor of Commerce degrees from the Australian National University (ANU) and a Master of Laws (Media, Communications and Information Technology Law) from the University of New South Wales (UNSW).
Ron Kessels
Ron Kessels has been practising law since 1990 and is admitted as a solicitor in the Supreme Court of New South Wales and the High Court of Australia. Ron is regarded as one of Australia's best immigration lawyers and has numerous times been voted as such in the Australian Financial Review annual Best Lawyers list. Ron's experience in the field of Immigration is extensive -from providing strategic advice to companies concerning their immigration and global mobility requirements through assisting in managing clients' visa and compliance programs to advocating for the industry to government and parliamentary inquiries and committees on proposed amendments migration to legislation and policy.
Navpreet Kanwar
Navpreet has been practising Immigration Law since 2010 and is admitted as a Solicitor in the Supreme Court of New South Wales.
Prior to joining Ajuria Lawyers in 2018, Navpreet worked with a global immigration firm providing strategic advice and assistance to corporate clients in a wide range of industry sectors. Navpreet has extensive experience in private client matters having assisted individuals and their families with family sponsored and skilled migration applications. She has a particular interest in the Arts and leads the firm’s Entertainment visa practice.
Sarah Waladan
Sarah is the Head of Legal and Regulatory Affairs and Joint Company Secretary at Free TV Australia. Sarah advises Free TV Australia’s members on all aspects of communications law, regulatory and policy issues. Her focus areas include broadcasting and content regulation, copyright licensing and advertising law. She is also a member of Australia’s Right to Know Coalition. Prior to joining Free TV in 2013, Sarah has held various legal and policy roles across government and the private sector with a focus on media and intellectual property issues.
Zachary Parker
Zach joined Simpsons in 2017 and advises clients on a variety of film and TV matters. He has experience in development, financing and production, industrial relations and the representation of talent. Zach previously worked for a national commercial law firm and completed part of his legal training at a national broadcaster. He has worked as a public speaking coach and has experience operating a local record label and events company.
Angela Scurrah
Angela joined Simpsons at the beginning of 2019 after 8 years working at a leading media and entertainment law firm in London. She advises on all aspects of audio-visual production and has acted for clients from all areas of the industry including financiers (both private investors and state agencies), independent production companies, distributors and sales agents. Angela provides advice on how to protect or acquire audio visual rights, structure financing transactions and how to exploit and monetise rights. Angela has advised on international co-productions and on the availability of, and qualification criteria for, local funding subsidies and tax rebates.