A Distant Soil by Colleen Doran

Risky Business: Financing and Distributing Independent Films*

with Mark Litwak, Esq.

Saturday, April 25, 2009: 10am — 5pm (Manhattan Location TBA)

*Seven (7) New York CLE “Areas of Professional Practice” credits available (qualifying as “transitional” for newly admitted attorneys)

(Please note that this course was last offered in 2007; Mark’s “Self Defense for Writers and Filmmakers” course was offered in 2008.)

Special Offer: Registration for this program entitles you to 25% off the cover price of any book for sale in VLA’s law library (including but not limited to Mark Litwak books “Risky Business,” “Contracts for the Film & TV Industry,” and “Dealmaking in the Film & TV Industry”). Subject to availability. Please contact Ben Brandow (contact info below) for a list of available titles.

Risky Business: Financing and Distributing Independent Films explores how independent films are financed and distributed. Topics include financing via pre-sales, debt and limited partnerships, negotiating tactics, typical contract terms, cross-collaterization and creative accounting. Particular attention is paid to how producers and filmmakers can protect themselves by watering down warranties, getting added to the E & O policy, adding performance, termination and arbitration provisions, using lab access letter to retain possession of the negative, and adding a schedule of minimums.

Other topics include criteria for selecting a distributor; what is negotiable and what is not; compliance with state and federal laws when seeking investors; retaining an attorney or producer’s rep; confirming arbitration awards in Superior Court; and, enforcing judgments. The seminar includes a handout with a distribution contract, articles, a self-defense checklist, and other materials.

Speaker: Mark Litwak is a veteran entertainment attorney with offices in Beverly Hills, California. His practice includes work in the areas of copyright, trademark, contract, multimedia law, intellectual property, and book publishing. Litwak also functions as a Producer’s Rep, assisting filmmakers in the financing, marketing and distribution of their films. For more information about Mark Litwak, please see www.marklitwak.com.

To register, please complete this registration form. $100 for Artists and Students by April 3rd ($125 after); $275 for Attorneys by April 3rd ($375 after). All registration fees are non-refundable.

Since 1969, Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts has been the leading provider of pro bono legal services, mediation services, educational programs and publications, and advocacy to the arts community in New York. The first arts-related legal aid organization, VLA is the model for similar organizations around the world. For more information about Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, please see www.vlany.org.