GET IT IN WRITING.
With sasha H. levites and marcie cleary
“The most difficult deals that we ever do is unraveling these issues that come out of people either not doing collaboration agreements or not getting their roles and participations straight before they actually dig into a project. They often lead to real issues and… we are constantly trying to counsel our clients - let’s just sit down and think about these issues before you get into development and production.”
— Sasha H. Levites
“My rule of thumb is do not sign anything before I’ve looked at it. It doesn’t mean I’m going to negotiate it or over negotiate it, sometimes I might say it’s fine… I always say… don’t sign anything before you talk to your lawyer, at the very least.”
— Marcie Cleary
Season 1; Episode 10
We chat to Sasha H. Levites and Marcie Cleary who are partners at Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz, one of the leading firms in the U.S. We pick their brains about keeping up with emerging technologies and new formats (NFTs! Podcasts!), the benefits to talent having an all inclusive team of manager + agent + lawyer, the importance of those long winded indemnification and insurance clauses, and 2 fundamental rules - get it in writing and don't sign anything without having a lawyer look it over and give it the OK.
sasha H. levites
partner
Frankfurt Kurnit Klein + selz
Sasha H. Levites is a partner in the Entertainment Group of Frankfurt Kurnit Klein + Selz, where she represents clients in the film, television, theatre, and publishing industries.
Ms. Levites handles a broad range of transactional entertainment and intellectual property matters, with a focus on advising clients in the film, television and digital media industries. She represents writers, directors, producers, documentary filmmakers, motion picture studios, distributors, and private equity financiers, and works closely with intellectual property owners to help maximize the value of their rights in an ever-changing marketplace. Ms. Levites is experienced in structuring and negotiating film and television development deals, talent agreements, co-production and financing agreements, rights acquisition, content distribution and foreign sales agreements, as well as all forms of production legal releases.
Prior to joining Frankfurt Kurnit, Ms. Levites served as Manager of Business and Legal Affairs for FilmNation Entertainment where she negotiated international film sales and distribution agreements for award-winning titles such as “Nebraska” and “The Imitation Game”, along with motion picture finance and development deals. Ms. Levites also spent time in the Business and Legal Affairs department at MTV, where she focused on international content distribution and format licensing for the music networks.
Ms. Levites is recognized by Best Lawyers in America in the 2022 edition of “Ones to Watch” for Entertainment and Sports law. She was recognized in Variety’s 2019 “40 Under 40” New Leaders List, and in the Up Next List of Variety’s 2017 Dealmaker’s Elite New York Report. Since 2016, she has also been recognized in Super Lawyers magazine as a New York-area “Rising Star” in the Entertainment & Sports field. Ms. Levites currently serves on the Creative Executive Council for the NYU Production Lab.
marcie cleary
partner
Frankfurt Kurnit Klein + selz
Marcie Cleary is a partner in the Entertainment Group at Frankfurt Kurnit Klein + Selz, representing clients in the film, television, digital, and book publishing industries.
Ms. Cleary structures and negotiates entertainment transactions for individual and corporate clients in the film, television, digital, and book publishing industries. Her clients include actors, news correspondents, writers, directors, producers, authors, podcasters and influencers.
Ms. Cleary has significant experience representing comedians in connection with deals for stand-up specials, television and digital series, motion pictures, and recorded albums. Ms. Cleary also has become one of the podcast industry’s go-to lawyers. She represents a number of successful podcast creators, hosts, on-air talent, and producers, as well as underlying rights holders.
Before joining Frankfurt Kurnit, Ms. Cleary was a corporate associate at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP where her experience included advising William Morris Endeavor Entertainment (WME) on its strategic partnership with, and sale of a minority interest to, Silver Lake, and advising Apollo Global Management on its acquisition of CKX, Inc., an owner of rights to the American Idol franchise and the Elvis Presley Estate.
Ms. Cleary is recognized by The Hollywood Reporter in its 2021 Power Lawyers list of the Top 20 Entertainment Lawyers in New York. She is recognized by Variety in its 2021 Dealmakers Impact Report and in Variety’s 2021 and 2020 Legal Impact Report. She was previously recognized in the Up Next List of Variety’s 2018 Legal Impact Report. She is recognized by Best Lawyers in America in the 2022 edition of “Ones to Watch” for Entertainment and Sports law. Business Insiderincludes her in their list of the thirteen leading attorneys who work with digital creators and influencers. She has also been recognized in Super Lawyers magazine as a “Rising Star” in the Entertainment & Sports field.
Ms. Cleary is a member of the New York University Lawyer Alumni Mentoring Program Advisory Board, the Harlem School of the Arts Associate Board, and the Board of Comedy Gives Back. She is admitted to practice in New York.