Eric Kessler blends studio-level dealmaking with modern, creator-focused strategy. He has negotiated high-value talent, production, and corporate deals for major studios, emerging media companies, and fast-growing creator businesses. Now that experience works for you.
Big firms are built for high-stakes litigation and one-off transactions. But the deals that shape your growth land on your desk every week, and most of them never see a lawyer who actually understands the business behind them.
Eric has built and run legal departments from the inside. He knows what good looks like, and he knows what each side of the table is really asking for, and why.
This is pragmatic, trusted counsel on a flat monthly fee: rights and production, corporate partnerships, M&A, and long-term IP strategy, delivered as an integrated part of how you make decisions.
No overpaying for value that never arrives. No moving slowly because legal is a bottleneck. Just experienced entertainment counsel in your corner, priced with transparency.
The full deal lifecycle from pitch to production: options and purchases, first-look and overall deals, development and production services agreements, co-production and co-financing structures, and guild compliance across WGA, SAG-AFTRA, DGA, and IATSE.
Book-to-screen and life rights, franchise development, merchandising, and anti-piracy enforcement. IP deals structured to protect value across every window and format, not just the deal in front of you but the deals that follow.
The creator economy is producing real, valuable IP, and studios are coming to acquire it. Most creators do not have a lawyer who understands both worlds. Eric has been the studio in these rooms. Now he works for you.
Executive-level legal thinking without a full-time VP of Legal: governance, trademark, employment, vendor agreements, legal operations, and cross-functional deal management, priced far below a big-firm relationship or a premature in-house hire.
For creators and emerging talent receiving redlines more regularly. A trusted attorney reviewing the agreements that matter most before you sign, ideal when your deal flow is building.
For production companies and established talent signing more agreements each month. For when you need to stop handling it alone and start moving the way businesses with real legal coverage move.
For higher-volume clients and complex deal flow. Companies and executives processing high-stakes agreements who need an attorney as close to in-house as possible.
Agreement drafting, review, and responses to markups. Redlines and negotiation on incoming contracts. Direct attorney access as questions come up. Priority turnaround on time-sensitive deals. Trademark registration, entity formation, and other filings are scoped separately.
Not every business is ready for ongoing coverage, and not every deal can wait until it is. Send the agreement in front of you and Eric will tell you what it actually says, what it costs you, and what to push back on. Then he negotiates it with the other side.
Applies to short-form agreements such as NDAs, appearance and location releases, work-for-hire and contractor agreements, statements of work, deal memos, and single-title licenses. Longer or more complex agreements are quoted separately after review. All engagements are subject to a conflicts check and a signed written fee agreement; no attorney-client relationship is created until that agreement is executed. Fees cover Eric's services only and do not include third-party or filing costs. No particular outcome or negotiating result is promised or implied.
Tell Eric about your deal flow and where the pressure is. He will tell you which coverage fits, before any work begins.
Call 310-945-8172