Kelly Charles Crabb is a special counsel in the Media, Entertainment and Technology Group, resident in the firm’s Los Angeles office. His practice emphasizes clients with an entertainment, sports, and media focus and includes a mix of sophisticated and complex financing, production, and content work for substantial U.S., Asian, and European companies.
His practice areas include motion pictures, television, Internet, video games, print publishing and other content production, financing, distribution and exhibition; music business contracts; commercial endorsements and advertising; live sports events (including Olympic Games and other international sporting events, concerts, and stage productions); content rights acquisition and licensing; corporate mergers and acquisitions and joint venture transactions; and matters related to the entertainment and music performance guilds.
His book,The Movie Business, which was published by Simon & Schuster in 2005, is regarded as a major work in the filmed entertainment community worldwide. His second book, The Sports Business, is used, in manuscript form, in his class, “Sports Law in Practice,” at USC Law School.
Mr. Crabb is well known in the sports world, having performed services related to four Olympic Games. He worked on the broadcasting agreement and other projects for the Rio 2016 Olympic Committee, on the broadcasting agreement for the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games (2012) and entertainment projects for the Salt Lake Olympic Organizing Committee for the Winter Games of 2002. Mr. Crabb acted as head international counsel to the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee for the XXIX Olympiad in 2008.
In one of the top sports news stories of 2004, Mr. Crabb successfully represented Paul Hamm, the Olympic all-around gymnastics champion, in connection with a dispute arising at the Athens Games before the Court of Arbitration for Sport, in Lausanne, Switzerland. In other sports-related work, he performed professional services for NBA China and Major League Baseball in China.
Mr. Crabb is highly experienced and recognized in the arena of international entertainment and media, with high-level clients and cross-border deal experience in Japan, China, Korea, Russia, and Australia. He has experience working with high profile personalities and cases. Mr. Crabb represents high-level motion picture and television producers (including Academy Award winning Gerald R. Molen).
He has represented Paul McCartney, in connection with his world tour, and Dave Matthews, related to a management agreement. He represented Charles Barkley in an endorsement deal in Japan. Mr. Crabb also handled the publishing of the New York Times Best-Seller, My Story, for Elizabeth Smart. Mr. Crabb also handled the media rights for Ms. Smart’s story, one of the major news events of 2003.
Mr. Crabb received his law degree from Columbia University School of Law in 1984, where he was an editor of the Columbia Law Review from 1982-1984. He received his Master’s in Public Administration in 1973 and his Bachelor of Arts in 1971 from Brigham Young University. Mr. Crabb is a frequent lecturer on entertainment and sports law and a recognized author. He is an Adjunct Professor at USC Law School, where he teaches a course on sports law.
Education:
- J.D., Columbia Law School, Columbia Law Review, 1984
- M.P.A., Brigham Young University, 1973
- B.A., Brigham Young University, 1971
Admissions:
- California (1991)
- New York (1985)
Experience:
- Representation of major Japanese advertising and media enterprise in connection with its acquisition of a minority stake in a prominent professional athlete management company located in Los Angeles.
- Advised the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games (2012) in connection with its Master Broadcasting Agreement.
- Representation of owner of minor league soccer team in connection with the renegotiation of the team’s franchise agreement with the USL.
- Representation of investor group, consisting of former Major League Baseball players, interested in making a bid for a Major League Baseball team.
- Representation of the Western Athletic Conference (consisting of nine NCAA Division I universities located in the Intermountain West) in connection with its broadcasting initiatives.
- Representation of producer, Gerald R. Molen, and Abolitionists LLC in connection with the production and release of the feature documentary and related television series entitled “The Abolitionists,” which concerns the efforts of a group of individuals to rescue victims of sex trafficking.
- Representation of Elizabeth Smart in connection with the development and publishing of her 2013 New York Time Best-Selling book, Elizabeth Smart: My Story, with Chris Stewart, and in connection with her second book scheduled for publication in 2018.
- Representation of Nikkatsu Corporation in connection with the development and production of three major international motion pictures, including “Day of the Beast” (directed by John Woo).
- Representation of the creators of the popular children’s show, “Yo Gabba Gabba,” in connection with the show’s financing, merchandising and broadcasting transactions.
Cost
Rate : $$$