Rick Smith has more than a decade of experience advising high-level talent and producers in the entertainment industry, including the negotiation of contracts and the crafting of comprehensive business affairs strategies.
He provides clients with all manner of legal services for TV, film and digital development and production, including script and format acquisition, network and media licensing, talent and producer agreements, content clearance, branding, sponsorships and production legal services.
Prior to joining Fox, Rick worked as a business affairs executive at leading entertainment companies including DC Entertainment, the world-renowned comic book publisher, and FremantleMedia North America, Inc. (FMNA), the producer of hit television shows American Idol and America’s Got Talent. At DC, a division of Warner Bros.
Entertainment, Rick negotiated talent agreements with the company’s top-level writers and artists and literary acquisition agreements with creators for exploitation in publishing, TV, film and digital media.
At FMNA, Rick set up numerous television development and co-production agreements, negotiated above the line talent deals for creators, show runners, directors and on-camera performers, and he served as production counsel on American Idol and Celebrity Name Game, among other shows.
As general counsel for The Jacobson Group, Rick oversaw all legal matters for an entertainment payroll company employing more than 10,000 television production workers annually.
He also advised TV and digital content producers on interfacing with SAG-AFTRA, DGA, WGA and IATSE, and on related employment issues, production tax incentives and overall risk management. Before that, Rick represented entertainment clients at a boutique entertainment law firm in Beverly Hills.
Immediately after law school, Rick served as a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Pasco M. Bowman II, U.S. Circuit Judge for the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in Kansas City, Missouri.
EDUCATION :
- Loyola Law School, Los Angeles(J.D., 2004)
- University of Colorado–Boulder(B.S.)
BAR ADMISSIONS : California
Cost
Rate : $$$
