About the Role
The Business & Legal Affairs is a senior, hands-on individual contributor role responsible for providing day-to-day business and legal affairs support for TBSI’s U.S.-based content and production activities.
This is not a management position and does not include direct reports. The role is designed for an experienced entertainment attorney who will personally draft, review, and negotiate agreements, serving as the primary legal resource for the Los Angeles office, in close coordination with internal executives and outside counsel in the United States and Japan.
Reports To
This position reports to the Vice President of Unscripted Entertainment.
Principal Duties and Responsibilities (Essential Functions)
Business & Legal Affairs – Transactional and Production Focus:
- Draft, review, and negotiate a broad range of entertainment and media agreements, with a primary focus on unscripted television, format licensing, and intellectual property distribution
- Handle development, production, and co-production agreements, including situations where TBS is designated as the production entity providing production services
- Provide day-to-day, nuts-and-bolts production legal support, including deal memos, production services agreements, vendor agreements, releases, and production-related documentation
- Draft and negotiate employment agreements, independent contractor agreements, consulting agreements, and other work-for-hire arrangements
- Draft and negotiate talent, host, creator, and contributor agreements
- Draft and negotiate rights acquisition, option, format licensing, and adaptation agreements
- Draft and negotiate distribution, licensing, and platform agreements in the U.S. and internationally
- Advise internal stakeholders on deal structure, rights, risk allocation, and commercial terms throughout the content lifecycle
- Review and become familiar with existing distribution agreements for key IP and formats, and work with the executive team to manage and lead business and legal affairs for future U.S. seasons, including rights, licensing, and related negotiations.
Outside Counsel Coordination:
- Work closely with outside counsel on complex transactions, intellectual property matters, guild or labor-related issues, and cross-border legal matters
- Coordinate and synthesize guidance from outside counsel while maintaining ownership of drafting and negotiation responsibilities
Intellectual Property & Rights Management:
- Support rights clearance, chain-of-title review, and IP diligence for unscripted productions and formats
- Advise on copyright, trademark, format protection, and territorial licensing issues
- Assist in evaluating legal risk related to IP ownership, licensing scope, and international exploitation
