Raw TV

US production counsel for Raw TV, a multi-award winning production company with a reputation for gripping narrative, visual innovation and journalistic vigour.

THE BBC

We have been among the outside counsel for the BBC, where SmithDehn's Philip Wheeler was a senior in-house solicitor for 11 years.

ENDEMOL SHINE GROUP

We are among the outside counsel for Endemol Shine Group, a global production powerhouse. Endemol Shine has 120 companies across all the world’s major markets.

All That Breathes

TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY FOX

We have been among the outside counsel to Twenty-First Century Fox.

SPACEY UNMASKED

We're counsel to this hard-hitting biographical documentary series on the distributed by Max and Channel Four.

Trainwreck Woodstock 99

Fear Thy Neighbor

Production counsel to this Investigation Discovery series about what happens when a homeowner unwittingly takes up residence next to psycho or when evil minds decide to lay down roots right next door.

ORIGIN

As counsel to The Ford Foundation, we handled negotiations and drafting for the funding of this film by Ava DuVernay, which is inspired by the life and work of Pulitzer Prize winner Isabel Wilkerson.

Da Ali G Show

Production and litigation counsel to Sacha Baron Cohen's multiple-Emmy-nominated, path-breaking television series, "Da Ali G Show."

ITV

US counsel to the largest and most popular commercial television network in the United Kingdom.

FORMULA 1: DRIVE TO SURVIVE

We're counsel for this Netflix documentary series.

NAVALNY

We're handling business affairs and production counsel work on this hard-hitting CNN/HBO documentary by Fishbowl Films.

FREMANTLE MEDIA

We are among the outside counsel to one of the world's largest and most successful creators, producers and distributors of outstanding entertainment brands.

Channel 4

U.S. counsel to Channel 4, Britain's second largest broadcast network and one of the world's most challenging and creative producers of television programs and films.

MURDER MOUNTAIN

We're counsel for this acclaimed and popular documentary series.

LAST CHANCE U

We're counsel for this award-winning, very popular Netflix series that goes behind the scenes at the top junior college football programs in the US.

WHO IS AMERICA?

We are production and claims counsel for Showtime, Sacha Baron Cohen, and their hardhitting, controversial new series, WHO IS AMERICA?, a reincarnation of DA ALI G SHOW in the Trump era.

PASSION PICTURES

We are US and UK counsel to this multiple Oscar winning film and television company behind Searching for Sugar Man, The Imposter, and Project Nim, to name a few.

THE FINAL YEAR

An insiders' account of President Barack Obama's foreign policy team during their final year, as they set out to define their legacy, promote diplomacy - and react to the rise of Donald Trump.

WHITNEY

We are production counsel for this definitive biopic of Whitney Houston, directed by Oscar-winner Kevin MacDonald and produced by double-Oscar winner Simon Chinn.

PLAN B ENTERTAINMENT

Among the counsel for Brad Pitt's production company, acclaimed for SELMA, 12 YEARS A SLAVE, THE BIG SHORT, THE DEPARTED, and other important films.

DON'T F**CK WITH CATS -- HUNTING AN INTERNET KILLER

We are counsel to this hit Netflix true crime series that follows internet sleuths who attempted to track down Luka Magnotta after he reportedly shared a graphic video killing cats.

SHOWTIME NETWORKS, INC.

We are among the outside counsel to Showtime Networks, Inc. At the moment, we are production and claims counsel for their hardhitting, controversial new Sacha Baron Cohen series, WHO IS AMERICA?.

PHILIP GLASS

One of our partners, Russell Smith, has provided legal advice and related services for Philip Glass, the world's most successful living music composer.

1971: THE YEAR THAT MUSIC CHANGED EVERYTHING

Honored to be production counsel for this Apple+ series from the Oscar award-winning team who created the acclaimed documentary, AMY

UNTOUCHABLE

We are US production counsel for the BBC/Lightbox film, UNTOUCHABLE, about the rise and fall of Harvey Weinstein, premiering at Sundance 2019.

Bruno

Production and litigation counsel to Sacha Baron Cohen's award-winning film "Bruno."

RADICAL MEDIA

We are counsel to film/TV production company Radical Media. With offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Berlin and Shanghai, Radical is one of the premiere companies in the industry.

Media Rights Capital

Among counsel to MRC, the industry’s largest independent film, TV and digital studio.

BECKHAM

We are counsel for this four-part documentary series that reached number one on Netflix in the US and the UK.

UNTOUCHABLE: THE INSIDE STORY OF THE HARVEY WEINSTEIN SCANDAL

We are counsel for the Hulu Documentary, UNTOUCHABLE: THE INSIDE STORY OF THE HARVEY WEINSTEIN SCANDAL

The Ford Foundation

TIGER KING

We are outside counsel for the directors and producers of the most popular documentary series in history.

WELCOME TO WREXHAM

We are counsel to this five-time Emmy Award Winning hit television series starring Ryan Reynolds.

Fifa Uncovered 2

A24

We are honored to be legal and business affairs counsel to A24, winner of dozens of Oscars, and the producers behind EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE, MOONLIGHT, LADY BIRD, THE WHALE, and much more.

STARZ

Owned by Lionsgate, our client Starz is a leading global media and entertainment distributor/producer, with over 5,000 TV episodes and feature films each year on its several channels.

Sins Of Our Mother

THE TINDER SWINDLER

We were production counsel for this Netflix true crime series.

CITIZENFOUR

We're among the counsel for this Oscar-winning (Best Feature Documentary) about Edward Snowden and national security in post 9/11 America.

LEAVING NEVERLAND

We are counsel for this explosive two-part film about Michael Jackson, by Dan Reed for HBO Documentary Films.

BRANDY HELLVILLE

We're counsel to this hugely popular Max series produced by Lightbox.

CBS CORPORATION

We are among the outside counsel for the CBS television network.

STUTZ

We're counsel for Jonah Hill's remarkable documentary feature about his therapist and how the therapy transformed him.

Break Point 2

SELMA

Honored to be representing the director and producers of this important, Academy-Award-winning film.

Dirty Wars

We served as production counsel for this award-winning, widely acclaimed investigative documentary about U.S. covert operations across the globe.

American Nightmare 2

LIGHTBOX ENTERTAINMENT

We are US and UK counsel for this LA-and-London based production company founded by multiple Oscar and Emmy Award winning Simon Chinn and Jonathan Chinn, and funded by Channel 4.

Borat

Production and claims counsel for the multi-Oscar nominated comedy, "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan."

Ghosn

LISTEN TO ME MARLON

We are production counsel to this 2015 Sundance-selected, 2016 Oscar-Short-Listed, Marlon Brando biopic released by Universal Studios and Showtime.

AMERICAN ANIMALS

We were production counsel for this "wildly entertaining" (Variety) scripted feature film that captivated the 2018 Sundance Film Festival.

KNOCK DOWN THE HOUSE

We are counsel for KNOCK DOWN THE HOUSE, the acclaimed documentary by Rachel Lears, which was purchased by Netflix at Sundance for a record $10 million.

Sprint 2

Make Or Break

Web of Lies

We are production counsel for this compelling Discovery series that reveals stories of deception and homicide triggered by online interactions.

Virunga

We are production counsel for this Oscar-Nominated 2014 documentary about the fight to save Virunga National Park, the last refuge of moutain gorillas.

HBO

Our attorneys have been among the production and claims counsel to Home Box Office, Inc.

TINA

We're counsel for this definitive HBO biopic of Tina Turner, produced by our Academy Award winning client, Lightbox.

AMAZON STUDIOS

We are among the litigation defense counsel for Amazon Studios

THE HATCHET WIELDING HITCHHIKER

We're counsel for this sensational Netflix documentary that has taken the internet by storm.

OCTOBER FILMS

We are US and UK counsel to October Films, one of the world's most respected and longest established factual television production companies. They have won over 100 international awards.

Unprecedented

ASHLEY MADISON

We are production and business affairs counsel on this hit Netflix documentary series.

THE MAURITANIAN

Executive Produced by Russell Smith and Zak Kilberg for our joint venture, Convergent Media. With Jodie Foster, Tahar Rahim, Benedict Cumberbach, and Shailene Woodley.

JURY DUTY

We're counsel to this insane and hilarious Amazon FreeVee series.

ALL THREE MEDIA AMERICA

We're among the US and UK counsel for All3Media America, the LA-based, multi studio production hub for one of the world's leading creators of high-quality content.

FEDERER: 12 FINAL DAYS

We are counsel to this stirring feature documentary by Oscar-winning director Asif Kapadia, on Amazon Prime.

NOBODY SPEAK

We have been counsel for producers of this Netflix documentary about the Hulk Hogan vs. Gawker Media case and its outside funding, showing how big money can be used to silence the media.

Our Great National Parks

We were counsel for Netflix on this documentary series narrated by President Obama and produced by his production company, Higher Ground Productions.

SOPHIE: A MURDER IN WEST CORK

We are counsel for this controversial and compelling Netflix documentary series by our Academy Award winning client, Lightbox.

SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN

Production counsel for the late Malik Bendjelloul's sensational, Oscar-winning "Searching for Sugar Man," released by Sony Pictures Classics.

CHIMP CRAZY

We are counsel to CHIMP CRAZY, the most watched HBO documentary series of the last four years.

Vogue 2

BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM

We are production and claims counsel to Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

NETFLIX

We are outside counsel for Netflix.

The Imposter

Production counsel for "The Imposter," an astonishingly true story about a French man who fools everyone into believing he is a missing Texas boy, including the boy's family.

CHEER

We are among the production counsel for Season Two of this Triple-Primetime-Emmy-Award-winning series on Netflix.

NATIONAL BIRD

We are honored to be production counsel for this scathing, "bird's eye" documentary, directed by Sonia Kennebeck and exec produced by Wim Wenders and Errol Morris, about the US military drone program.

THE EDGE OF DEMOCRACY

We are production counsel to this Oscar short-listed film, which the New York Times has ranked among the top ten films of 2019 in all categories.

THREE IDENTICAL STRANGERS

We are production counsel to this most successful documentary film since Fahrenheit 9/11.

Gold Rush - Raw Television

Production counsel for all nine seasons of Discovery's popular observational documentary television series, "Gold Rush."

BAFTA

Handling contract drafting and negotiations for the British Academy of Film and Television Arts

Sony

Among counsel for Sony Pictures and Sony Pictures Television, producers and/or distributors of some of the most successful motion pictures and programs in the world.

THE MOST HATED MAN ON THE INTERNET

We were production counsel for this legally difficult, hugely popular Netflix series by Raw TV.

BUZZFEED

We are outside counsel to BuzzFeed.

THE LONGEST WAR

We are counsel to this definitive Showtime Documentary by the creators of HOMELAND and director Greg Barker, which unpacks the human stories and drama behind America's involvement in Afghanistan.

100 FOOT WAVE

We're counsel for this HBO Original Series

The Princess

Paramount Pictures

We are among the outside counsel for Paramount Pictures.

UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA

We are production counsel for this Primetime Emmy-Award-wining hit CNN series that follows comedian and political provocateur W. Kamau Bell as he explores communities and challenges across America.

KNOCK DOWN THE HOUSE

We are counsel for KNOCK DOWN THE HOUSE, the acclaimed documentary by Rachel Lears, which was purchased by Netflix at Sundance for a record $10 million.

TV/Film Production, Legal Jobs, Both on Rise in Northern Ireland

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Formerly battle-weary Northern Ireland, and Belfast in particular, are showing signs of an economic resurgence, now that the Peace Process there seems to have succeeded and taken root. Two Northern Ireland developments in particular have been making headlines in the media and legal worlds: (1) a dramatic rise in television and film production work, and (2) the decision of two of London's biggest law firms to set up legal outsourcing operations there.

Jake Bickerton of Televisual reports on a positive "sea change in outlook" for independent television and film production companies in Ireland's North:

"As recently as 18 months ago you could have counted the number of network commissions coming out of Northern Ireland on one hand and still had a few fingers left over. Now it’s an entirely different landscape, with the majority of indies looking outside the local market and landing network shows...."

Much of this growth comes from "a concerted effort" by the BBC to engage with the region and boost the numbers of network commissions in Belfast to 3% by 2016. But our clients HBO, Channel Four, and Waddell Media are also having a big impact there.

For example, HBO's "Game of Thrones," recently shot and edited in Northern Ireland, is the biggest TV production ever made in the UK. Reports Bickerton in the Televisual article:

“'Sector wide, Game of Thrones has been a huge deal – it brought in a lot of money and puts to rest any issues as to whether Northern Ireland can deliver big drama,' says Wild Rover’s [Managing Director Phil] Morrow."

"'It’s a most amazing thing Richard Williams [CEO of Northern Ireland Screen] has done, and has proven to London there’s no reason Northern Ireland can’t do a big production,' agrees Below The Radar’s [Managing Director Trevor] Birney...."

"The series was edited at Belfast’s Yellow Moon, which spent £200k gearing up for it. 'We supplied the cutting rooms and did the dailies and offline,' says md Greg Darby. 'If it comes back for another five years, which is possible, we can hire sound people and colourists and really bolster up our facilities.'”

Channel 4 and Waddell Media are also getting into the act:

"C4 is now also showing signs of wanting to do more with Belfast’s indies, through its Creative Diversity department, headed up by Stuart Cosgrove, which is making a concerted effort to reach out to the Northern Ireland production community."

"Long-standing indie Waddell Media now makes C4’s well-respected 4thought.tv strand that follows the C4 news every weeknight, and many of Belfast’s production outfits are broadly optimistic about their chances of soon also securing C4 commissions."

"'Landing a network commission for C4 has been our main focus and we’re getting very close,' says Brendan Hughes, who heads up Tern TV’s Belfast office. 'I’ve been surprised by how C4 engages with Belfast and think they are doing a terrific job. They are beginning to put a lot of effort in but none of us deserve to get a commission, you need a very good idea.'"

As Televisual also reports, Waddell and other independents in Northern Ireland are having additional success securing commissions for the U.S. market:

"The other big market for Belfast’s indies is America, with Waddell Media leading the way with series for Discovery and other key broadcasters, and the likes of Wild Rover and Below The Radar amongst the other production outfits finding success in the States."

"'We met the Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney [who directed Taxi To the Dark Side and Enron: the Smartest Guys in the Room] in Galway and set up a partnership programme with him,' says Below The Radar md Trevor Birney. 'Gibney makes four or five docs a year and it’s a huge learning process for us to discover how he funds them. We’re launching an online news and current affairs platform called The Detail and are discussing doing a documentary about Northern Ireland with Gibney as exec producer. The doc would talk about Northern Ireland here and now, in a similar way to how Gibney approached his doc about Enron.'”

"The Belfast trailblazers in the US, Waddell Media, set up a New York office three years ago, headed up by Jon-Barrie Waddell. 'We’ve really expanded into the US market and have now completed productions for Nat Geo, Discovery, A&E, The History Channel and G4,' he explains. “It’s a good market and around 40% of our work is now for the US.'”

"Waddell’s success is being mirrored by Wild Rover, which is making major inroads with its recently developed LE game show formats. Both Secret Fortune and another Wild Rover show, Take The Money and Run, are being remade for the US market, the latter having been picked up by ABC with Jerry Bruckheimer exec producing. 'We’ve very, very big international ambitions for doing very big primetime projects,' says Morrow."

As mentioned above, Northern Ireland's recent success also has extended to the legal outsourcing arena, where extremely generous government subsidies have enticed major UK law firms to set up shop there. The Law Without Borders blog covers this as follows:

"A flurry of reports indicate that UK mega law firms Allen & Overy and Herbert Smith both are setting up legal support offices in formerly war-torn Belfast in the coming months. The outsourced jobs will include not only hundreds of back-office clerical positions, but also over 75 fee-earning legal jobs."


"Despite an old reputation for 'their tanks and their bombs, and their bombs and their guns' ('Zombie'), the North of Ireland is a beautiful part of the world, with a youthful, highly educated, English speaking population, eager for knowledge-based jobs. A double-whammy of globalization and open street warfare practically ended the manufacturing sector that was once the heart of Belfast's economy, leaving massive unemployment. But while Belfast, Derry, and the rest of Northern Ireland are among the most economically depressed areas of Europe, payscales and operating costs are still many times higher than those of India. So how did Belfast win the competition?"

"Well, it didn't hurt that 'Invest Northern Ireland,' the government's development agency, made an offer the London firms could not refuse. It agreed to pay Allen & Overy 2.5 million Pounds to set up its new 'Support and Legal Services Centre,' and to pay 208,000 Pounds to Herbert Smith to launch its document review/due diligence operation. Given that these two 'magic circle' law firms collectively brought in over 3 billion Pounds last year in fees, the Belfast location incentives make these firms among the wealthiest government aid recipients in the world. The government hand-outs amount to about 8-10,000 Pounds for each job created."

In any event, the resurgence of this northeast corner of Ireland cannot be denied. And the rest of the world is starting to take notice.