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.

BAFTA

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

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.

Make Or Break

Bruno

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

FEDERER: 12 FINAL DAYS

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

SOPHIE: A MURDER IN WEST CORK

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

BUZZFEED

We are outside counsel to BuzzFeed.

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.

Sins Of Our Mother

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.

ITV

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

Gold Rush - Raw Television

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

AMAZON STUDIOS

We are among the litigation defense counsel for Amazon Studios

FORMULA 1: DRIVE TO SURVIVE

We're counsel for this Netflix documentary series.

Vogue 2

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.

THE HATCHET WIELDING HITCHHIKER

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

American Nightmare 2

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?.

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.

SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN

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

JURY DUTY

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

The Princess

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.

SELMA

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

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.

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.

The Ford Foundation

SPACEY UNMASKED

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

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.

Borat

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

Media Rights Capital

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

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

Fifa Uncovered 2

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.

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.

UNTOUCHABLE

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

Break Point 2

NAVALNY

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

MURDER MOUNTAIN

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

BRANDY HELLVILLE

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

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.

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.

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 MOST HATED MAN ON THE INTERNET

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

100 FOOT WAVE

We're counsel for this HBO Original Series

NETFLIX

We are outside counsel for Netflix.

CBS CORPORATION

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

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.

Dirty Wars

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

Unprecedented

TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY FOX

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

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

Ghosn

LEAVING NEVERLAND

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

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.

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.

CITIZENFOUR

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

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.

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

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.

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.

CHEER

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

Paramount Pictures

We are among the outside counsel for Paramount Pictures.

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.

BECKHAM

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

Web of Lies

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

THREE IDENTICAL STRANGERS

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

AMERICAN ANIMALS

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

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.

Sprint 2

All That Breathes

STUTZ

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

ASHLEY MADISON

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

HBO

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

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.

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.

TINA

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

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.

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.

THE TINDER SWINDLER

We were production counsel for this Netflix true crime series.

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.

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.

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.

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.

CHIMP CRAZY

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

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.

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.

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.

Trainwreck Woodstock 99

Da Ali G Show

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

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.

SmithDehn Film/TV Joint Venture Organizes and Films Historic Performance of Buena Vista Social Club at The White House

back to list

“We’re thrilled to have them here,” President Obama said. “For nearly two decades, this group has been a symbol of the strong bonds between the American and Cuban people – bonds of friendship and culture and, of course, music.” As The New York Times reported about the performance, this "was the latest sign of the thaw that Mr. Obama and President Raùl Castro of Cuba set in motion in December when they agreed to normalize relations between Washington and Havana and restore diplomatic ties severed in 1961."

Our film/TV production joint venture, Convergent Media, arranged and filmed this historic performance of Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club at The White House, and President Obama's introduction to the band. This was part of our production of BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB - ADIOS, directed by two-time Oscar Nominee Lucy Walker, and financed and distributed by Broad Green Pictures.

The White House aptly noted that "Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club is the first Cuba-based band to perform at the White House in over 50 years."

As Billboard magazine commented, "[t]here could not be a more perfect end of an era for the orchestra members, who... did what it would take President Obama two more decades to achieve. It broke through the Cuban embargo, through music, reaching out and creating a relationship with the American people on a massive level."

With the band on their final and hugely ambitious world tour, the five original band members will take our film's audiences on an intimate journey, revealing the band's personal and professional highs and lows since their world-wide success in 1999, while remembering the beloved band members no longer with us. The tour will culminate in a series of spectacular homecoming concerts in Havana.

Set against the unique and unprecedented political, social and cultural backdrop of this rapidly evolving time in Cuban history, our film will cement the enduring legacy of the band, the musicians, and the music, at the end of an era.