Davis, Philip
Partner
Entertainment & New Media (Co-Chair)
Legal Expertise
Representation of individuals and companies in all areas of Entertainment Law, including development, production, financing and distribution of motion pictures, television movies and series, home video/DVD, interactive/video game projects and new media; entertainment lending, financing and related matters; literary publishing, merchandising and licensing; recording and music publishing; acquisition and sale of film libraries and other entertainment assets; intellectual property, copyright and unfair competition law.
Industry Focus
Motion picture, television, video game, interactive media, internet, recording, music publishing, literary publishing; independent financiers, producers and distributors for all media; talent including actors, writers, directors, producers, composers, authors, artist managers.
Key Professional Accomplishments
* Represented The Beatles in negotiations for the remake of "Yellow Submarine," one of the motion picture industry’s largest and most comprehensive rights deals.
* Represented Take Two Interactive, one of the nation’s leading software publishers and owner of the Grand Theft Auto franchise, in connection with its cutting edge license to Universal Pictures of the motion picture and allied rights in its best-selling video game "Bioshock."
* Represented John Travolta, Norman Jewison, Blake Edwards, Harold Ramis, Berry Gordy and the estates of Paul Newman, Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon in the negotiation of various participation statement/audit claims relating to recovery of home video/DVD and other income.
* Represented AT&T in connection with its bid to acquire Hulu.
* Represented celebrity chefs in a variety of performance, appearance and licensing matters including Food Network television series, major U.S. television network series, endorsements, cookbooks and other publishing agreements and life story rights for a major motion picture.
* Represented Muhammad Ali in a wide variety of motion picture, television and licensing deals.
* Represented Michael Jackson in large scale motion picture development and promotional tour agreement.
* Represented major foreign distributors (Toho Towa and Berlusconi) in licensing and acquisition of distribution rights in major motion picture studio films.
* Represented The Roger Richman Agency in licensing of publicity/image rights for estates of Steve McQueen and Albert Einstein.
* Represented Lone Star Film Group in multiple financing and slate financing arrangements with major studios.
* Represented major suppliers of reality TV programming in negotiations with broadcasters.
* Represented Regal Cinemas, largest theatre owner in the United States, in disputes with distributors over payment of film rentals.
* Represented World Events Productions in its negotiations with New Regency and DreamWorks for the license of the motion picture and allied rights, and the animated TV rights, to the well-known animated kids TV property "Voltron: Defender of the Universe."
* Represented prominent investment advisory firm in connection with the acquisition of participations in commissioned revenue streams of ICM, one of the world's largest international talent and literary agencies.
Court Admissions
* California, 1971
* U.S. District Court, 1971
* U.S. Supreme Court, 1971
Education
University of Southern California Law Center, J.D., 1970
University of California Los Angeles, B.A., 1967; magna cum laude; Phi Beta Kappa
