Leif is a partner in the Entertainment and Media Industry Group. He is a leading entertainment attorney and Hollywood insider who focuses on high-level business and finance transactions for the development, production, distribution, monetization and exploitation of content for all screens, including feature films, and particularly for television and the small-screen. Having worked in corporate finance, talent, in-house at a multi-national production/distribution studio, and on the company-side, Leif has sat on all sides of the table and so counsels his clients from an exceedingly informed and holistic perspective. His wide array of clients includes major television networks and premium subscription video on demand (SVOD) exhibitors, feature film major and mini-major studios, well-leveraged production companies, equity funds and high-net worth individuals investing in television and shows, and Fortune 500 companies. Leif expertly provides his clients with superlative "all-in-one" counseling which includes business affairs, financial structuring, legal advice, risk management, leveraging of his industry relationships, and global marketplace strategy.
Leif has a renowned track record for negotiating and drafting successful U.S. and overseas television and SVOD license, co-production and distribution agreements; domestic and international co-production, co-financing and investment deals; the vast array of agreements for original programming; over-the-top (OTT) transactions; and second-run digital window and syndication deals. He is an authority on entertainment finance, and prides himself on advising clients starting from creative inception and the financing stage, into content development and production, and then in how best to monetize programming, films and libraries to increase his client companies’ value and brand.
Some of Leif’s recent and current projects include the international co-production The Young Pope for HBO/Sky/Canal+; the cinematic series Twin Peaks for Showtime; the ultra-premium, cross-border SVOD show Marco Polo; the Fox comedy hit Brooklyn Nine-Nine; and such feature films as Ex Machina, Bridget Jone’s Baby, Bad Santa 2, and the Alien franchise.
Leif began his career at an institutional law firm as a corporate associate working in mergers and acquisitions and finance, and on initial public offerings for media conglomerates and start-ups. He then became a talent attorney at a top entertainment boutique where for ten years, as a partner, he represented A-list actors, writers, showrunners, producers, directors and companies on some of the industry's most successful movie franchises and television shows. Leif has also worked in-house, running FremantleMedia’s scripted television business and legal affairs division in Los Angeles. While there, Leif implemented new corporate policies, led negotiations with major U.S. broadcasters and co-production partners, and was instrumental in cross-border financing and distribution deals out of its London headquarters. Leif also worked closely with Fremantle's digital unit, FMX, and its production and exploitation of original online and mobile content.
With his deep background in corporate transactions, talent representation and in-house business, legal & financial affairs, Leif is uniquely able to advise clients from multiple commercial vantage points so as to conclude thoughtful deals for them which address today's changing, complex world for entertainment.
