Thursday, May 5, 2005
Page 3
Stephen L. Saltzman Moves to Entertainment Group at Irell & Manella
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Stephen L. Saltzman, formerly a partner in the entertainment practice group at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld’s Los Angeles office, has joined Irell & Manella, the latter firm said in a press release yesterday.
Saltzman will be a partner in the firm’s Entertainment Transactional Group, the statement said. Irell’s entertainment clients include MTV, Nickelodeon, CBS, Mark Burnett Productions, Paramount Pictures and MGM.
Saltzman, who is multi-lingual, has experience representing foreign-based companies and individuals in their dealings with Hollywood, particularly in the German-speaking marketplace. His practice will continue to focus on “innovative and complex international co-production and co-financing transactions, as well as the structuring of high end “splits rights” producer deals and slate financings,” the firm’s statement explained.
Saltzman has represented such production companies as Lakeshore, Vulcan Productions, Escape Artists, Bob Yari Productions, Vanguard Films, and Sandstorm Films; broadcasters and distribution companies including RTL, CLT-UFA International, MC One, Pandasia and Capital Entertainment Enterprises; foreign based financial institutions and films funds such as KGAL, Deutsche Bank, Stadtsparkasse Koeln and Cinerenta; foreign based studios like Bavaria, Studio Hamburg and Digimax; and digital media companies including Cdigix and TV Miles, as well as foreign based talent and directors.
“We could not be happier in welcoming Mr. Saltzman to our partnership,” Irell & Manella managing partner David Siegel said in a statement. “He is a skilled attorney with an established record of excellence, and will be an asset to our firm. We look forward to working with him as our colleague and partner.”
In a statement, Saltzman described himself as “thrilled to be joining one of the top firms in the country, with a well-deserved reputation for smart, innovative and responsive lawyering.”
He added:
“A number of my clients were already being represented by Irell’s top notch corporate and litigation departments, and it was therefore a perfect match for both me and my clients. I feel privileged to join forces with the talented group of attorneys in Irell & Manella’s well-regarded entertainment department, and to have the opportunity to work with noted entertainment practitioners such as Clark Siegel, Juliette Youngblood, Jane Shay Wald and David Nimmer.”
Irell & Manella was founded in Los Angeles in 1941 and now has more than 220 attorneys, 87 of whom are partners.
Copyright 2005, Metropolitan News Company