"The entire legal profession, lawyers, judges, law professors, has become so mesmerized with the stimulation of the Courtroom that we tend to forget that we ought to be healers of conflicts. For many claims, trials by adversarial contests must in time go the way of the ancient trial by battle and blood. Our system is too costly, too painful, too destructive, too inefficient for a truly civilized people."
-- Chief Justice Warren E. Burger |
James S. Mulholland, Esq.
Chairman, Advisory Board
Co-Founder and Managing Director
James S. Mulholland is an attorney, as well as a certified Mediator and Arbitrator, with over 25 years experience in private law practice as an entertainment attorney in Los Angeles, California. He was a Partner at the prestigious Entertainment Law Firms of Wyman, Bautzer, Rothman, Kuchel & Silbert in Century City and at Cooper, Epstein & Hurewitz in Beverly Hills.
Mr. Mulholland's practice has included representation of major individual and corporate entertainment clients, domestically and internationally, involving complex contract negotiations, production financing, "negative pick-up" arrangements, production insurance, completion bonding; production, distribution and net profit agreements for motion pictures, television, cable, and stage plays; intellectual property issues and protection of copyrights; options and acquisitions of literary properties; literary publishing agreements; music protection, licensing and publishing; employment agreements for screenwriters, actors, directors, producers, and studio executives; name and likeness protection; agency and management agreements; product licensing agreements; artist/corporate endorsement arrangements; sale of theatrical, syndication, and ancillary rights; licensing of emerging technology rights; establishment of corporate business relationships, joint ventures, strategic alliances and global expansion strategies; entertainment agreements for SEC public and private offerings; union/guild labor negotiations and mediations; advice to non-profit organizations; and legal advice to and participation on corporate boards of directors.
Corporate clients with whom he has worked closely in the past include MGM, United Artists Corporation and Paramount Pictures, as well as ABC Television, in addition to representing a large list of major individual clients, including writers, directors, producers and actors, independent production companies and foreign government entities in the entertainment industry including Mosfilm Studios in Moscow, Russia, and Film Polski in Poland.
He also served as General Counsel to a major California public affairs firm in its merger/acquisition negotiations with Geraldine Ferraro's Public Affairs firm in New York, and its parent company in London, making it one of the premiere public affairs firms in the nation.
Mr. Mulholland served as a Member of the Board of Directors of Filmex (The Los Angeles International Film Exposition) and as a Foundation Board Member of the Academy of Performing and Visual Arts of Los Angeles. He is currently in private practice as a professional mediator and arbitrator in Los Angeles. Mr. Mulholland completed his formal mediation training through the Straus Institute of Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University School of Law, in association with The Los Angeles County Superior Court. He is also a certified arbitrator, and serves as an Arbitrator for the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) and as an arbitrator on the ADR Panel for the Los Angeles Superior Court. He also serves as a Los Angeles Superior Court Mediator on the LASC Party Pay Mediation Panel. He is a Professional Member of the Southern California Mediation Association.
Mr. Mulholland received his undergraduate degree (B.A.) from the University of California at Berkeley and his law degree (J.D.) from the University of California at Davis. Mr. Mulholland is licensed to practice law in the State of California. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the Los Angeles County Bar and Beverly Hills Bar Associations.
Senator Charles M. Calderon
Vice Chairman, Advisory Board
Co-Founder and Managing Director
Senator Charles M. Calderon is an Attorney and Mediator with over 25 years of legal, trial and mediation experience. Calderon is a member of the California State Assembly representing the 58th District. He is a member of the Assembly Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism & Internet Media. Calderon also chairs the Assembly Committee on Revenue and Taxation.
Calderon is the former Majority Leader of the California State Senate. During his tenure in the Senate, he also served as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. As Chairman, he had oversight of all policy initiatives relating to mediation and arbitration matters. Calderon is a past member of the State Judicial Council, the administrative arm of the Courts responsible for establishment of policy, guidelines and rules pertaining to State courts, mediation and arbitration.
As Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Calderon also had oversight responsibility for all policy initiatives relating to entertainment matters. In addition to his responsibilities as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, he served as Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Motion Pictures and Entertainment. The Senator carried legislation providing for, among other things, a "Zone of Privacy" for public people, a new cause of action in extreme cases of defamation by tabloids, and a new property right in one's name after death.
Calderon also served eight years in the California State Assembly, before his tenure in the Senate. While in the Assembly, he served as Majority Whip in addition to his other major committee assignments.
Before serving in the California State Legislature, Senator Calderon served as a Deputy City Attorney for the City of Los Angeles and served as General Counsel to the Los Angeles Board of Public Works and General Counsel to the Los Angeles City Counsel. He has tried over eighty jury trials.
Senator Calderon has extensive experience in moving difficult initiatives through the public and private sectors. His reputation is well established for his success in mediating and resolving high stakes issues involving complex social, economic and political disputes. Examples of his ability to bring polarized interests together include the creation of a statewide mediation procedure to resolve construction defects disputes (known as "The Calderon Process") prior to trial. Stats.1995, c. 864 (SB 1095) This required consensus between Trial lawyers, insurance companies, and builders. Other examples include creation of a state earthquake insurance fund (The California Earthquake Authority), and removal of barriers to competition between in-state and out-of-state banks (The California Regional Interstate Banking Act).
Senator Calderon received his Bachelor of Arts Degree from California State University at Los Angeles and his Law Degree from the University of California. He is licensed to practice law by The State Bar of California. Senator Calderon is a member of the American Bar Association, the Los Angeles County Bar Association and the California State Bar. Senator Calderon is a Professional Mediator and a Member of the Southern California Mediation Association.
Ron Mardigian
Member, Advisory Board
Senior Mediator
Ron Mardigian was born in Pasadena, California. He attended Stanford University and then the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) where he received his Bachelor of Arts in Theater, with a minor in Economics. He is a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.
Following a stint in the US Army, Mr. Mardigian began working for the William Morris Agency in the now famous William Morris mailroom as an agent trainee. Many of his “classmates”, including Mr. Mardigian, matriculated to becoming senior agents, running various departments of the William Morris Agency over time.
After Mr. Mardigian spent several years as a literary agent in the television and motion picture literary departments, he was made Senior Vice President and Head of the William Morris Motion Picture Literary Department, West Coast. In that capacity, he supervised the Beverly Hills literary operation in an administrative capacity while he continued to serve as an agent with emphasis on screenwriters and directors. During his years at the William Morris Agency, Mr. Mardigian represented a great number of well-known film and television clients and was involved in structuring and packaging many major motion pictures projects throughout his career.
In addition to his agent duties, as a natural mentor and teacher, Mr. Mardigian also took on and was responsible for training new agents. Some of his protégés from William Morris have become not only very successful agents, but also prominent participants in various aspects of the entertainment world and today enjoy positions of great responsibility in the creative and executive areas.
As part of the management of William Morris, Mr. Mardigian naturally took on responsibility in handling administrative and personnel issues for the agency, as well. As an executive he also encouraged his staff to invest time, as he did, helping nurture and encourage new, untested talent as a smart policy for the growth of the department and agency. This policy paid off handsomely for the agency, both in the success of the new talent and expansion of the agency’s client base.
After many successful and enjoyable years of service with the William Morris Agency, and contributing in many other ways to the entertainment industry he loves so much, Mr. Mardigian decided to transition into his other great love teaching young film students, as well as a deeper involvement in community affairs, while also managing a few select writers and directors with whom he has had a long-standing relationship.
Upon leaving the agency Mr. Mardigian was also engaged by the Intel Corporation to consult with them as they explored the idea of forming strategic alliances within the entertainment community.
For a number of years Mr. Mardigian has been a guest lecturer at the University of Washington Film School, served as a judge and lecturer at the Monterey Film Festival and as a guest lecturer for various professors at UCLA. He is currently a member of the adjunct faculty of The School of Cinematic Arts (writing division) at the University of Southern California where he has served for over 8 years. He teaches a 16-week course to graduating students in the business of writing and all that encompasses.
Mr. Mardigian has always been involved with helping students and other emerging writers and directors navigate the waters entering the world of entertainment as a business, both from a creative and business point of view, including the world of talent representation.
Mr. Mardigian is a member is the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (where he serves on the Nicholl Fellowship Committee). He was a member of American Film Institute (AFI) Second Decade Council and currently serves as a Trustee on the Board of Directors of the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association (GLAZA).
Mr. Mardigian has a lifetime of experience in structuring, negotiating and concluding a wide variety of agreements and financial arrangements in the entertainment industry over his broad career. He believes strongly in the peaceful resolution of issues and, as such, serves as a Senior Entertainment Mediator and Member of the Board of Advisors of the Entertainment Mediation Institute, LLC (EMI) in Beverly Hills, California.
David A. Braun, Esq.
Member, Advisory Board
Senior Mediator
David Braun practiced law in New York City and Beverly Hills, California for many years as a notable and well-respected entertainment attorney. A graduate of the New York City public school system, he received his A.B. from Columbia College and his J.D. from Columbia Law School. As an esteemed graduate he also served on Columbia’s Board of Visitors and received the John Jay Award from the college.
Mr. Braun practiced in New York until 1974 and thereafter in California. Almost the entirety of his practice has been in the entertainment industry, well before the key elements were included as part of law school curricula and well before the common use of the phrase “intellectual property” to signify intangible assets created by the human mind.
His initial experience was in the television business, representing advertising agencies, television writers, performers and producers. In New York, Braun became President of the New York Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and in that post worked to train minorities to fill industry jobs behind the camera. He also worked on legitimate theatre matters, book publishing, talent agency and personal manager matters, as well as the bread and butter matters of an active general practice, involving, for the most part, persons in the entertainment business.
But if he has achieved any notoriety in one area of the entertainment business, it is in the music industry. There he developed expertise as the representative of artists, songwriters, and music publishers. It began with the representation of Connie Francis and included the representations of Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond, George Harrison, The Band, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Brian Wilson, The Manhattan Transfer, Diana Ross, Peter, Paul and Mary, Judy Collins and many other well-known performers. Armed with the support of these clients and accompanied initially by one of the best known personal managers in the business, Albert Grossman, Mr. Braun was able to change dramatically the standard phonograph record and music publishing agreements with recording artists and songwriters. Many of the concepts considered normal in today’s marketplace were achieved only after very long and difficult battles by Mr. Braun with industry officers, including rights of reversion, advances inclusive of recording costs, limited term foreign publishing rights with substantial advances and considerably higher royalty rates.
While entertainment law was Mr. Braun’s principal interest, he also served as President and CEO of Polygram Records in the United States (becoming the unintended beneficiary {or victim} of the improved recording agreements he had long supported), produced an off-Broadway play written by Amanda McBroom and Joel Silberman, served as Associate Producer of The Last Waltz, taught a series of classes at UCLA and USC, and helped found The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Mr. Braun was a founding partner of Pryor, Braun & Cashman in New York City. He also served as a Senior Partner and Senior Counsel to some of the best known entertainment law firms in Los Angeles after he relocated to California in 1974.
Mr. Braun is in the process of building a world-wide website entitled “We Hear Songs.com” for new composers and lyricists offering these artists opportunities to be heard and possibly signed by major industry professionals. Mr. Braun also serves as an Entertainment Mediator with the Entertainment Mediation Institute in Beverly Hills, California as well as a Mediator for the Santa Barbara Superior Court. In his spare time, Mr. Braun is preparing his memoirs, which include meeting and mingling with some of the most celebrated people in the world, many of whom are professional associates and friends, and others who were enamored with one or more of Mr. Braun’s famous clients.
Irwin E. Russell, Esq.
Member, Advisory Board
Senior MediatorIrwin Russell began his legal career as an attorney after receiving his Bachelor of Science Degree (B.S.) in Economics from the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce from the University of Pennsylvania, and his Juris Doctorate Degree (J.D.) from Harvard University. He is a member of the New York and California State Bar Associations.
Mr. Russell initially served in the U. S. Army Air Corps and was assigned to the Administrative Inspector in the Office of the Air Inspector General at Gunter Field in Alabama.
He subsequently served as an Associate to the prominent New York Labor Relations attorney and arbitrator Robert Feinberg in New York City. Soon thereafter, he became an attorney in the Office of the Chief Counsel at the National Wage Stabilization Board in Washington, D.C., where he drafted, interpreted and administered National Wage Control Regulations, supervised Regional Offices and served as a Congressional Liaison.
Mr. Russell subsequently served as Special Assistant to Harry Shulman, Chairman of Presidential Fact Finding Panels to resolve National Emergency Labor Disputes.
In Private Practice, in addition to his Entertainment Law Practice, he was engaged in dealing in labor/management issues, as well as arbitration and general business, financial and corporate counseling.Mr. Russell was the Founder and served as an Officer, Director and Counsel to RAI Research Corp, a technical research and manufacturing company, which became a public company, traded on the American Stock Exchange, which was acquired by Pall Corporation.
Entertainment Law Practice: Mr. Russell served as Vice President, General Manager and Counsel for Bob Banner Associates, a major independent television production company for many years.
He later served as Counsel and Vice President of the Elektra Records Corporation, a major independent Record and Music Company from inception until after its sale to Warner Bros, Inc.
While he continued to counsel many other small businesses in a wide variety of industries, he primarily represented major executives and a wide array of talent in the Entertainment Industry.
He also served as Executive Vice President, Treasurer and Director of The Wolper Organization, Inc., a quasi-public company controlled by the well-known and honored producer David L. Wolper. Mr. Russell had executive responsibility for the operations of the entire company. When the company was sold to Warner Bros., he remained on retainer with Warner Bros. for an additional 5 years. David Wolper, in his many years in show business, made over 700 films which won over 150 awards including 2 Oscars, 50 Emmys, 7 Golden Globes and 5 Peabodys for his outstanding body of work, many of which were produced while Mr. Russell was associated with the company.
Mr. Russell is currently in the private practice of law in Beverly Hills, representing major entertainment clients involved in the Entertainment Industry. He represents production companies, independent producers, executives, and other types of firms and individuals in connection with their business, financial and legal matters.
He served as a Member of the Board of Directors for the Walt Disney Company from 1987 to 2001 and currently represents The Eisner Foundation, which has been funding innovative non-profit organizations that enrich the lives of underserved children in Southern California since 1996, and is dedicated to bringing about lasting changes in the lives of disadvantaged and vulnerable people, starting and ending their lives in Los Angeles County.
Mr. Russell also served as an ad hoc arbitrator and mediator in many labor and commercial cases as a member of the Panels of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service and the American Arbitration Association. He currently serves as a Senior Entertainment Mediator for the Entertainment Mediation Institute (EMI) in Beverly Hills, CA.
John Schulman, Esq.
Member, Advisory Board
Senior Mediator
John Schulman is a partner and chairman of the entertainment department of Los Angeles-based law firm Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp. Mr. Schulman retired in 2009 after a 25-year career at Warner Bros., where he was the Executive Vice President and General Counsel of the studio. One of the most respected attorneys in the entertainment industry today, Mr. Schulman joined Warner Bros. in 1984 as Vice President & General Counsel, charged with building the Studio's in-house legal department. In 1989, he was promoted to Senior Vice President & General Counsel, and he served as Executive Vice President & General Counsel since 1991.
After graduating from U.C. Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law, Mr. Schulman started his legal career by working in private practice at the law firm of Kaplan, Livingston, Goodwin, Berkowitz and Selvin. During his nine years at the firm, he worked on a variety of Warner Bros. assignments, including some of the litigation and negotiations regarding the "Superman" franchise and first "Superman" movies. In 1981, he became a founding partner of the law firm then known as Weissman, Wolff, Bergman, Coleman & Schulman, where he continued to serve as one of Warner Bros.' primary outside litigation counsel.
Mr. Schulman was recently elected to the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles Music Center, which includes oversight over The Music Center, The Walt Disney Concert Hall, The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, The Mark Taper Forum, The Center Theater Group and The Ahmanson Theatre. He is also developing an entertainment law program in conjunction with the Dean of the USC Law School, as a unique, innovative and in-depth entertainment law curricula for students at the USC Law School. Mr. Schulman is a former member of the boards of directors of California Legal Corps, the Constitutional Rights Foundation and the Youth Law Center, and is also a former member of the board of trustees of the Center for Early Education. He has served as a lecturer at UCLA School of Law, USC School of Law, Southwestern School of Law, and as a guest lecturer at his alma mater, U.C. Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law.
Mr. Schulman currently serves as a Senior Entertainment Mediator for the Entertainment Mediation Institute (EMI) in Beverly Hills, CA.
Jerry West
Member, Advisory Board
Senior Mediator
During his 14-year playing career with the Los Angeles Lakers, West became synonymous with brilliant basketball. He was the third player in league history to reach 25,000 points (after Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson). He was an All-Star every year of his career and led Los Angeles to the NBA Finals nine times. He left the game holding records for career postseason scoring and the highest average in a playoff series.
Despite a level of intensity on the court so high it could melt lead, West was one of the most admired and well-liked figures in professional basketball. His ferocity rarely, if ever, rubbed players, coaches or fans the wrong way. After the Lakers' heartbreaking loss to the Boston Celtics in the 1969 NBA Finals, John Havlicek walked up to West and said, "Jerry, I love you." Such comments were not uncommon.
West left the game as the NBA's third-leading career scorer, behind Chamberlain and Robertson, with 25,192 points in 932 games. After two years away from basketball, West became the Lakers' head coach for the 1976-77 season. In three campaigns with West at the helm the Lakers went 145-101 and returned to the playoffs after missing the postseason during West's absence from the team. He became general manager in 1982, helping to build the Lakers' dynasty of the 1980s. West was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1979. West was named the NBA Executive of the Year for 1995 after the Lakers posted their best record in four seasons.
He was also at the forefront of rebuilding the Lakers into championship shape by adding Shaquile O'Neal as a free agent and trading for Kobe Bryant, who entered the NBA out of high school in 1996. Those two players formed the nucleus of three consecutive championship teams beginning with capturing the 2000 NBA Finals. Under his reign, Los Angeles won seven championship rings. After being employed by the Lakers for over 40 years, West became the President of Basketball Operations of the Memphis Grizzlies in 2002 and helped the franchise win their first-ever playoff berths. For his contributions, West won the NBA Executive of the Year once again in 2004.
West is currently retired from basketball; he serves as the Executive Director of the PGA Northern Trust Los Angeles Open. He is a Senior Mediator with Entertainment Mediation Institute in Beverly Hills where he brings to the table his vast experience and ability to work with people in resolving disputes in the sports and entertainment world.David Wardlow
Member, Advisory Board
Senior Mediator
David Wardlow has been a well-known theatrical agent and studio executive in the entertainment industry for over 30 years.
Mr. Wardlow began his career at Warner Bros Studios where he worked with Studio Production Head Walter MacEwan and served as Personal Assistant to Warner Bros President Ben Kalmenson.
Following owner Jack Warner’s sale of the studio to Seven Arts, the Chairman of the William Morris Agency, Abe Lastfogel, and his chief lieutenant and Senior Agent Stan Kamin solicited Mr. Wardlow to join the agency as an agent in the William Morris Motion Picture Department.
Partnering with another Senior Agent Phil Kellogg, Mr. Wardlow represented such actors as Dustin Hoffman, Liza Minnelli, Roger Moore, Maximillian Schell, Malcolm McDowell and many other William Morris theatrical clients. Mr. Wardlow also represented Dale Wasserman, author of “Man of La Mancha”, Leslie Bricusse and other authors and screenwriters of note. Mr. Wardlow was also involved in the financing and packaging of many hit motion pictures, including “Ryan’s Daughter” and “Lenny”, Dustin Hoffman’s breakthrough performance as the doomed comedian Lenny Bruce.
Mr. Wardlow was subsequently approached to become a Senior Agent at the specialty theatrical agency Chasin-Park-Citron, a division of Marvin Josephson and Associates, which ultimately became International Creative Management (ICM). While at Chasin/ICM, in addition to his other clients that followed him from the William Morris Agency, Mr. Wardlow also represented a number of directors including famed directors Sam Peckinpah (“The Wild Bunch”) and Hal Ashby (“Coming Home”), as well as other notable clients, including actors Kathleen Turner and Gregory Peck, and authors such as award-winning author Michael Crichton.
In addition to his expertise in representing top actors, writers, directors and producers, Mr. Wardlow was also an expert in formulating creative domestic and international financing arrangements for motion picture productions. Mr. Wardlow was instrumental in pioneering a unique form of international film financing while in London and Hong Kong where he concluded a film funding arrangement with Raymond Chow, the Chairman of Golden Harvest, Asia’s largest film distributor. Under that arrangement Golden Harvest financed and produced a number of motion pictures including the hit picture “Cannonball Run” starring Burt Reynolds and directed by Mr. Wardlow’s client Hal Needham.
Mr. Wardlow was thereafter solicited to become a top executive a United Artists, a subsidiary of MGM, serving as Senior Vice President In Charge of World-Wide Production, where he was responsible for bringing in and supervising a number of successful United Artists films, including the extremely successful seminal film “Dirty Dancing”. In addition to United Artists' broad array of films that he supervised, he was responsible for developing a number of cutting edge films such as “Teachers”, a controversial film starring Nick Nolte and directed by Arthur Hiller, and “Red Dawn” directed by John Milius.
Returning to the agency business after his stint at United Artists, Mr. Wardlow co-founded the literary and talent agency Camden Artists. Shortly after forming Camden Artists, Mr. Wardlow enlisted the billion-dollar Labatt’s Company in a joint venture with International Talent Group (ITG). At Camden Artists, the firm not only represented a wide array of theatrical clients, but the firm also represented a number of top musical acts including Phil Collins, “Simply Red”, and “The Red Hot Chili Peppers”. Camden also packaged and caused to be made such top-grossing films as “Ghost”, “Kindergarten Cop” and many others.
Mr. Wardlow is currently the head of Wardlow & Associates, a boutique agency in Los Angeles that represents writers, producers and directors. The agency also represents the Estate of Truman Capote, the Estate of Joseph E. Levine, the flamboyant owner of Embassy Pictures, and the Estate of Leslie Charteris, the creator and author of the internationally well-known property “The Saint” series of novels, movies and televisions series.
Mr. Wardlow is a Senior Entertainment Mediator with the Entertainment Mediation Institute (EMI) in Beverly Hills, and a member of the Southern California Mediation Association.
Ralph Kamon, Esq.
Member, Advisory Board
Senior MediatorRalph Kamon is an Attorney and Mediator with over 40 years of Legal Experience, serving as Entertainment Production and Corporate Counsel to United Artists Corporation and Paramount Pictures Corporation, responsible for Studio Legal and Business Affairs for Motion Pictures produced and distributed during his tenure. Mr. Kamon received his Undergraduate Degree from St. John's University and his Law Degree from Brooklyn Law School and is licensed to practice law in both New York State and the State of California.
During his studio tenures, Mr. Kamon negotiated and prepared numerous innovative motion picture production agreements, financing agreements, and employment agreements for major writers, directors, actors and producers. Mr. Kamon was extensively involved in the acquisition of rights in all media, including ancillary rights in film, television, music and merchandising. He has negotiated numerous complex distribution agreements with all of their variations and facets for the studios.
Mr. Kamon shepherded United Artists Corporation through its first public offering of stock and arranged for membership and listing on the New York Stock Exchange. United Artists was the innovator of the "Individual and Independent Producer" concept of sharing of "Profits" and "Copyright Ownership" with creative talent and Mr. Kamon was intimately involved in carrying on the shaping and evolution of this concept during his tenure at United Artists. Mr. Kamon was also the architect of many new forms of back-end participation (i.e. "net profits", gross profits, etc.) agreements at both studios and was involved in the implementation and negotiations of the ever-changing standards in the net profit definitions and related agreements.
Mr. Kamon was at the forefront of creating new forms of agreements to accommodate on-going significant changes in the operations and expansion of the Entertainment Industry into new areas of product exploitation. He has been intimately involved in precedent breaking entertainment deals with and initiation of "Tent Pole" properties with Entertainment Industry talent such as George Lucas and Stephen Spielberg.
Mr. Kamon also organized and set up numerous motion picture entities, negotiated innumerable financing arrangements for motion pictures, including complex "negative pick-up" deals and the financing of motion pictures associated with these agreements. Mr. Kamon has also been extensively involved in the physical production of motion pictures and has an intimate knowledge of "Studio" mentality and operations of major motion picture studios. Mr. Kamon is a Voting Member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
In recent years, Mr. Kamon has been associated with Arter & Hadden and then Manatt, Phelps and Phillips and is currently working as a consultant in the Entertainment Industry involving motion picture production, acquisitions and interpreting profit participations, whether net, gross or something in between, as well as interpretation and resolution of contract disputes. Mr. Kamon is also a Professional Mediator, and has completed formal Mediation Training through the Straus Institute of Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University School of Law and The Los Angeles Superior Court, is a Member of the Los Angeles Superior Court Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Panel and a Member of the Southern California Mediation Association.
Gregory Bernstein, Esq.
Member, Advisory Board
Senior Mediator
Greg Bernstein began his legal career as an attorney at the prestigious national law firm of O’Melveny & Myers. While at O’Melveny he litigated cases on behalf of a number of Fortune 500 companies, including Ford Motor Company, CBS Television and Exxon Corporation, as well as the City of Los Angeles.
Mr. Bernstein then became vice president of business affairs at Columbia Pictures and later at Tri-Star Pictures. During this time he negotiated more than two hundred agreements, including agreements with major motion picture directors, producers, actors and writers, as well as extensive rights acquisition agreements. Those agreements often involved complicated net and gross profit participations and also included co-production agreements with other financing entities. He also participated in on-going contract negotiations with the Writers Guild of America.
Mr. Bernstein subsequently served as the assistant executive director of the Writers Guild and was responsible for managing a number of Guild activities. These included the Guild’s legislative affairs efforts, its member outreach programs, and its various publications, including the magazine “Written By,” the Guild’s monthly newsletter, and all of the Guild’s web content. In addition, Mr. Bernstein worked with the Guild’s general counsel on a variety of legal matters, conducted strategic planning, and participated in all WGA board of directors meetings.
In addition to his broad career as an entertainment attorney, studio executive and Writers Guild officer, Mr. Bernstein is an accomplished screen writer and has authored or co-authored a number of screenplays, including co-authoring the script for “Trial and Error” starring Michael Richards, Jeff Daniels and Charlize Theron and co-authoring the script for “Call Me Claus” starring Whoopi Goldberg and produced by Garth Brooks. Over the years Mr. Bernstein has sold scripts to Disney, Dreamworks, Universal Pictures, 20th Century Fox and New Line Cinema.
Mr. Bernstein’s twenty-five years of entertainment business and creative work has allowed him to become extremely familiar with and sensitive to a wide variety of issues often faced by people working in the entertainment industry. As a mediator, he can offer a unique perspective and broad understanding of issues that involve both sides of the table.
Mr. Bernstein also served as an adjunct professor at Chapman University’s School of Film and Television where he taught an entertainment law and business class to graduate students.
Mr. Bernstein currently serves at the director of administration and chief of staff at the Center for Civic Education, a federally funded, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that provides K-12 educational curricula nationwide and in over eighty foreign countries. This curricula, which annually is used by more than two million students in the United States and perhaps just as many abroad, is designed to foster the development of a student’s informed, responsible participation in civic life. Mr. Bernstein is also a member of the Center’s executive committee and helps manage the Center’s annual budget which is approximately $25 million. As chief of staff, Mr. Bernstein participates in all hiring decisions, raises, mediations and settlement of employee disputes and other human resources functions for a staff of 75 people. He also conducts strategic planning for the Center and is currently overseeing the complete redesign of the Center’s website. He is responsible for the Center’s policy and administrative manuals and negotiates and drafts internal contracts. He also works with outside counsel on all legal matters and participates in all board of director meetings.
Mr. Bernstein received his B.A. degree, Summa Cum Laude, from the University of California at Los Angeles. He received his Juris Doctorate degree from the U.C.L.A. Law School, where he also served as executive editor of the U.C.L.A. Law Review and as a teaching assistant for legal research and writing classes.
He received a Masters of Fine Arts degree in film directing from the American Film Institute, and directed his masters thesis film which won first place in the Los Angeles Arts Festival Awards, the special recognition prize at the Aspen Film Festival, and awards of merit at the Chicago, Houston and Melbourne Film Festivals. The film also received a Cine Golden Eagle.
Mr. Bernstein also earned a Masters of Public Administration degree from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Mr. Bernstein is the son of Academy Award winning composer Elmer Bernstein. He and his wife, who is also a screenwriter, live in Los Angeles, California with their daughter. Mr. Bernstein is a member of the California State Bar and currently serves as a Senior Entertainment Mediator for the Entertainment Mediation Institute (EMI) in Beverly Hills, California.
Frederick Kuperberg, Esq.
Member, Advisory Board
Senior Mediator
Fred Kuperberg joined The Walt Disney Company in November of 1987 and was Executive Vice President of Business and Legal Affairs for the Disney/ABC Cable Networks group when he most recently transitioned to mediation and consulting in the entertainment and media arenas. Mr. Kuperberg has over 30 years of entertainment industry experience and brings exceptional business acumen to complex legal and business situations. He has extensive knowledge in domestic and international production, distribution, and digital media agreements. His expertise extends to intellectual property and licensing contracts, as well as writer, director, producer and talent deals. He was a former litigator and a certified mediator with experience in both mediation and arbitration. He is known for building consensus and driving collaborative relationships with business partners.
Mr. Kuperberg has vast network and cable television expertise, and intimate familiarity with original programming, co-productions, third party acquisition agreements for linear networks, and new media platforms. He has negotiated and closed carriage distribution agreements with cable operators and DBS affiliates.
Prior to joining Disney, Mr. Kuperberg was Vice President of Business and Legal Affairs for Group W Productions where he handled syndicated programming for domestic and international territories. He previously worked at Paramount Pictures Corporation in Domestic Distribution and managed the legal and business affairs for “Entertainment Tonight” as well as other ground breaking syndicated series. Before joining the above companies, Mr. Kuperberg was the Resident Counsel at Writers Guild of America, supervising the legal department and representing writers protecting their rights under collective bargaining agreements with producers and studios. He also was a Deputy Public Defender at the Los Angeles Public Defender’s Office where he tried over 30 jury trials and 50 court trials. Mr. Kuperberg started his legal career at Loeb and Loeb where he was a litigator working on copyright and intellectual property matters. He is a proud graduate of UCLA where he majored in Political Science and UCLA School of Law where he received his JD degree.
Mr. Kuperberg currently serves as a Senior Entertainment Mediator for the Entertainment Mediation Institute (EMI) in Beverly Hills, CA.
Franklin R. Johnson
Member, Advisory Board
Senior Mediator
Frank Johnson spent 36 years with the international accounting firm Price Waterhouse LLP, serving as the Managing Partner of the firm’s entertainment industry practice. In that capacity, he oversaw the balloting for the Academy Awards for 22 years. Mr. Johnson also held the position of Chief Financial Officer of Rysher Entertainment, the producer and distributor of theatrical films and television programming originally owned by Cox Enterprises and sold to Paramount Pictures in 2000. Mr. Johnson now works as a business consultant and expert witness in entertainment industry litigation and also serves on the boards of two public companies.
Johnson has served on the United States Tennis Association (USTA) Board for 11 years including his term as Chairman of the Board and President for 2005-06. As Chairman of the Board and President, Johnson oversaw significant strides in the landscape of tennis, from the emphasis on public parks to the renaming of the USTA National Tennis Center in honor of Billie Jean King. Currently, Johnson is the Chairman of the USTA Past President’s Committee. He is a member of the board’s International Committee, and serves on the Board of Directors of the USTA Tennis & Education Foundation and on the Executive Committee of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Johnson also is Vice President of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and a member of the ITF Board and the ITF Finance Committee, as well as the Chair of the ITF Media Commission. He was also a member of the Grand Slam Committee, 2003-06.
Johnson received a B.S. in Accounting and an M.B.A. degree from UCLA. He and his wife, Anne, who serves on the boards of the Los Angeles Music Center and the California State Summer School for the Arts, have two children and one grandchild. They live in Los Angeles and Johnson is a member of the USTA Southern California Section.
Mr. Johnson is currently a Senior Entertainment Mediator for the Entertainment Mediation Institute (EMI) in Beverly Hills, CA.
David E. Altschul
Senior Mediator
David Altschul has been a well known entertainment attorney and record company executive for over 35 years. He is currently a partner in the law firm of Altschul & Olin, LLP in Encino, California.
Mr. Altschul graduated from Amherst College, summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. After teaching on the Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona for two years with his wife, Margaret (to whom he has been married for over 41 years and with whom he has four wonderful children), he attended Yale Law School, graduating in 1974. He then clerked for the Honorable M. Joseph Blumenfeld, Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut.
After a year practicing general commercial, real estate and corporate law with the firm of Tuttle and Taylor in Los Angeles, Mr. Altschul moved law firms (first as an associate to Pryor, Cashman, Sherman and Flynn and ultimately to Rosenfeld, Kassoy and Kraus as a partner) and spent the rest of the 1970’s engaged in the private practice of entertainment law with a focus upon the music industry. During that period, Mr. Altschul provided legal services for such law firm clients as Eagles, ELO, Neil Diamond, George Harrison, Jimmy Buffett, Irving Azoff and Chaka Khan.
In 1980 Mr. Altschul moved employment venues (and “sides”) and went to work at Warner Bros. Records Inc., initially as Director of Business Affairs. He remained at Warner Bros. Records for the next 21 years, progressing through the ranks until in 1986 he was promoted to be the head of business and legal affairs as General Counsel and Senior Vice President of Business Affairs. In 1996 he was promoted again to Vice Chairman and General Counsel. During his tenure at Warner Bros. Records, Mr. Altschul was the principal negotiator in shaping agreements and overseeing business dealings with such artists as Madonna, Prince, Frank Sinatra, Paul Simon, Eric Clapton, Fleetwood Mac, R.E.M., The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Neil Young, Van Halen, Tom Petty, Rod Stewart and Green Day. In addition, Mr. Altschul negotiated agreements and oversaw business relationships with such ventures as Qwest Records, Maverick Records and Def American Recordings.
Throughout his tenure at Warner Bros. Records, Mr. Altschul served on the legal committee of the Recording Industry Association of America and for a period of five years served on its executive committee as well. As a member of the legal committee, he was one of the chief negotiators for the record industry in reshaping California Civil Code Section 3423.
Mr. Altschul left Warner Bros. Records at the end of 2001 and took a well deserved sabbatical year during which he spent time developing his skills as a landscape photographer and studying the bassoon (he currently plays in two orchestras, one of them being the Los Angeles Lawyers Philharmonic).
In 2003 he opened his own law office and soon partnered in 2004 with Milton Olin to form Altschul & Olin, LLP. Mr. Altschul today actively practices law, representing such clients as Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Lindsey Buckingham, Fleetwood Mac, Billy Idol, Eric Clapton, Jeff Lynne and A&M/Octone Records. His practice encompasses all aspects of the music industry: records, publishing, touring, management and agency relationships, merchandising, on-line services, sponsorships and video games.
Mr. Altschul is a Senior Entertainment Mediator with the Entertainment Mediation Institute (EMI) in Beverly Hills. As someone who has represented companies, talent and management and thoroughly understands all aspects of the music business, he is well suited to understand all sides of a dispute and serve effectively as a neutral mediator.
Gary J. Casson
Senior Mediator
Gary Casson has been working in the music industry for nearly 35 years. He was a well known record company executive at CBS Records and the Elektra Entertainment Group for 26 of those years. He is currently working as a business consultant and has been an expert witness in a number of music industry litigations.
Mr. Casson was educated in England and graduated from the University of Kent at Canterbury with a B.A. Honors in Law. He attended the College of Law, Lancaster Gate, in London in 1974 and passed the Law Society Final Qualifying Examinations with Honors. Mr. Casson was admitted as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Judicature in 1976 and he is still on the Roll of Solicitors in the United Kingdom. He is also currently a member of the Law Society in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Casson served his articles of clerkship and then worked as an associate at the firm of Radcliffes & Co in Westminster, London, where he acted on behalf of clients in real estate and corporate matters. He left Radcliffes to join CBS Records UK in January 1977 where he received executive training in all the main departments of the company, which included manufacturing, distribution, marketing, promotion, sales, legal and business affairs. He was transferred to CBS Records in New York and joined the CBS Records Law Department where he drafted primarily artist and licensing agreements. He then became Director, Business Affairs for CBS Records International and negotiated a variety of international licensing and subpublishing agreements.
Mr. Casson was transferred back to CBS Records UK in 1979 where he spent 2 years in business affairs negotiating and drafting numerous artist recording agreements, producer agreements and foreign licensing agreements. He also negotiated and drafted all the music publishing agreements on behalf of CBS’ music publishing affiliate, April Music. In 1981, Mr. Casson returned to the United States, as Director, Business Affairs for CBS Records US. He negotiated numerous major artist recording agreements with artists such as Billy Joel, Cyndi Lauper, Eddy Grant, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Al Di Meola and also all the Scotti Bros artists. He also negotiated a number of motion picture soundtrack and Broadway cast album agreements.
In 1983, Mr. Casson joined Elektra/Asylum Records as Vice President, Business Affairs. He spent the next 20 years at the Elektra Entertainment Group (the successor in title to Elektra/Asylum Records) which included the Elektra, Asylum and Nonesuch labels earning a number of promotions during that period. He became Executive Vice President of the company in 1994. During his tenure at the Elektra Entertainment Group, Mr. Casson oversaw and was responsible for all Elektra’s day to day business and administrative dealings. In that regard, he oversaw dealings and negotiated numerous artist related agreements including recording agreements, joint venture agreements, licensing agreements, distribution agreements , DVD distribution agreements as well as many film soundtrack and Broadway cast agreements. He has had extensive business dealings with superstar artists such as Metallica, AC/DC, Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, Tracy Chapman, Motley Crue, Phish, Missy Elliott, Busta Rhymes, Natalie Merchant, Natalie Cole, Third Eye Blind, The Eagles, The Cars, Anita Baker, Huey Lewis and the News and the Doors. Mr Casson formed and ran Elektra’s two music publishing companies for a number of years and also negotiated all the agreements relating to Nonesuch’s production of George Balanchine’s “The Nutcracker” motion picture.
Mr. Casson left the Elektra Entertainment Group in early 2003 and he has been acting as an independent consultant in the music industry since then. Mr. Casson has performed consulting work for a number of major companies including Octagon, Inc., a division of the Interpublic Group, the Warner Music Group, EMI Music Publishing, the RIAA and the Harry Fox Agency. He has also worked until very recently as a member of the artist management team at Octagon Music handling the business dealings on behalf of a number of artists including Il Divo, Anastacia, James, Ray Davies and the 2008 America’s Got Talent winner, Neal E. Boyd. He continues to consult on behalf of and represent a number of recording artists in their business dealings in the music industry.
Mr. Casson is a Senior Mediator with the Entertainment Mediation Institute conducting mediations for the Institute in New York. He is someone who has represented companies, talent and management and hence thoroughly understands all aspects of the music business. He has the requisite knowledge and experience to understand all sides and aspects of a dispute and serve effectively as a neutral mediator.
Elliot H. Brown
Senior Mediator
Elliot Brown practices in all areas of the entertainment field with special emphasis on theater, motion pictures, television, and book publishing. He is currently a partner in the law firm of Franklin, Weinrib, Rudell & Vassallo, as well as a Senior Mediator with the Entertainment Mediation Insitute.
Among the Broadway and Off-Broadway shows Elliot has represented are "Barnum," "Nine," "My One and Only," "The Kentucky Cycle," "Tommy," "Wait Until Dark," "Jekyll & Hyde," "I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change," "Death of a Salesman," "Dirty Blonde," "Fosse," "Ragtime," "Seussical," "The Producers," "The Sweet Smell of Success," "I Am My Own Wife," "700 Sundays," "Young Frankenstein," "Grease" and "Billy Elliot." Among the motion pictures he has represented are "Places in the Heart," "Star 80" and "Private Parts."
A former reporter for United Press International, Mr. Brown received his bachelor’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University (with distinction). He later received his law degree from Yale Law School and was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1976 and the Pennsylvania bar in 1977. Elliot has taught entertainment law at Columbia University and Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. He recently ended his term as a Governor of the Theatre Division of the American Bar Association’s Forum on the Entertainment and Sports Industries (prior to that he had chaired the Theatrical Section), and has also served on the Entertainment Law Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.
The Center for International Legal Studies appointed Mr. Brown, as a senior lawyer, to teach business law to law students in Eastern Europe, and he taught at the Audentes University in Tallinn, Estonia in the fall of 2009, having completed his training in Salzburg, Austria in October, 2008.
Mr. Brown is listed in The Best Lawyers In America, and the independently researched 2010 edition of Chambers USA, America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, which cited him as one of the city’s nine first-ranking "leading individuals" in Media and Entertainment commercial practice. Elliot was recommended as "without a doubt one of the top theater lawyers--magnificently knowledgeable and commercial." Elliot also was listed in the 2006- 2010 editions of New York Super Lawyers/ Manhattan Edition, among 5% of Manhattan attorneys. According to the magazine, this selection was based on an independent survey of 59,000 Manhattan lawyers and an evaluation by a "blue ribbon panel of preeminent peers" in each area of practice.
Mr. Brown is the author of "Screen to Stage: Hollywood Movies Sing on Broadway" and "Securities Regulations: Federal Laws Governing Theatrical Offerings" and the co-author (with Partner Dan Wasser) of "A Practical Guide to Theatrical Financing."
Peter J. Dekom
Senior Mediator
Peter Dekom practices law in Los Angeles, California and is also "of counsel" with the Beverly Hills law firm of Weissmann Wolff Bergman Coleman Grodin & Evall. He formerly was a partner in the firm of Bloom, Dekom, Hergott and Cook. Mr. Dekom's clients include or have included such Hollywood notables as George Lucas, Paul Haggis, Keenen Ivory Wayans, John Travolta, Ron Howard, Rob Reiner, Andy Davis, Robert Towne and Larry Gordon among many others, as well as corporate clients such as Sears, Roebuck and Co., Pacific Telesis and Japan Victor Corporation (JVC). He has been listed in Forbes among the top 100 lawyers in the United States and in Premiere Magazine as one of the 50 most powerful people in Hollywood.
Mr. Dekom has been a management/marketing consultant, and entrepreneur in the fields of entertainment, Internet, and telecommunications. As a consultant to the state of New Mexico for almost a decade, he was instrumental in creating, writing and implementing legislation to encourage film and television production in the state and supervised the film loan program portion of that incentive structure. That structure has since become the template for dozens of film incentive programs in many other states as well. During his tenure, he also advised the Governor on film and television-related matters. Mr. Dekom has also provided off-balance sheet, insurance-backed financing for major motion picture studios.
Mr. Dekom served on the board of directors of Imagine Films Entertainment while the company remained publicly traded and was a board member of Will Vinton Studios and Cinebase Software, among others, leaving upon change of ownership. He has also served as a member of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and Academy Foundation, Board of Directors, Chairman (now Emeritus) of the American Cinematheque, and on the Advisory Board of the Shanghai International Film Festival. He serves on the Board of Governors for the America Bar Assn.’s Sports and Entertainment Law Section, where he has often authored articles and delivered lectures.
The Beverly Hills Bar Association honored Mr. Dekom as Entertainment Lawyer of the Year in 1994, the Century City Bar Association accorded him the same honor in 2004, and the Family Assistance Program named him Man of the Year in 1992 for his work with the homeless. Author of dozens of scholarly articles, Mr. Dekom also is the co-author of the book Not on My Watch; Hollywood vs. the Future (New Millennium Publishing, 2003) with Peter Sealey. He has served as an adjunct professor in the UCLA Film School, a lecturer (entertainment marketing) at the University of California, Berkeley Haas School of Business as well as being a featured speaker at film festivals, corporations, universities and bar associations all over the world.
Mr. Dekom graduated from Yale in 1968 (BA), and graduated first in his class in 1973 from the UCLA School of Law (JD). He is married to Kelley Choate and has a son, Christopher, who is a 2006 graduate of Duke University and an investment officer with the Department of Energy.
Mr. Dekom is a Senior Mediator with the Entertainment Mediation Institute with deep expertise in general television litigation (rights, accountings, license fees, etc.) and more, particularly in the motion picture world: co-productions, rights/territorial licensing, transfer and sales, implied contract/confidential valuations, interpretation of “industry practices” provisions, accountings, allocations and revenue reporting, cost deductions, banking and soft money financing and related issues, investor claims, high profile talent breaches/claims, determining real parties in interest, “pay-or-play” issues/escrows, determining obligations under contracts, exclusivity breaches, authorship issues, collaboration disputes among or between partners, partition actions, agency/manager fee allocations, etc.
Senator Steve Peace
Member, Advisory Board
Senior Mediator
Steve Peace is a film writer and producer and formerly served in the California State Senate and Assembly. Senator Peace was elected to represent the 40th Senate District in December of 1993 after serving in the State Assembly since 1982. Senator Peace's 40th District in San Diego County includes the cities of Chula Vista, El Cajon, Lemon Grove, La Mesa, National City, Spring Valley, and the San Diego communities of Encanto, Nestor, Paradise Hills, and San Ysidro.
Early in his political career, the native San Diegan signaled both his independence and his willingness to take on tough fights, when, in 1988, then-Assemblyman Peace joined four Democratic colleagues in an effort to reform the California Legislature itself. Taking on powerful leaders from both parties, the "Gang of Five" and their year-long battle for reform led to many significant changes, including subjecting legislative committees to the provisions of the Open Meetings Act.
Senator Peace earned a reputation as the person the Legislature turned to on particularly difficult and complex issues. He is credited with presiding over forums that were "bipartisan, exhaustive and open to a full airing of views."
After leaving elective office due to term limits, was selected as California state finance director by Governor Gray Davis.
Senator Peace is currently senior advisor for San Diego Padres owner John Moores and Chairman of the Board of Directors for the California Independent Voter Project.
Senator Peace is the Chief Financial Officer of Four Square Productions, a multimedia production company he co-founded in 1972, and is now San Diego's largest producer of commercial and corporate films, videotapes, and multi-media presentations. The company, though, is best known for its original feature film, "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" and its three sequels, as well as a Killer Tomatoes Saturday morning animated series on the Fox Children's Network.
Senator Peace was born and raised in San Diego, the son of two teachers. He served as Student Body President at Bonita Vista High School in Chula Vista, where he also played football and basketball. He graduated from the University of California at San Diego with a degree in Political Science.
Senator Peace currently serves as a Senior Entertainment Mediator for the Entertainment Mediation Institute (EMI) in Beverly Hills, CA.