Entertainment & business law · California and New York
Business and legal affairs for talent, producers and founder-led businesses.
Jessica L. Pascale negotiated talent deals at the highest level inside UTA and APA (now IAG) and ran business and legal affairs for independent production companies. She founded The Pascale Practice to do that work for talent, for producers and for founder-led businesses.
Who we work with
The deals a career, a project or a company runs on.
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Talent, above and below the line
Actors, writers, directors, creators and crew. Deals and deal structures negotiated, reviewed and drafted by a lawyer who did that work at the highest level at two of the industry’s top agencies.
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Producers and production companies
Development through delivery: option and purchase agreements, shopping and attachment agreements, talent deals, production legal, chain of title, guild matters and distribution.
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Founder-led businesses
In media, entertainment and any other industry: formation and governance, the contracts the business runs on, and outside general counsel as the company grows.
Areas of practice
What we handle
Transactional work only. We don’t litigate, and we’ll say so early if a matter needs a different kind of lawyer.
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Entertainment law
Option and purchase agreements; shopping and attachment agreements
Writer, director, producer, talent, and below the line agreements
Production legal from pre-production through delivery, including chain of title and guild matters
Co-production, financing and distribution agreements, domestic and international
Influencer and brand partnership agreements
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General counsel
Commercial, customer and vendor agreements
Entity formation, founder agreements and corporate governance
Employment and contractor agreements, policies and handbooks
Privacy and data compliance, including CCPA and CPRA
Demand letters, repayment agreements and settlements
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Intellectual property
Trademark searches, applications, office action responses and monitoring
Copyright registrations and licensing
Work-for-hire, assignment and IP licensing agreements
Coexistence agreements and negotiated resolutions of trademark conflicts
Who owns what, and on what terms, in creative and business projects
About Jessica
Both sides of the table.
Before founding the firm, Jessica negotiated from inside two of the top talent agencies and ran business and legal affairs for independent production companies across film, television and digital, as in-house counsel and as their outside counsel. She has sat on every side of the deals she now negotiates, and knows what each side needs.
She is licensed in California and New York and has practiced law since 2009.
The Newsette Head of Legal & Operations
APA (now IAG) Business & Legal Affairs Executive
Funny Or Die Senior Director, Legal & Business Affairs
Exclusive Media Vice President, Business & Legal Affairs
UTA Business Affairs Associate
How it works
A conversation first, then a scope in writing.
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Reach out
Email or use the form below. Tell us what you’re working on and where it stands.
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A short call
We’ll talk through the matter, what it needs and whether we’re the right fit for it.
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Scope in writing
If we go ahead, you get an engagement letter with the scope and the rate before any work begins.
In practice
What the work looks like.
A few examples, not a full list, described in general terms.
Option and purchase agreements for books and original material
A company’s customer agreements, negotiated with the customers’ counsel
An attachment agreement for an author taking a project out to buyers
Production services agreements and crew deal memos for an independent production
Trademark office action responses and negotiated resolutions of trademark conflicts
A repayment agreement for a customer that fell behind
Contact
Tell us what you’re working on.
Email is the fastest way to reach us.
Contacting the firm doesn’t create an attorney-client relationship. Please don’t send confidential information until an engagement is confirmed.