Creating Theater: Panel Discussion of Legal Issues (CLE)

Join VLA on December 11 for a unique opportunity to hear from an expert panel of legal and theater professionals on the issues faced in the process of creating theater, from concept to opening night.

Topics to be covered will include:

• Legal considerations when raising money for a production
• Underlying rights, commissioning and collaboration agreements
• Author’s rights and ownership of work, including copyright, licensing and fair use

Whether you’re a creative artist, a producer, or an attorney advising artists in the theater industry, this is the event for you!

This program offers 2 Continuing Legal Education Credits to attorneys.

Location:
VLA Auditorium, 1 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022

Fees:
$25 Full-Time Student (must present proof of full-time status with registration)
$25 Artists Over Sixty
$35 Arts Professional VLA Member
$55 Arts Professional Non-Member
$175 Legal Professional VLA Member
$225 Legal Professional Non-Member
$140 Young Associate Members (YAM’s)

To register by phone or email, please contact 212.319.2787 x Ext. 10 or registrations@vlany.org.

Please note you are not registered until full payment is received. For attorneys, there are various scholarships available. To view our Financial Aid Policy Guidelines and for more information on how to apply, click here.

Membership Discount Code:
For members, please contact 212.319.2787 ext. 10 or registrations@vlany.org to receive a membership discount code.

Speakers:

Jason Baruch, Esq., Sendroff & Baruch, LLP
Jason Baruch, a regular lecturer for the Commercial Theater Institute (CTI), has served as production counsel for scores of stage productions in New York and around the world, including musicals such as The Cher Show, The Band’s Visit, Beautiful – The Carole King Musical, SpongeBob Squarepants, Rock of Ages and The Producers, and plays such as Network starring Bryan Cranston, Lifespan of a Fact starring Daniel Radcliffe, Burn This starring Adam Driver, Present Laughter starring Kevin Kline, An Act of God starring Jim Parsons, Fully Committed starring Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winners Clybourne Park and I am My Own Wife. Jason also represents many not-for-profit organizations in New York City such as The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), The 92Y, Ars Nova and La Mama, as well as some of the most innovative and influential regional theaters around the country. In addition, Jason and his firm are legal counsel to a tremendous roster of award-winning dramatists, directors and choreographers, designers, performers, orchestrators and arrangers.

Jason is a co-chair of the Theater and Performing Arts committee of the Entertainment, Arts, Sports Law section of the New York State Bar Association, where he organizes and participates in numerous lectures and panel discussions about theater producing. He has served on the boards and/or advisory boards of some of New York’s most dynamic not-for-profit theater companies, including HERE Performing Arts Center, Naked Angels and Pipeline Theater. In addition to theater, Jason represents many clients in the music industry, including recording artists and the biggest music publishers in the business, as well as print authors. He also represents movie studios, producers, writers, actors and other talent in the film and television industry.

Jason was awarded his B.A. in philosophy magna cum laude from Yale College, his law degree (J.D.) cum laude from NYU Law School and his masters of laws (LL.M.) in international commercial law from the University of Hong Kong Law School. Jason is admitted to the bars in both California and New York State. He founded Sendroff & Baruch LLP in 2007 with law partner Mark Sendroff. He has been selected as a Superlawyer® annually since 2013 and is listed as one of New York’s top entertainment attorneys in Best Lawyers magazine annually since 2015 and is listed in Chambers® USA Guide to the World’s Best Lawyers.

Marc Hershberg, Esq., Cowan DeBaets Abrahams & Sheppard, LLP
Marc Hershberg is an attorney in Cowan DeBaets Abrahams & Sheppard LLP’s Entertainment Group, where he represents individuals and companies in a wide variety of theatre, film and television deals. His clients include first-time and award-winning producers, directors, writers, designers, performers, rights-holders, and investors, and he has provided legal advice in connection with the development, production, and exploitation of several high-profile intellectual properties.

Prior to joining the law firm, Hershberg worked at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He writes a column for Forbes about the business of Broadway, and he is a member of the New York State Bar Association’s Entertainment and Sports Law Section’s Committees on Motion Pictures, Theatre and Performing Arts, and Television and Radio. Hershberg is a graduate of Cornell University and the University of Chicago Law School.

Adam Hess, Daryl Roth Theatricals
Adam Hess currently oversees the operation of all the companies within the Daryl Roth organization, comprised of the Theatre (venue), Management and Advertising and is an Associate Producer for Daryl Roth Productions. He began his career with the company as the General Manager for the Daryl Roth Theatre in 2001 where he supervised the construction of the DR2 Theatre, the renovation of the main venue, creation and renovation of the D-Lounge, the formation and development of the general management company, and the establishment of the advertising division. Associate Producer credits include: Indecent, Sylvia, It Shoulda Been You. General Management current/upcoming productions include: Between The Lines; Last Days of Summer (pre-Broadway); national tours/regional productions: Magic Tree House: Showtime With Shakespeare (U.S. tour). Past General Management productions include Indecent (Broadway); Fleabag; Gloria: A Life; Love, Loss, and What I Wore; In & Of Itself; Buyer & Cellar; The Tempermentals; Ernest Shackleton…; The Woodsman; My Name Is Asher Lev; Traces; The New Group’s The Spoils, Rasheeda Speaking, Sticks and Bones; and Vineyard Theatre (seven seasons) including Harry Clarke, The Beast in the Jungle, Gloria.

Hailing from Toronto, Adam has a diverse theatrical background that includes being an original cast member of the Harold Prince/Susan Stroman helmed production of Show Boat, the European Tour of Crazy For You (u/s Bobby Childs), and a voyage around the world singing and dancing on board Holland America’s ship The Rotterdam. Mr. Hess holds a B.F.A. in Musical Theatre from the University of Michigan and is a graduate of Columbia University’s School of the Arts, where he received a M.F.A. in Theatre Management and Producing. Adam currently serves as an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University and is President Emeritus of the Off-Broadway League.

For more information on this program, please contact VLA at registrations@vlany.org or 212.319.2787 x 10.