Media: Media finance

Chris Hanson

Chris is a partner and media finance expert. He has worked in the media and entertainment sector for 25 years, focussing on the film, television and videogames industries . He has considerable experience in the financing of audio-visual content and companies in the sector. Chris represents Hollywood Studios, banks, private equity, government bodies, corporate and high net worth investors across the US, Europe, Asia and the Far East.  Clients include Universal Studios, Sony Pictures, Comerica Bank, Union Bank, City National Bank, Bank of America and Netflix.

David Quli

David is a partner and specialises in media finance. He advises financiers, producers and distributors on all matters relating to the financing of the development, production and exploitation of films, television programmes, video games and music. In particular he advises on all production, financing and distribution documents including loan, security, completion guarantee, inter-creditor and distribution agreements and has extensive experience structuring complex international co-productions and financings (single picture, slate and library financings). David represents a number of the banks and funds active in the media sector.

Lisbeth Savill

Partner

Stephen Spence

Stephen is a Partner in our Film & TV Group. A media finance specialist, he advises a wide range of clients on the structuring and completion of complex financing arrangements for film and television. This involves drafting and negotiating the full range of transaction documents for the development, production and exploitation of content. In addition to acting for financiers, Stephen represents film and television production companies on all aspects of development, production and distribution. Having read law at Oxford, Stephen trained at Slaughter and May, qualifying into its corporate finance team. He followed his passion for film and left the City to help set up and run an independent film finance and production company as well as a separate vehicle focusing on the development of film and television content in collaboration with some of the UK’s leading production companies. In 2017, Stephen began working with Ingenious Media as a consultant, acting as lead lawyer and advisor on many of the organisation’s film and television transactions. Stephen has acted as Executive Producer on numerous feature films including the forthcoming Netflix drama “Worth” starring Michael Keaton, the Amazon biopic “Seberg” starring Kristen Stewart, Gurinder Chadha’s “Blinded by The Light”, “Military Wives” featuring Kristin Scott Thomas and Sharon Horgan, “Minamata” starring Johnny Depp, and John Banville’s adaptation of his own Booker Prize winning novel, “The Sea”.  

Daniel Whybrew

Daniel is a partner in the Film & TV Group and advises a wide range of film and television industry clients including financiers, producers, studios, sales agents and distributors. Daniel has worked on a series of structured international finance transactions involving Hollywood studios, networks and independent producers and a large number of single picture financings for banks, funds and producers as well as a broad range of television broadcast financings. In 2013 Daniel spent six months on secondment at Film Finances, Inc. in Los Angeles, working at the heart of many significant independent film transactions.

Neil Gillard

Neil is a partner in the Film & TV group. Neil advises on all aspects of film and television production, finance and distribution. Neil advises film producers such as Bedlam Productions (producers of “The King’s Speech“) and DA Productions (producer of “Dad’s Army” feature film). Neil also advises TV production companies such as Eleven, Mammoth and Eleventh Hour. He also advises games giant Ubisoft, broadcasters such as Channel 4 and ZDF and distributors such as BBC worldwide.   Neil co-heads the firm’s media finance practice advising a range of banks and funds and is described in Legal 500 as an “expert and leader in the media finance field”.

Abigail Payne

Abigail is a Partner in the Film and TV Group providing advice on all aspects of development, finance, production and distribution of feature films and television programmes and exploitation of ancillary rights. Particular expertise is in advising film funds, EIS schemes and structuring international co-productions and providing advice on tax incentives (including the film and high-end TV and animation production tax credits), and international subsidies for a wide international client base of producers, distributors, broadcasters, exhibitors, agents, insurance companies and artists.Her recent highlights include: Advising Marv Studios on the production and financing of the film Tetris, starring Taron Egerton, directed by Jon Baird, which will be available on Apple TV, including the arrangements between Marv and Access Industries, Union Bank, the completion guarantor and Apple. Acting for Sir Terry Pratchett’s estate on the co-production arrangements with BBC Studios for the television series The Watch based on the Discworld novels written by Sir Terry Pratchett produced in 2020.

Sam Tatton-Brown

Sam is a partner in Lee & Thompson’s film and TV group. He joined the firm in 2013 from Davenport Lyons where he was one of the principal partners in the film and TV group. Sam’s practice covers all areas of film, television and other audio-visual rights, production, finance and exploitation with a particular emphasis on film and TV finance. After completing his training at Frere Cholmeley Bischoff, Sam gained experience in Clifford Chance’s Debt capital markets group before joining Davenport Lyons in 1999. Sam has represented many of the UK based banks active in film and television financing and is recognised as a major player in this field. Examples of his work include acting as one of the principal advisers to RBS on over 80 productions that it financed between 2000 and 2006; advising Barclays Bank in relation to award winning TV series ‘Parades End’ for HBO and BBC; acting for Alliance & Leicester in relation to ‘Casino Royale’; advising Piccadilly Pictures in relation to investment in films such as ‘Corialanus’, ‘We Need to Talk About Kevin’, ‘Hunky Dory’ and ‘Numbers Station’. Sam was also responsible for devising the documentation that has now become industry standard for banks to discount BBC and C4 commissions from independent producers.