Gary Mcdonagh Email & Phone Number

Reading, GB

London, England, United Kingdom

• Manage all contractual negotiations/drafting for London-based brand design innovation studio. Design services include brand retail and experience design, strategy and ideation, as well as branding and comms and design.
• Draft and conclude contracts including master agreements, SOWs, NDAs, as well as updating template contracts and coordinating business response to RFI/RFPs.
• IP. Responsible for global trademarks. Review TM watch reports for potential infringements, instigate opposition proceedings, action renewals and recommend new TM registrations.
• Manage insurance policies including Professional Indemnity, Travel and Public/Employers’ Liability.
• Brief the executive board on legal best practices and commercial updates to ensure robust business policies & procedures to minimise legal risk.
• Review all client fee proposals and pitches from a commercial perspective and perform due diligence on potential new clients both globally and within the UK.

London, England, United Kingdom

• Managed project to review all signed contracts at Mercury Studio Media, a subsidiary label of Universal Music production. Included reviewing key licensing terms on distribution TV/VOD sale licences, pre-sales.

London, England, United Kingdom

• Drafted a range of production and distribution contracts, including location, contributor (equity actors/stunt artists) and talent deals, maintaining excellent relationships with internal and external partners.

London, England, United Kingdom

• Reviewed all Britbox (now ITVX) contracts for commissioned and acquired programmes inc underlying rights and clearances (writers/equity/music) and net revenue shares, as well as advising on licensing terms for SVoD.

London, Greater London, United Kingdom

• Negotiated and drafted distribution agreements on behalf of 6 production units (rights owners) with distributors, as well as drafting and concluding contracts for ancillary rights (publishing, merchandising, live.
• Doubled commercial revenue by identifying, pitching and contracting co-production and pre-sales deficit finance contracts to enable the successful commissioning of content with ABC Australia, US PSBs, SVoD services.
• Secured production units first ever fully funded commissions from outside the UK with US SVoD service, resulting in excess of £1m turnover.

London, United Kingdom

• Provided contractual and commercial expertise to aid creation of BBC Studios Ltd, preparing business case and finance plan to gain regulatory approval from BBC Executive boards, BBC Trust and Ofcom.
• Drafted and concluded internal legal contracts for provision of shared professional services including Legal, Business Affairs, HR, Finance, Marketing and Facilities (studio hire, post, digital).
• Negotiated on alignment of production and distribution divisions, analysing/reconciling financial data as well as modelling 5-year net revenues and briefing/influencing senior stakeholders.

London

• Set up bespoke distribution company, drafting and concluding programme licensing and format deals with international broadcasters including Viasat, Foxtel and Discovery, as well as drafting distribution agreements.
• Retained by educational platform The Open University (OU) to review OU media operations. Advised OU board to outsource operations, which once accepted, then led on the tender process with TV distributors, negotiated.

London, United Kingdom

• Drafted and negotiated development and distribution agreements to grow distribution catalogue by 300% by revising acquisitions strategy to focus on larger, more strategic deals.
• Raised £12m in co-production and pre-sales deficit finance by identifying and securing investment partners and concluding contracts with Discovery, National Geographic, France Television, CICC.
• Slashed production costs by advising and transitioning internal production business units to use of royalty free music.
• Engaged in business affairs deal-making to secure new equity and output deals, averaging a 60% ROI across all factual and scripted investments.
• Brand managed key titles including Hell’s Kitchen, I’m A Celebrity, 60 Minute Makeover, Come Dine With Me by tracking financial returns and KPIs.

London, United Kingdom

• Managed relationship with content rights owners, including partnership output deals with HBO and CNN, as well as bringing in new business partners (Tigress, Creative Differences, Testimony, ITN).
• Transformed high volume, lifestyle series 60 Minute Makeover into multi-million profit brand by identifying and removing barriers to international exploitation.
• Conducted negotiations with independent producers and broadcasters to acquire programme rights, completed investment business plans as well as drafting deal memos and full length acquisition contracts.
• Attended industry markets including Mipcom/Miptv, Banff, Realscreen, Science Congress.
• Promoted to Acquisitions & Co-Productions Manager.Prior to joining ITV I worked as a freelance producer, director and cameraman on a range of factual and entertainment programmes including: Shooting Producer/Director.

Film & Media, Film/Video And Photographic Arts

As part of my degree at the University of Stirling I spent an exchange year studying at the University of Kansas, USA. Rock Chalk...

Ba (Hons), Film & Media Studies And Marketing, 2:1