Partner
CurrentMichael is a partner in the Entertainment and Media Industry Group. For more than 25 years Michael has worked in film and television financing, usually representing banks and other financiers, in connection with single production or distribution financings, revolving lines of credit and tax structured transactions. He has also represented producers, distributors, private investors and broadcasters. He has a particular expertise in "gap", “presale” and “tax credit” lending and complex multi-party financings and is highly regarded for his drafting ability: many of the standard documents used in film financings in the UK are substantially authored by him. He is active with Pinewood, Coutts & Co, the British Film Institute, Vertigo, Natixis Coficine, Comerica, City National Bank, East West Bank, Film Finances, Inc, DSK Ventures Limited (Kurt Woolner), UK TV Production Company plc (Peter Fudakowski) and Copthall Limited (Bruce MacInnes).He is consistently rated as one of the “top tier” film finance lawyers. Chambers UK (2015) describes him as "an esteemed film financing lawyer who "knows his stuff and is an extremely proficient draftsman," in addition to being "excellent on transactional work" and Who’s Who Legal’s “Legal Marketplace Analysis” described him as "a “go-to” lawyer for "film finance matters".Recent film deals, for which he advised the financiers, include the following: For Pinewood – Genius (starring Jude Law, Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth), Take Down, Spooks – The Greater Good (starring Peter Firth and Kit Harington); Dom Hemingway (starring Jude Law and Richard E.Grant); Posh, Our Robot Overlords Pressure, Christmas Candle: For Coutts - Ex Machina, Rush, Foyles War, Paranoia , Blood Sisters, Filth (starring James McAvoy), Nativity 3, for the British Film Institute: Mike Leigh’s Mr. Turner, for Vertigo – Pudsey the Movie, for City National Bank - Last Days on Mars , and for Natixis Coficine – A Little Chaos .
