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James J. Freedman Mr. Freedman attended the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Cinema both as an undergraduate and a graduate. He graduated second in his law school class, magna cum laude, from Loyola Marymount School of Law. Prior to establishing his own law firm, Mr. Freedman practiced entertainment law in the Century City and Tokyo offices of O’Melveny & Myers for nine years. Mr. Freedman grew up in the motion picture business. His family was involved in the production and distribution of motion pictures, producing and/or distributing for the predecessor to Orion (Filmways), Metromedia Producers Corporation and Aaron Spelling. Mr. Freedman has had extensive experience in all aspects of the entertainment business and has specialized in the production, financing and distribution of motion picture and television programs as well as in the fields of merchandising, multimedia, music, music publishing and the acquisition of interests in entertainment companies. Mr. Freedman has broad experience in representing distributors and creditors in bankruptcy cases and in structuring transactions so as to minimize bankruptcy-related risks and potential problems. Mr. Freedman also represents writers, actors, directors, toy manufactures (e.g., Bandai) and athletes (e.g., Magic Johnson, Jimmy Connors). He has acted as outside counsel to Walt Disney Company, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Tri-Star Pictures, Castle Rock Entertainment, Outlaw Productions, Paramount Pictures, Home Box Office (HBO), Group W Broadcasting (Westinghouse), Hanna-Barbera, Pearson Inc., TCI, Warner Bros., and The Zanuck Company. Mr. Freedman has worked in-house on loan to Paramount, Disney, HBO, and Warner Bros, in both legal and business affairs capacities. Mr. Freedman also represents a number of Asian companies in connection with their entertainment and media-related activities. He has represented Avex D.D., Sony (Janpan), Daiwa Satellite Broadcasting, Long-Term Credit Bank, Marubeni, Mitsui, Media International Corporation, Mistsubishi, NHK, NHK Creative, NHK Enterprises, Inc., Nippon Development and Finance, Nomura, Babcock & Brown, Shochiku, Sumitomo, Tohokushiasha Film Co., Ltd., Tokyo Broadcasting System, and the Tokyo Dome. See Addendum for a list of major transactions. Mr. Freedman is a frequent writer and editor of articles about the entertainment industry. Two of his articles have appeared in Japanese publications, “Kokusai Shoji Homu” and the “M&A Review”. Mr. Freedman edited an article entitled “European Copyright Law and the Doctrine of Author’s Rights” and co-wrote an article on co-production and bankruptcy in Japan for the University of Southern California Entertainment Symposium. Mr. Freedman also lectures extensively on the entertainment business and was a visiting professor at the International University of Business and Economics in Beijing, China. James attended the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Cinema both as an undergraduate and a graduate. He graduated second his law school class, magna cum laude, from the Loyola Marymount School of Law and practiced entertainment law in the Century City and Tokyo offices of O’Melveny & Myers for nine years. James grew up in the motion picture business. His family was involved in the production and distribution of motion pictures, producing and/or distributing for the predecessor to Orion (Filmways), Metromedia Producers Corporation, and Aaron Spelling. James has had extensive experience in the production, financing and distribution of motion pictures and television programs as well as in the fields of merchandising, multimedia, music, music publishing, video games and the acquisition of interests in entertainment companies. James has broad experience in representing distributors and creditors in bankruptcy cases and in structuring transactions so as to minimize bankruptcy-related risks and potential problems. James also represents writers, actors, directors, animators and toy manufacturers (e.g., Bandai) He has acted as outside counsel to the Walt Disney Company, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Castle Rock Entertainment, Outlaw Productions, Paramount Pictures Corporation, Home Box Office (HBO), Island Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, Group W Broadcasting (Westinghouse), Hanna Barbera, Pearson, Inc., TCI, Warner Bros., and The Zanuck Company. See addendum for a list of major transactions. James has worked in-house on loan to Paramount, Disney, HBO, and Warner Bros. in both legal and business affairs capacities. In addition to representing American and European clients, James also represents a number of Asian companies in connection with their entertainment and media-related activities. He has represented various Japanese companies including Asahi Television, CBS/Sony Records (Japan), Daiwa Securities, Dentsu, Fujisanker, Gakken, Hakuhodo, Itohchu, Japan Satellite Broadcasting, Marubeni, Mitsui, Media International Corporation, Mitsubishi, NHK, NHK Creative, NHK Enterprises, Inc., Nomura Babcock & Brown, Nippon Television Broadcasting, Sumitomo, Tokyo Broadcasting System, Tohokushinsha Film Co., Ltd., Tokyo Dome and Tokyu Agency. In Hong Kong, James has represented Celestial Pictures and IPA and in Korea, James has represented Samsung, Daewoo, Hanwha, Kolon and a number of producers and entertainers. James is frequent writer and editor of articles about the entertainment industry. Two of his articles have appeared in Japanese publications, “Kokusai Shoji Homu” and the “M&A Review”. Mr. Freedman edited an article entitled “European Copyright Law and the Doctrine of Author’s Rights” and co-wrote an article on co-production and bankruptcy in Japan for the University of Southern California Entertainment Symposium. Mr. Freedman also lectures extensively on the entertainment business and was a visiting professor at the International University of Business and Economics in Beijing, China. PROFESSIONAL ENTERTAINMENT TRANSACTIONAL PRACTICE EDUCATION: Loyola University School of Law University of California, Los Angeles EMPLOYMENT: FSM & Associates November 1994 University of International Business and Economics January 1986 O’Melveny & Myers Resident in O’Melveny & Myers Tokyo office Sony acquisition of Weintraub Entertainment Group assets
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