A high-level, practice-focused overview of the legal issues shaping film, television and digital media projects in Canada
Entertainment law in Canada sits at the intersection of contracts, intellectual property, corporate law and risk management. Yet many lawyers encounter media-sector clients without formal training in the legal and commercial realities of film, television and digital media projects.
Drawing on more than 40 years of experience advising productions and industry participants, Lon Hall provides a practical, plain-language overview of the core legal issues that arise from development through distribution. This session is ideal for commercial lawyers, litigators, in-house counsel and practitioners who advise creators, producers or media companies but do not practise exclusively in entertainment law.
Owner | Hall Webber LLP
Lon has been practicing law in Toronto since 1982. Originally a securities and corporate-commercial lawyer, he began working exclusively in the entertainment industries in 1986 with Peter Steinmetz & Associates. From 1987-1992 Lon worked at Atlantis Films (predecessor of Alliance Atlantis Entertainment) as Vice-President, Business Affairs where he initiated and headed up the business & legal affairs department. At the end of 1992, Lon left Atlantis to start what is now known as Hall Webber LLP: a law firm dedicated to entertainment law. Lon practices primarily in the areas of production, distribution, talent, financing and business transactions, as well as errors & omissions, on behalf of corporate and individual clients in the film, television and digital media sectors. In addition to his legal practice, Lon has acted as an Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA) Arbitrator; and has executive produced a number of films and television productions, including Meeting the Beatles in India, Omega Man (Bell Media’s Engraved on a Nation series), Pet Project (life network, Canada; Animal Planet, USA) the Gemini Award-winning The Surreal Gourmet (Food Network, Canada and USA), Crash My Kitchen (Food Network, Canada) and Tooned! (Teletropolis, Canada).
