Legal Counsel - MBC Studios

Job description / Role

Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities

Contract Negotiation and Management :
- Drafting, reviewing, and negotiating all Studios contracts including but not limited to talent (cast and crew), production companies, writers, distributors, first look deals, content acquisition deals, co-productions, co-financing deals, development deals, consultancy agreements, rebate/incentive deals, music deals, marketing/publicity deals and other parties involved in the studio's projects. This will include contracts with external partners and vendors.
- Ensuring that contracts align with MBC Group and Studio's legal interests, processes, guidelines and policies.
- Working with and servicing all department within the Studio and across the group more generally

Intellectual Property and Copyright:
- Ensuring that the studio secures the necessary rights to intellectual property, including copyrights and trademarks, and that it respects the rights of others.
- Advising on issues related to licensing, royalties, and distribution rights.
- Oversee/negotiate/advise on all IP and format option and purchase deals.
- Provide advice on intellectual property rights and rights of publicity; talent/crew contractual restrictions/obligations; guild requirements; promotional usage rights and restrictions; third-party rights clearances and music issues.
- Oversee rights acquisitions for adapted works or licensed properties.

Regulatory Compliance :
- Ensuring that the studio complies with all applicable laws and regulations, including those related to broadcasting, content creation, and entertainment industry standards.

Content Clearance and Rights Management :
- Overseeing the clearance process for content to ensure it doesn't infringe on third-party rights.

Litigation and Dispute Resolution :
- Representing the studio in legal proceedings or overseeing external counsel in litigation matters.
- Handling disputes related to contracts, intellectual property, and other legal issues.

Compliance with Industry Standards :
- Staying updated on industry standards and best practices related to legal matters in the entertainment industry
- Assisting in the creation/improvement/amendment/oversight of various industry standard policies, processes, practices, guidelines (including for example relating to the employment of minors, animals, health and safety, etc) to a first class/best practices standard
- Assisting in the creation, development, improvement of the Studios' legal precedent bank.

Risk Assessment and Management :
- Identifying legal risks and developing strategies to mitigate them.
- Providing guidance to the executive team on legal implications of business decisions.

Corporate Governance :
- Ensuring that the studio adheres to corporate governance practices and compliance with relevant company policies.

Government Relations and Public Policy:
- Monitoring and influencing legal and regulatory developments that impact the studio's operations.

- 3+ years PQE.
- Extensive experience of working on scripted and unscripted development and production deals.
- Working knowledge across US WGA/DGA rules.
- Experience of development structure, production overheads and co-productions.
- Exposure of working on large productions across, UK, US, and MENA are highly desirable.
- Experience of tax treaty benefits/rebate/tax/ cash incentive schemes is desirable.
- Sound knowledge of greenlight process.
- Preferred to be bilingual (Arabic and English)
- Excellent team player with a good attitude, and ability to manage stakeholder relationships.
- Strong analytical skills and an eye for details.

Unfortunately, due to the high number of responses we receive we are unable to provide feedback to all applicants. If you have not been contacted within 5-7 days, please assume that at this stage your application has been unsuccessful.

About the Company

MBC GROUP is the largest media company in the Middle East & North Africa region that enriches people’s lives through information, interaction and entertainment. In 2002, nearly a decade after the launch of MBC1 in London, in 1991, MBC GROUP moved its headquarters to Dubai Media City, United Arab Emirates.

Today, MBC GROUP includes over 17 leading TV channels: MBC1 (general family entertainment); MBC2 & MBC MAX (24-hour western movies); MBC3 (children’s edutainment with a mix of both local productions and western acquisitions); MBC4 (entertainment for young families with a female-focus); MBC ACTION (an indigenous adrenaline-packed channel targeting young males with local and homegrown productions); MBC VARIETY (Western films and general entertainment with uninterrupted broadcasting); MBC DRAMA (24/7 Arabic drama) & MBC+ DRAMA (a joint pay-TV channel between MBC and OSN); MBC PERSIA (general family entertainment dubbed and subtitled in Farsi); WANASAH (24-hour Arabic music channel); MBC MASR & MBC MASR2 (general family entertainment geared towards the Egyptian family); MBC BOLLYWOOD (delivering the freshest in Bollywood content geared towards the region via an Arabized interface); MBC USA (on “Dish Network” in the US); MBC IRAQ (a premium channel aimed at the entire Iraqi family), MBC5 (new satellite channel dedicated to the Maghreb); all of them benefit from MBC STUDIOS which produces the region’s most compelling premium content for cinema, television and on-demand platforms. MBC GROUP also includes two FM radio stations: MBC FM (Gulf music) and Panorama FM (contemporary Arabic hit music).

Furthermore, part of MBC GROUP is Shahid and its premium subscription-based service Shahid VIP, the world’s leading Arabic streaming platform, home to highly rated original productions from the Arab world, a wide range of exclusive movies and premieres, as well as the top watched live Arab TV channels.