Sheppard Mullin Entertainment and Media Group Selected as Latino Film Association Counsel
NALIP, founded in 1999 by a group of Latino producers, academics and media activists, is a national membership organization which addresses the professional needs of Latino/Latina independent producers. NALIP’s executive director is Kathryn Galan, and prolific producer Moctesuma Esparza (“Selena”) is one of its board members. Through its venture with the Spanish government, NALIP seeks to provide members with international financing resources and to foster collaborations between members and filmmakers in Spain and Latin American countries.
“NALIP looks to provide access to new voices among a constituency that has yet to be fully embraced by Hollywood. The co-production arrangement with Spain stands to open those doors for NALIP members and Latino filmmakers throughout the U.S. We recognize that the fast-growing Hispanic/Latino market is changing the way Hollywood does business, and have top-notch attorneys who are culturally aware and can provide a network of business connections and political contacts to optimize our clients' opportunities,” commented Robert Darwell, co-chair of the firm's Entertainment and Media practice group, commented.
Representation of NALIP also dovetails with the goals and objectives of Sheppard Mullin's Hispanic/Latino Business practice, which provides specialized legal representation to Hispanic/Latino-owned companies, domestic and international companies doing business in the U.S. which target Hispanic/Latino markets, and companies with predominately Hispanic/Latino work forces. With the dynamic growth of Hispanic/Latino-owned companies and of the Hispanic/Latino population throughout the U.S. comes both the challenge of increasingly complex legal issues and the opportunity to grow businesses. Sheppard Mullin counts among its existing clients several that are representative of the intersection of its Hispanic/Latino Business practice and the Entertainment and Media group, such as Univisión, Galán Entertainment (“The Swan,” “La Cenicienta”), and Carlos Avila’s Echo Park Filmworks (“Foto-Novelas”).
Alexis Garcia, an associate in the firm's Entertainment and Media practice group, stated, "Co-productions between Spain and Latin America have become increasingly popular, but U.S. Latinos are rarely in the picture. NALIP aims to address that, and we’re thrilled to be working with them on this ground-breaking international film industry initiative."
Sheppard Mullin's Entertainment and Media practice group is headquartered in the firm's Century City office and maintains a presence in the New York office to better serve clients in the metropolitan region and abroad. To tap into the continued globalization of the entertainment industry, a bilingual requirement of all attorneys joining the group has been instituted.
About Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP
Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP is a full service AmLaw 100 firm with more than 430 attorneys in nine offices located throughout California and in New York and Washington, D.C. The firm's California offices are located in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Century City, Orange County, Del Mar Heights and San Diego. Sheppard Mullin provides legal expertise and counsel to U.S. and international clients in a wide range of practice areas, including Antitrust, Corporate and Securities; Entertainment and Media; Finance and Bankruptcy; Government Contracts; Intellectual Property; Labor and Employment; Litigation; Real Estate/Land Use; and Tax, Employee Benefits, Trusts and Estate Planning. The firm was founded in 1927.
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