Seven Barnes & Thornburg Attorneys Named To Variety 2021 Dealmakers Impact Report

LOS ANGELES – Variety Magazine has named seven attorneys in Barnes & Thornburg’s Entertainment, Media and Sports practice group to its 2021 Dealmakers Impact Report, a prestigious annual list that features top dealmakers and their most significant transactions in the entertainment industry during the past year. 

Included in the Dealmakers Impact Report are the firm’s Atlanta-based team of Joel Katz, Stephen Weizenecker and Andrew Velcoff, and the Los Angeles-based team of Jason M. Karlov, Carolyn Hunt, Bryan Thompson and Rebekah Prince. The group was recognized across diverse entertainment areas, including film financing, production incentives and distribution deals; business-altering talent deals; corporate partnership deals; and music and live events.

Weizenecker was noted for being an authority on tax incentives and project finance, and told the publication he expects to see in Georgia “more growth as the industry builds out technology capabilities on top of its production foundation.” Katz was lauded for his music-centric practice and negotiating executive employment contracts and Velcoff for his film and TV distribution and intellectual property work. 

The publication recognized Karlov for his representation of renowned music artists and their business and personal legal matters, along with music publishing and major events. Karlov told Variety that he “roots for the indies to get their share because they have always ‘done the things that grew the industry, drive the art,’ and spark creativity.”

Hunt was highlighted for her focus on entertainment capital and production financing, and film and TV distribution. The publication noted Prince for advising on IP and branded apparel and equity investment and services deals, and Thompson for his role in working content deals for traditional and digital media.

Variety’s 2021 Dealmakers Impact Report features the top negotiators behind important entertainment-industry deals and the individual’s major achievements from September 2020 to September 2021. 

With more than 700 attorneys and other legal professionals, Barnes & Thornburg is one of the largest law firms in the country. The firm serves clients worldwide from offices in Atlanta, Boston, California, Chicago, Delaware, Indiana, Michigan, Minneapolis, New York, Ohio, Raleigh, Salt Lake City, Texas and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit us online at www.btlaw.com or on Twitter @BTLawNews.