Greenberg Traurig Continues Growth in Global Media

LOS ANGELES (May 15, 2014) – Greenberg Traurig LLP, a leading law firm in the entertainment and media space, announced today that accomplished attorneys Tom Ara and Robert Sherman have joined the firm’s Entertainment and Media Practice and will be based in the firm’s Los Angeles office. Ara and Sherman are key to Greenberg Traurig’s strategic expansion of its entertainment and media finance practice to meet the rapidly increasing demand for cross-border expertise in handling complex entertainment and media finance transactions. Their clients include The Weinstein Company, Indomina, Cutting Edge and AMBI Distribution. Prior to joining Greenberg Traurig, both attorneys were partners in Reed Smith LLP’s entertainment and media finance group.

“Tom and Robert are respected practitioners in their fields. We are happy to be able to add them to our core team to be of service to our robust and diverse entertainment and media practice clientele,” said Matthew Gorson, Greenberg Traurig Co-Chair.  “As the global media landscape evolves, the addition of these two shareholders to the firm bolsters our existing abilities to represent our clients’ needs on a global scale.”

“We are pleased Rob and Tom have joined our Entertainment and Media Practice,” said Dan Black, Chair of the firm’s West Coast Entertainment and Media Practice. “They are exceptional entertainment attorneys whose backgrounds and experiences, particularly Rob’s entertainment finance and corporate transactional experience and Tom’s knowledge in cross-border entertainment industry transactions which includes financing, will be significant assets to our clients and our firm.”

Ara’s practice focuses primarily on entertainment industry transactions representing an array of banks, private equity groups, hedge funds, investors and borrowers in an assortment of financing and strategic transactions, as well as representing feature film studios, television networks, production companies, Internet and mobile-based content producers and distributors in the development, production and distribution of motion picture, television and new media content.  He has been involved in a multitude of complex entertainment and media transactions spanning the globe, with a particular emphasis on clients located in and transactions that involve Europe, Asia and the Middle East.  He earned his J.D. from Loyola Law School and his B.S. from California State University, San Jose.

Sherman’s practice focuses on domestic and cross-border strategic transactions and financings with an emphasis on the media and entertainment industries. He represents motion picture and television production and distribution companies, record companies, music publishers, concert promoters, private equity funds, sponsors, banks, borrowers and other participants in complex motion picture, television, and “over-the-top” media and music industry financings and capital raises and other strategic transactions. Sherman also handles financings, acquisitions and sales of libraries of motion pictures and television programs, as well as music publishing catalogs and sound recording libraries. He has represented clients in cross-border transactions involving parties and assets located in Asia, Europe and Latin America. He earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and his B.A. from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Associate Rosalind H. Read has also joined the firm and will work with Ara and Sherman.  Read focuses her practice on transactional entertainment, media and intellectual property matters and previously practiced with Ara and Sherman at Reed Smith LLP.

With offices situated in the centers of the entertainment industry, Greenberg Traurig has one of the preeminent, global multidisciplinary entertainment and media practices. The Greenberg Traurig Entertainment & Media Practice focuses on the, motion picture, television, music, sports, Internet, digital media, publishing and theater industries. The team works with key players in the entertainment industry and provides clients with the business-oriented and dedicated counsel needed to thrive in today’s multidiscipline, multimedia entertainment marketplace.

About Greenberg Traurig, LLP

Greenberg Traurig, LLP is an international, multi-practice law firm with approximately 1750 attorneys serving clients from 36 offices in the United States, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia Greenberg Traurig is among the Top 10 law firms on The National Law Journal's 2013 NLJ 350, an annual ranking of the largest firms in the U.S. For additional information, please visit www.gtlaw.com.