Serves as corporate counsel to a wide range of media & entertainment clients.
Advises on the financing, distribution and production of entertainment projects in the United States, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
Head of the firm’s media, entertainment & sports practice.

Chris represents leading companies and capital providers in complex financings & co-financings, corporate transactions and sophisticated investments. As head of Akin’s media, entertainment & sports practice, Chris provides comprehensive advice on a broad array of corporate & finance matters.

With experience across the full spectrum of content, Chris advises on deals involving film, music, television, sports & esports, gaming, live events, digital platforms and related media & entertainment.

Chris advises on private capital solutions, distribution deals, asset acquisitions, company formations, joint ventures (JVs), preferred equity & hybrid capital investments, special situations and distressed debt matters.

From representing a private credit fund investing in a music library to providing strategic advice on a JV agreement between two film companies, Chris delivers bespoke solutions to clients investing in entertainment, as well as those launching and expanding their businesses.

Chris handles financing and other transactions involving production, financing and distribution of content. His clients include:

Borrowers
Distributors
Content creators
Investment management & private equity firms
Private credit & direct lending investors
Financial institutions
Production companies
Studios
Technology companies
High-net-worth (HNW) individuals.

Drawing on the resources of a firm recognized as a powerhouse in entertainment, asset management and lobbying & public policy, Chris leverages Akin’s global network of business leaders and policy-makers to help his clients access opportunities.

Chris is widely regarded as one of the elite dealmakers in the industry. He has been recognized for his work by Chambers USA, The Legal 500 US, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Business Journal, Variety and The Hollywood Reporter. Most recently, Chris was featured in Variety’s Legal Impact Report. This marked his fifth appearance in the annual report, which recognizes Hollywood’s top entertainment attorneys.

Representative Work

Advised Alpha Wave Global, a global investment company, in its preferred equity investment in the food and beverage company Feastables Inc., which was created by a popular YouTuber MrBeast.
Counseled HarbourView Equity Partners in its investment in Mucho Mas Media and the financing of concert film “Usher: Rendezvous in Paris.”
Represented FilmNation in the formation and launch of Infrared, a new film production label developing mainstream films.
Providing comprehensive corporate advice to a Middle East company pursuing an investment in a U.S. entertainment company.
Counseled a UAE sovereign investment fund in connection with various investments in the entertainment and media areas.
Represented HPS Investment Partners LLC in connection with a first-of-its-kind multitranche, first-in last-out term facility to Kobalt Music Group.
Represented MUFG Bank on its $70 million production loan for the film “Greenland: Migration.”
Represented a multinational bank in a revolving credit facility to a U.S. film and television production company.
Represented Alpha Wave Global in its $100 million Series A preferred equity investment in Gamma Media Holdings, a media and technology company centered in music, film, podcasting and creative services.
Advised Comerica Bank in connection with a series of production loans to Black Bear International for motion pictures, including Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, A Working Man, Spa Weekend and Wife and Dog.
Represented Fifth Third Bank in a senior secured library credit facility to subsidiaries of Lionsgate.
Representing a video game company with respect to negotiations and various issues related to the derivative rights and potential production of film and television projects based on the underlying intellectual property for its video games.
Advised MUFG Bank in connection with various loan facilities for Lionsgate Entertainment.
Represented Comerica Bank in a production loan to B4T Productions Inc. for the film “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.”
Advised a client in its partnership agreement with and in the creation of an international media company.
Advised Bank of America in a $300 million credit facility with Miramax related to the financing of its current and future production slate. Also advised the client in the $120 million refinancing of FilmNation Entertainment LLC’s existing credit facility relating to the funding, production, acquisition and distribution of multiple theatrical motion pictures and television programs.

"Chris has a distinct commercial instinct, which not only enables him to identify and succinctly provide advice on the most important business points of a particular transaction, but also enables him to help steer a transaction to a successful close."

Chambers USA, 2021

Education
J.D., Georgetown University Law Center, 2005
B.B.A., University of Washington, cum laude, 2001
B.A., University of Washington, 2001

Bar Admissions
California

Recognitions

Los Angeles Business Journal, Leaders of Influence: Thriving in Their 40s, 2024.
The Hollywood Reporter, Top 20 Dealmakers, 2020 and 2022.
Chambers USA, Leading Practitioner in California Media & Entertainment: Transactional, 2015-2024.
The Legal 500 US, Media & Entertainment, 2017-2018; Media and Entertainment: Transactional, 2019-2024; Next Generation Lawyer, 2019-2022; Leading Lawyer, 2023-2024.
The Hollywood Reporter, Power Lawyers, 2018-2024.
Variety, Legal Impact Report, 2017-2021, 2023 and 2024.
Variety, Dealmakers Impact Report, 2016-2017, 2019-2020, 2022 and 2024.
Los Angeles Times, Legal Visionary, 2023.
Los Angeles Business Journal, Leaders in Law, 2018.
Daily Journal, 40 Under 40, honoring top young lawyers in California, 2017.

Affiliations and Public Service

Member, California Bar Association.
Member, Entertainment Law Section, Beverly Hills Bar Association.

Speeches and Publications

Speaker, “Trends in Motion Picture and Television Finance Summer 2023: Labor Strikes, Barbenheimer and the Investment Landscape,” GHJ’s Media Clips Podcast, September 2023
Speaker, “Trends in Motion Picture and Television Financing,” GHJ’s Media Clips Podcast, March 2023
Speaker, “Current Trends in Motion Picture and Television Financing,” GHJ’s Media Clips Podcast, September 2022
Speaker, “State of the Film and Television Industry,” GHJ’s Entertainment Videocast Series, May 2022
Speaker, “Producing Film and Television Programs During The Pandemic Update,” GHJ’s Entertainment Videocast Series, December 2021
Speaker, “Producing Film and Television Programs During The Pandemic,” GHJ’s Entertainment Videocast Series, March 2021
Speaker, “The Entertainment Industry During COVID-19,” OnAir With Akin, September 2020.
Speaker, “Overcoming Legal, Insurance and Finance Issues for Production Companies during COVID-19,” GHJ’s Media Clips Podcast, September 2020
Speaker, “Dealmaking and Production Delays: How Long Will They Last and What Can You Do in the Meantime?,” Winston Baker, April 2020.
Moderator, “New Approaches to Financing Project Driven Deals,” Winston Baker’s Global Film Industry Value Chain Development Forum, June 2018.
Moderator, “Acquire or Be Acquired: Surviving the Era of Mega Merger Deals,” Winston Baker’s 2018 Content Capital Summit.
Guest lecturer, Shanghai Vancouver University Film School, 2018.