LISA BONNER ESQ.
Lisa Bonner provides counsel for large media companies, film distribution companies, music, television and film producers, and independent artists, producers, writers and publishers.
Lisa represents clients in all aspects of media and entertainment transactional matters. In the music industry, Lisa advises clients in the negotiation of recording artist, producer, and music publishing agreements at major and independent record labels, and also negotiates agreements for music licensing, live music tours, and sponsorships. Lisa provides record, publishing and royalty recovery administration and litigation management for clients of Bonner Law. Lisa also serves as film and television production counsel and negotiates distribution agreements, financing and above-the-line talent agreements for clients in the film, cable, and network television, cable and subscription VOD industries, and as well as providing counsel for reality and scripted television personalities, television writers and showrunners. In the terrestrial and digital arenas, Lisa negotiates host and syndication agreements for radio personalities and advises clients in the traditional print and digital media industries as well as and digital portals. Lisa also provides counsel for start-ups, including investor agreements and complex compliance agreements.
Lisa has served as outside General Counsel for some of the largest and most recognizable name in content handling editorial, print, digital, television, book publishing, music financing, production and distribution needs for companies including Vibe Magazine, Spin Magazine, Codeblack Pictures, LionsGate and Universal Pictures, and serves as outside production legal counsel for various media companies including NBCUniversal, Bravo, Viacom and BET.
Lisa speaks extensively on current legal topics, is a frequent legal contributor on various television programs and provides legal editorial coverage for various print and online news outlets, including CNN, HLN, BBC News, & CBS News. She is also the host of The LegaliTea a popular podcast on iTunes. Lisa has lectured extensively on entertainment and intellectual property matters for various associations and law schools including Harvard Law School, ASCAP, and The Grammy Foundation.
Lisa is a critically acclaimed television producer on several productions including Little Ballers, which debuted on Nickelodeon and was nominated for a 2016 NAACP Image Award; Little Ballers Indiana, which premiered on Nickelodeon in March 2017, and Foreman, the authorized biography of George Foreman, which debuted on FX in September 2017.
Lisa graduated with honors from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism and received and a J.D. from New York University School of Law.
BAR ADMISSIONS: California and New York
HIGHLIGHTS OF SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
• California Association of Black Lawyers: “Current Trends in the Music Industry” and “Hot Topics in the Music, Film, Television and New Media Industries”
• California Lawyers for the Arts: “Your Dream Team for Success (Lawyers, Agents, Managers and more)”
• California Lawyers for the Arts, Film, & Media Seminar: “Licensing Others’ Work for Your Project”
• California Lawyers for the Arts, Music Business Seminar: “What Major Labels are Looking For” and “Digital Music Panel: Making the Internet Work for You”
• CLE Film & Television Conference: “The Changing Economics and New Deal Terms of Music TV”
• American Black Film Festival (ABFF): “The Business of Hollywood”
• Harvard Law School: “Current Legal Issues in the Recording & Music Publishing Industries” (Panelist and Moderator)
• Pace Law School: Entertainment Law Panel
• Pan African Film Fest: “Legal Issues in Filmmaking”
• University of Michigan School of Law presented by the GRAMMY Foundation: “Negotiating Transactions in the Music Industry”
• ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers): “From Demo to Deal”
• Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Association: “Digital War Stories: The Fatal Mistakes of Dot.coms,” “Nuts and Bolts of A Recording Agreement,” and “Women: The New Power Brokers”
• Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Association: “Licensing of Sports Images in Commercials, Movies and Video Games”
• Howard University School of Law: “The Business of TV”
• National Black Law Students Association Annual Convention: “Practice Insight in Entertainment Law”
• Metropolitan Black Bar Association: Metropolitan Black Bar Association: “Wild West 2.0-Creating, Crowdfunding and Capturing an Audience Online,” “Counselling Clients in a Time of Crisis”
• National Action Network: “Law & Social Justice Panel - Approach the Bar: A Discussion with Some of the Nation’s Top Legal Practitioners”
• Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Association: “The Rise of Independents and 360’s, A Record Company Retrospective”
• New York University School of Law: “The Ins and Outs of a Reality Television Deal” (Moderator)
• Bronze Lens Film Festival: Legal Master Class- “Setting Up Your Film Company as a Business”