An entertainment industry veteran, Neil Sacker serves as both counsel and advisor to financiers, distributors and producers in all areas of entertainment including film, television, location-based entertainment and other new media innovations. Neil’s clients include a mix of larger established companies and innovative new companies throughout the world, with an emphasis on the United States and China.
After beginning his legal career as senior theatrical counsel at Warner Bros. negotiating talent agreements, handling rights matters and overseeing production legal challenges, Neil served as executive vice president and head of business and legal affairs for Miramax Films and Dimension Films. At Miramax, he worked on more than 75 films, including Scream, Good Will Hunting and The English Patient and was also responsible for acquiring the rights to the Lord of the Rings franchise.
Neil then served as chief operating officer at the Yari Film Group, which produced and financed films such as the Academy Award-winning Crash, The Illusionist, The Matador, The Painted Veil and Prime. He then became president of the independent movie production, finance and international sales company, The Film Department, where he had responsibility for overseeing development, production, business and legal affairs, finance, and international sales. Neil also served as president of the film marketing and distribution company Big Air Studios.
Before joining Manatt, Neil held positions at two other prominent law firms.