ABOUT BENNETT
Bennett J. Fidlow has been involved at all levels of the entertainment industry for over 20 years and specializes in giving his clients solid, practical, cost-effective business and legal advice for structuring their entertainment deals. Bennett handles all types of transactional matters in the areas of film, television, home entertainment, live theatre, visual arts, copyright, and the Internet. He has done work for studios, major broadcast & cable networks, and A-list talent, as well as for start-up companies, low-budget indie productions, and individual producers, writers, and artists. He has provided production legal services on over 50 projects, including such films as Memento, The Score (with Robert De Niro, Edward Norton & Marlon Brando), and John Singleton’s Hustle & Flow. Bennett also assisted in the NBC/Vivendi Universal merger and the Sony acquisition of MGM. He is a Martindale-Hubbell rated attorney, is listed in Virginia Super Lawyers in the field of Entertainment Law, and has received many other awards and honors over the years, including being cited by the U.S. Supreme Court in connection with a major copyright decision.
SPECIALTIES
Mr. Fidlow specializes in giving his clients solid, practical, cost-effective business and legal advice for structuring deals in the entertainment industry. He handles all types of transactional matters in the areas of film, television, home entertainment, live theatre, visual arts, copyright, and the Internet, specifically including international co-productions, rights acquisition, producer and talent representation, bond and financing deals, and production legal services (on over 50 studio and independent projects). He has experience working with most of the studios, networks, production companies, agencies, unions, and the bond, insurance, and payroll companies, as well as all of the major Los Angeles and New York entertainment law firms.
CLIENT LIST
Mr. Fidlow has been involved at all levels of the entertainment industry for more than 20 years. He has done work for such clients as Sony Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Universal Pictures, MGM, United Artists, Screen Gems, Republic Pictures, Newmarket Entertainment, Franchise Pictures, Mandalay Entertainment, NBC, Warner Bros. TV, Fox Family, USA Cable, Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment, Universal Home Entertainment, Sony Worldwide Marketing, Playboy Entertainment, Clear Channel Communications, Metropolitan Talent Agency, Dave Matthews’ ATO Pictures, John Singleton, Vidal Sassoon, Cloris Leachman, Peter Fonda, and many other individual executives, producers, writers, and actors. His name may also sound familiar as it was used for the attorney role in the film Pacific Heights (an inside joke with the film’s writer client).
EDUCATION
Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA (B.F.A., Theatre Production)
Columbia University, New York, NY (M.F.A., Theatre Management)
Hastings College of the Law, San Francisco, CA (J.D.)
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATION
Admitted to the California Bar (1988) and Virginia Bar (2003)
Beverly Hills Bar Association
Entertainment Section (since 1988)
Intellectual Property, Internet and New Media Section (Executive Committee 2000–2003)
AWARDS & HONORS
Mr. Fidlow’s writing has been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court in connection with a leading Copyright Law decision (CCNV v Reid). His articles have been published in the Hastings Communications/Entertainment Law Journal and the Entertainment, Publishing and Arts Law Handbook and have been recognized by ASCAP in its Nathan Burkan Copyright Writing Competition. He is a Martindale-Hubbell rated attorney (BV), is listed in Virginia Super Lawyers in the field of Entertainment & Sports (2009), and has been selected to participate in the Leadership Metro Richmond 2010 program.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Mr. Fidlow has taught Entertainment Law at the University of Richmond School of Law since 2006 and is a frequent guest speaker at universities and entertainment industry seminars.
PUBLIC SERVICE & COMMUNITY SERVICE
Mr. Fidlow has served on the boards of the Central Virginia Film Office, the Children’s Museum of Richmond, Richmond’s Barksdale Theatre and the Richmond inner-city high school literacy program Podium, as well as on committees for the Virginia Film Festival and the DC Independent Film Festival.
