|
Mr. Fidlow regularly negotiates deals and advises clients in all areas of the entertainment industry, with an emphasis on film, television and home video transactions. Mr. Fidlow has worked on many studio and network projects and has also overseen the production of a large number of independent films.
Mr. Fidlow began practicing law at one of Los Angeles’ preeminent entertainment boutiques, Bloom, Dekom & Hergott (now Bloom Hergott Deimer Rosenthal & LaViolette), where he was involved in representing that firm’s high profile A-list clientele, focusing primarily on film and television writer and producer deals. He later worked in-house for Republic Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/United Artists, eventually heading up the Business & Legal Affairs Department of MGM’s Home Entertainment division.
Mr. Fidlow has been involved in all levels of the entertainment industry from high-level studio mergers and acquisitions to development, financing and production of low-budget independent projects. He was brought in as part of Sony’s legal team in its acquisition of MGM and also as part of NBC’s legal team in its merger with Vivendi/Universal. In addition, Mr. Fidlow has overseen production legal matters on a large number of films (see his listing on IMDB), including John Singleton’s Illegal Tender and Hustle & Flow (which won the Audience Award at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival and sold to Paramount in a record-breaking deal), Memento (for Newmarket Films) and The Score (with Robert De Niro, Marlon Brando and Edward Norton, for Mandalay Pictures) just to name a few. Mr. Fidlow has done work for clients such as Clear Channel Communications, Sony Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Universal Pictures, MGM/UA, Screen Gems, Franchise Pictures, Mandalay Entertainment, Warner Bros. TV, Fox Family, USA Cable, Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment, Universal Home Entertainment Productions, Sony Worldwide Marketing, Playboy Entertainment, Dave Matthews’ ATO Pictures, John Singleton’s Crunk Pictures, Metropolitan Talent Agency, Cloris Leachman, Corbin Bernsen, and many other producers, writers and actors. His name may also sound familiar since it was used in the motion picture Pacific Heights for the role of Michael Keaton's attorney (an inside joke with the film's writer client).
Additionally, Mr. Fidlow has had the high honor of being recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, which have all cited an article he wrote in connection with leading Copyright Law decisions. Mr. Fidlow’s writings have also 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.
Mr. Fidlow was born in Brooklyn, New York and grew up in the Washington, D.C. area. He holds degrees from Carnegie-Mellon University (BFA, Theatre Production), Columbia University (MFA, Arts Management) and Hastings College of the Law (JD). He began his entertainment career in the theatre, first as a lighting designer and later working in various producing capacities with several prominent Broadway and Off-Broadway companies, including The Shubert Organization, Circle in the Square and The Ensemble Studio Theatre. He has produced many stage productions and several motion picture projects of his own and currently works with Theatre IV and Barksdale Theatre in Richmond.
Mr. Fidlow is admitted to the California and Virginia State Bars, has been a member of the Beverly Hills Bar Association’s Entertainment Section since 1988 and was on the Executive Committee of its Intellectual Property, Internet and New Media Section from 2000-2003. He currently serves on the Boards of the Central Virginia Film Office, the Children’s Museum of Richmond, and Barksdale Theatre as well as the Planning Committee for the Virginia Film Festival. Mr. Fidlow teaches Entertainment Law at the University of Richmond School of Law and is a frequent speaker at universities and entertainment seminars. |
