Gary P. Kohn has practiced entertainment and corporate law for over 30 years, and specializes in Corporation and LLC Structure and Formation; Startup Companies; Corporate Contracts; New Media Content Contracts; Infomercial Marketing and Licensing Contracts; Reality TV Contracts; Celebrity Contracts; and Film, Music, Sports and Entertainment Contracts. Gary represents celebrities, commercial production companies, post-production and visual effects companies, advertising agencies, new media companies, reality TV personalities, composers, musicians, actors, writers, producers, directors, models, cartoonists, personal managers, business managers, radio personalities and entertainment and music companies. Gary’s corporate law practice consists of forming LLCs and corporations, structuring business transactions and representing startups, LLCs, corporations and individuals in connection with business-related matters. Gary has extensive legal, business and marketing experience with numerous hit shows in the direct response industry, and in that industry currently represents, among others: marketers in agreements with strategic vendors and celebrity talent; producers and directors in infomercial production agreements; inventors in licensing agreements; media companies and fulfillment houses in client services agreements; and celebrities in spokesperson and endorsement agreements. Many of the contracts that Gary has drafted are now used as standard form templates by marketing and media companies in the direct response industry. In addition, a former college baseball player, Gary also represents professional athletes.
Gary started his legal career with the New York Wall Street law firm of Davis Polk and Wardwell. While at Davis Polk, Gary practiced corporate law, and was involved in banking, corporate securities, and mergers and acquisitions transactions. Representative clients of the firm included Delta Air Lines, Emerson Electric, Morgan Guaranty Bank, Morgan Stanley, and the National Football League. While in New York, Gary developed a number of clients in the entertainment and music industries.
Gary relocated to Los Angeles to practice corporate, entertainment and sports law with the Los Angeles law firm of Hill Wynne Troop & Meisinger. While at Hill Wynne, Gary participated in transactions involving entertainment finance, motion picture, television and music production, sports endorsements, financial institutions, lending, partnerships and joint ventures, corporate securities, corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions and employment matters. Representative clients of the firm included Carson Productions, Castle Rock Entertainment, The Coca Cola Company, Columbia Pictures, Disney, Tri-Star Pictures and Twentieth Century Fox. Gary left Hill Wynne to start his own entertainment and corporate law firm.
Gary is the former Co-Chair of the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Entertainment Law Committee “Artists and the Law,” and is the former Assistant Editor of the American Bar Association’s publication The Entertainment and Sports Lawyer. Gary is a member of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (Emmys). Gary has written articles relating to direct response marketing, business law and sports law, and has been a legal columnist for Electronic Retailing Association’s (ERA) Electronic Retailer. His articles include: Resolving Business Conflicts Via Settlement Agreements; Understanding Work-Made-For-Hire Agreements; The Critical First Step To Protecting Your Product; Establishing License Agreements Between Marketers And Inventors; and Negotiating Financial Terms In Production Agreements; A Fresh Look: Lowering The Mortality Rate Of Covenants Not To Compete Ancillary To Employment Contracts And To Sale Of Business Contracts In Georgia; and Sports Agents Representing Professional Athletes: Being Certified Means Never Having to Say You’re Qualified.
Gary has performed legal services pro bono for animal rescue groups.
Gary received his Bachelor of Arts degree with Outstanding Academic Honors from the State University of New York at Binghamton, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Gary received his Juris Doctor degree, with distinction, from Emory University School of Law, a top 20 law school where he was the Editor-in-Chief of the Emory Law Journal and a member of Order of the Coif.
Gary is admitted to practice in California and New York.
Areas Served: I am an attorney based in Los Angeles and I work with clients throughout California, the United States and the world. My office serves the following California cities: Los Angeles, Bel Air, Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Burbank, Calabasas, Century City, Culver City, Del Mar, El Segundo, Encino, Glendale, Hermosa Beach Hollywood, Laguna Beach, Malibu, Manhattan Beach, Marina Del Rey, Montecito, Newport Beach, Orange County, Pacific Palisades, Palm Springs, Pasadena, Playa Vista, Redondo Beach, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Santa Monica, Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Tarzana, Thousand Oaks, Torrance, Valencia, Van Nuys, Venice, Westchester, West Hollywood, West LA, Westlake Village, Westwood, and Woodland Hills.