Briana Hill

Briana’s practice focuses on entertainment and media law, with an emphasis on company-side business and legal affairs and complex rights transactions for leading television and streaming, film, podcasting, and interactive clients. In addition to her work in structuring and negotiating the full spectrum of development, production, and licensing agreements, she provides strategic advice to studios, publishers, brands, videogame publishers, and other significant media companies on sophisticated, high-level rights and relationship matters.

Briana is sought after for her experience with first looks, overalls, joint ventures, and other multi-project arrangements between leading media companies and talent. She also works with both established and new entrant companies such as book publishers and toy brands in structuring and negotiating expansion strategies into those clients’ non-core areas of entertainment.

Clients value Briana’s tactical approach, strategic insights, pragmatic advice, balanced temperament, and fluency in the business and cultural differences between key entertainment verticals, utilizing her skills as a “translator” for cross-vertical dealmaking. She credits beginning her legal career in the independent film business and legal affairs with laying the professional groundwork for creative problem-solving and dealmaking, skills that are essential for counseling clients in the rapidly changing and constantly evolving entertainment landscape. 

Representative Work

Briana has an established track record of efficient and successful client representations in significant transactional matters across entertainment industry sectors, including:

• Leading film and television studios, networks, and production companies in a wide range of business and legal affairs matters, including development, production, licensing, and distribution agreements.
• Both newly launched and well-established independent studios and production companies regarding business and legal affairs processes and policies and the implementation of the same.
• Structuring and acquisition of underlying intellectual properties for film, television, and podcast productions, including novels and book series, podcasts, life rights, articles, graphic novels and comic books, toys and brands, and video games.
• Chain-of-title review and analysis for multiple established franchise properties.
• First look and overall deals for studio clients, including developing and negotiating variations on traditional structures.
• Film and television writer, director, producer, and cast agreements.
• Development, distribution, licensing, and production services agreements on behalf of clients with buyers including Netflix, Amazon, Apple, NBC, Peacock, Viacom, Sony Pictures, and Universal.
• Business and legal affairs for book publishers, including an innovative literary imprint program with high-level talent and entertainment company partners.
• Podcast production companies and networks in connection with development, production, and distribution-related matters, advising on business and legal affairs policies and procedures, and derivative rights deals.
• Major video game publishers in connection with entertainment-related matters.
• Content licensing deal negotiations with UK, Indian, Canadian and LatAm buyers.

Before joining Pryor Cashman, Briana was a partner and co-head of the entertainment group in the Los Angeles office of a New York-based entertainment law firm. Prior to becoming a lawyer, she was a buyer/merchandiser in the fashion industry, working in the New York City headquarters of the U.S.-based retail division of a respected Italian brand; this work in the fashion industry sparked Briana’s interest in intellectual property and her subsequent path to entertainment law, as well as providing a foundational business experience in working in house for an international organization.