Entertainment Law · Los Angeles

Entertainment law built
for the deal table.

Practical counsel for talent, producers, production companies, studios, networks, streamers, and anyone building in the creator economy. From first conversation through signatures and delivery.

Start a conversation See what we do
Bliss Legal Studio
Bliss Legal Studio Entertainment law and business affairs. Los Angeles, CA.
At a glance
20+ Years in the entertainment industry
Notable deals
Netflix Amazon HBO Apple Lionsgate

California Bar admitted. Based in Los Angeles, CA.

"We aim to be the team that makes it easier for creative and business partners to say yes — with terms that are aligned, defensible, and workable in the real world."

— Bliss Legal Studio

California Bar Admitted
/
20+ Years in Entertainment
/
Film · TV · Documentary · Music
/
Deals at Netflix, Amazon, HBO, Apple
/
Based in Los Angeles
What we do

Counsel built around how
the business actually works.

We work with the full range of entertainment clients — talent, producers, production companies, studios, networks, streamers, labels, publishers, and creators. Here is where we spend most of our time.

🎬

Film & TV Production Legal

We advise producers, directors, production companies, documentary teams, and studios on every phase of the production cycle — from acquiring the underlying rights through distribution. We are particularly fluent in independent film and documentary production, where every deal must serve both the creative vision and the bottom line.

Rights acquisition Entity structure Chain of title Clearances Distribution deals Talent & crew
🎵

Music Rights & Licensing

We advise rights holders, licensees, labels, publishers, and creators on the full spectrum of music rights. Whether you are clearing a live concert for a streaming platform, licensing a catalog for a documentary, or structuring a co-publishing deal, our team brings deep experience from the highest levels of the business — with a commercial perspective that comes from years on the business affairs side.

Sync licensing Master & publishing rights Live event licensing Catalog acquisitions Co-publishing
⚖️

Business Affairs & Deal Strategy

Beyond deal-specific work, we advise clients on the legal infrastructure that supports a sustainable creative business — from entity formation and standard agreement templates to ongoing general counsel and strategic advice on how to structure relationships with partners, distributors, and collaborators.

First-look deals Co-pro & co-financing Distribution strategy Templates & playbooks General counsel
Film & Television

Production Legal for Every Phase of the Cycle

Ideal for: producers, directors, production companies, documentary teams, independent studios, and streamers.

Good production legal is not about creating obstacles. It is about identifying the right issues early so the project stays on track. Our team works hands-on through development, pre-production, production, and post, bringing a perspective shaped by having sat on all sides of these deals. We know what buyers actually want, what falls apart at the finish line, and how to structure agreements that survive real-world production.

Our documentary and unscripted expertise runs deep. Complex subject clearances, archival rights, multiple rights holders, overlapping talent interests — we have navigated all of it, including some of the highest-profile documentary sales in the market.

Option & acquisition agreements Life rights Production entity structuring Above-the-line talent deals Crew & below-the-line agreements Archival & clip clearances E&O readiness Distribution negotiation Co-production & co-financing Delivery requirements
Key benefit You get senior-level dealmaking experience on every matter. Our practice has closed two of the largest documentary sales in the market. We know what the finish line looks like.
Music Rights

The Full Spectrum of Music Rights Transactions

Ideal for: labels, publishers, documentary teams, streaming platforms, concert producers, festival organizers, rights holders, and music-driven content companies.

Music rights are among the most complex and easily mishandled issues in content production. Our background at UMG gave our team an unusually deep understanding of how music rights function across master rights, publishing, synchronization, public performance, digital distribution, and live event licensing. We have cleared music for award shows and festival performances, negotiated synchronization deals for documentaries, and structured catalog acquisitions and co-publishing arrangements.

We understand both the creative value of music and the commercial structures that govern it — which means we can advocate effectively for rights holders and help producers get their projects cleared without blowing the budget.

Sync licensing (film & TV) Master rights clearance Publishing rights Live performance clearances Festival & award show licensing Co-publishing agreements Catalog acquisitions Digital distribution licensing Concert recording rights
Key benefit Music rights expertise that comes from the inside. Our team has negotiated these deals at major label scale and understands what rights holders will and will not move on — which makes us faster and more effective advocates on both sides of the table.
Business Affairs & Ongoing Counsel

The Legal Infrastructure for a Creative Business

Ideal for: production companies, talent, independent studios, content creators, influencers, and music-driven content businesses building for the long term.

Deal-by-deal legal work is necessary, but it is not enough. The most successful creative businesses we have worked with also have clean legal infrastructure — clear entity structures, well-drafted standard agreements, and a trusted advisor who understands both the legal side and the business side.

We offer ongoing general counsel relationships for clients who want a senior-level business affairs perspective available on a consistent basis, as well as project-specific engagements for clients who need targeted help with a transaction or situation.

First-look & output deals Strategic partnership agreements Agreement templates & playbooks Talent representation agreements Producer agreements Writer agreements Ongoing general counsel Deal strategy & structuring advice
Key benefit You get advisors who understand the business of entertainment, not just the law. Our team has been in the room for hundreds of negotiations and understands what deals look like from the buyer's side, the seller's side, and everywhere in between.
How we work

Low drama. High clarity. Forward motion.

Three things we focus on in every engagement.

01

Get to the key points early.

We focus negotiations on the issues that actually matter — deal points that affect money, control, and creative flexibility. Everything else is paper. We do not let secondary issues slow down the primary transaction.

02

Commercial creativity in structuring.

Good attorneys find ways to say yes. We bring a business affairs perspective to the legal work — which means we are looking for structures that work for both sides and close deals, not positions that score points but blow them up.

03

Reliable follow-through.

We are organized, responsive, and disciplined about keeping deals moving and getting to close. We know how to maintain momentum through long negotiations and complex multi-party situations without losing what matters to our client.

Selected results

A track record at the top of the market.

A sample of deals closed by our team during tenure at UMG / Polygram Entertainment. Shared at a high level.

Selena y Los Dinos

Documentary sold to Netflix. One of the largest documentary deals in the market at the time of closing. Complex multi-party rights clearance involving one of the most iconic music estates in history.

Netflix · Documentary
Man on the Run: A Paul McCartney Story

Documentary sold to Amazon in a top-of-market acquisition. Extensive music rights clearance across one of the most complex catalogs in the world.

Amazon · Documentary
Noah Kahan: Out of the Blue

Structured and closed a multiparty agreement for a music-driven project with Netflix. Complex stakeholder negotiations spanning talent, rights holders, and production.

Netflix · Music Documentary
The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart

Premium documentary for HBO. Award-winning project requiring complex music rights and estate clearances.

HBO · Documentary
Broader track record
Lionsgate first-look deal Apple distribution partnerships NBC content agreements Multi-party co-productions 100+ talent & producer agreements International distribution deals Catalog acquisition transactions Complex clearance frameworks Streaming platform partnerships

These are intentionally high-level. We are happy to discuss specifics in a conversation.

What people say

Trusted by creative and business teams.

"

Brian and I worked together on several complex multi-party deals. As SVP of Business and Legal Affairs at UMG, he coordinated years-long negotiations spanning multiple companies, artists, and estates simultaneously, managing competing interests with patience and clarity. What stood out most was how he treated every party as a genuine partner rather than an obstacle. Brian is an extraordinary dealmaker and a true connector.

Natalia Nastaskin Chief Content Officer, Primary Wave Music Publishing
"

What set them apart was their ability to keep complex multi-party negotiations calm and moving forward. They knew where the real issues were and did not waste anyone's time on the rest. The deal closed on schedule and on terms we could all live with.

[Client Name] Executive, Content Distribution
"

Bliss handled one of the most complex music rights clearances I have ever seen on a documentary. They understood the rights landscape, knew what the labels needed, and found a structure that worked for everyone. Exceptional work.

[Client Name] Director & Producer
Frequently asked

Common questions.

We work with the full range of entertainment clients — talent, producers, production companies, independent studios, streamers, networks, labels, publishers, and individual creators. We are equally comfortable representing a first-time documentary filmmaker navigating their first festival sale and a major production company closing a multi-project deal with a streaming platform.
Yes. Our team's background spans both. We are licensed California attorneys and we have spent over 20 years working on the business affairs side of the entertainment industry — including eight years at the SVP level at a major entertainment company. We understand how deals are structured commercially, not just legally, which makes us more effective in negotiations and deal structuring.
Absolutely. Music clearance for film and television is a significant area of our practice. This includes festival and concert footage clearances, sync licenses for narrative and documentary features, clearing songs for award shows and live events, and working across master rights, publishing rights, and synchronization. Our background at UMG gave us an unusually deep understanding of how labels and publishers approach these negotiations, which helps us move faster and get to yes more efficiently.
We start with a conversation. We want to understand your project, your goals, and what kind of help you need. From there we can structure the engagement as a flat fee for a defined transaction, an hourly arrangement, or an ongoing retainer for clients who want consistent access to senior-level counsel. We try to match the fee structure to the nature of the work.
Yes. A lot of our clients come to us for a specific transaction — a distribution deal, a rights acquisition, a talent agreement, a music licensing issue — and we build from there. You do not need an ongoing retainer to work with us.
Both. We advise companies at all stages and we also work directly with individual talent — writers, directors, producers, musicians, and creators — on their agreements, deals, and business structures. We understand the perspective from both sides of the negotiating table, which makes us more effective for all of our clients.
Yes. We are based in Los Angeles and admitted to the California Bar. Most of our work is in the Los Angeles market, though we regularly work on projects and transactions across all US markets and internationally.
Our team

Senior attorneys. Hands-on every time.

At Bliss Legal Studio, every client works directly with a senior attorney. No hand-offs to junior associates.

Brian Alexander
Brian Alexander Founding Attorney · Entertainment Law & Business Affairs

Brian has been in the entertainment business for over 20 years, working across every sector of the industry. For eight years he served as SVP of Business & Legal Affairs at UMG / Polygram Entertainment, where he led all film and television dealmaking for the division.

During that time he closed some of the largest documentary sales in the market — including deals with Netflix, Amazon, HBO, Apple, and Lionsgate — and helped build Polygram into a credible, premium content player in music-driven documentary and narrative content.

Brian is a licensed California attorney with deep expertise in production legal, music rights, distribution transactions, and ongoing business affairs counsel. His fluency in both the legal and commercial sides of entertainment is what distinguishes his practice.

Production Legal Music Rights Distribution Business Affairs Documentary California Bar
MV
Mara Virabov Founding Attorney · Entertainment Law
Full biography coming soon. We are excited to share more about Mara and her background in entertainment law. Stay tuned.
Entertainment Law Los Angeles
About the firm

Practical counsel. Creative-friendly execution.

Bliss Legal Studio is a Los Angeles-based entertainment law practice focused on film, television, and music rights transactions. We advise talent, producers, production companies, studios, networks, streamers, and creators across every phase of the deal cycle.

Our founding attorney, Brian Alexander, has spent over 20 years in the entertainment business working across every sector — as an agent, a manager, a studio executive, and an attorney. That breadth gives our practice a perspective that is genuinely unusual: we understand what matters to the creative, what matters to the business, and how to find the deal structure that serves both.

We are a boutique practice by design. Every client works directly with a senior attorney who brings real-world dealmaking experience to the table. Our goal is to be the team that makes it easier for creative and business partners to say yes — with terms that are aligned, defensible, and workable in the real world.

California Bar Admitted · Based in Los Angeles · Entertainment law and business affairs

What we stand for
🎯
Directness We tell you what we think, not what you want to hear. That kind of honest counsel saves time and protects you.
🤝
Commercial creativity We look for ways to say yes. The best deals serve both sides, and we bring that perspective to every negotiation.
⚡
Speed and follow-through We are organized, responsive, and disciplined about keeping deals moving and getting to close.
🎵
Music and content fluency We understand the intersection of music rights and film and television production at a depth most entertainment practices do not have.
🏛️
Integrity We have built our reputation deal by deal. Every engagement gets our full attention and our honest best work.

Let's talk about your project.

Email is the best way to reach us. Tell us about what you are working on and we will get back to you quickly.

briankendallalexander@outlook.com Connect on LinkedIn