Sidley Austin LLP announced today that Matthew C. Thompson, a prominent media and entertainment lawyer, has agreed to join Sidley as a partner and as co-head of Sidley’s media and entertainment practice. He will play a key role in leading the firm’s media and entertainment practice as it continues to expand as part of its new Century City office. Mr. Thompson’s arrival further demonstrates Sidley’s commitment to continued growth in Los Angeles and the active expansion of its media and entertainment resources following Sidley’s announcement that Dan Clivner, a leading M&A and private equity lawyer who has handled major transactions in the media and entertainment industry, joined the firm.
Mr. Thompson co-led the entertainment group at his prior firm, where he built a substantial practice focused on serving clients in the media and entertainment sector. He regularly represents entertainment companies and sources of capital, in connection with high-profile M&A and financing transactions. He has extensive experience handling complex transactions for clients, including Entertainment One Limited in the acquisition of a 51 percent interest in the Mark Gordon Company, and One Three Media (a joint venture between Mark Burnett and Hearst Entertainment), Mark Burnett Productions and Lightworks Media, and their principals in the disposition of a 55 percent interest to MGM.
“Matt is an extremely talented lawyer who brings tremendous versatility and market knowledge to our media and entertainment practice, as well as to our expanding West Coast corporate and finance groups,” said Skip Stern, who leads Sidley’s film finance practice and is a co-leader of Sidley’s Global Finance practice. “He is highly experienced in handling the full spectrum of sophisticated deals in the media and entertainment space, and is ideally suited to lead our media practice in Los Angeles.”
“Matt joins us at an exciting time,” said Mike Kelley, co-managing partner of Sidley’s Los Angeles office and member of the firm’s Executive Committee. “We have just opened our Century City office, and we are highly focused on expanding our media and entertainment practice.”
“We sought out Matt because of his reputation as one of the top media and entertainment lawyers in the industry,” said Dan Clivner, co-managing partner of Sidley’s Los Angeles office. “Our goal of being a leader in Los Angeles and in this practice area is significantly enhanced by Matt coming on board.”
Mr. Thompson is a Chambers-ranked lawyer (Media & Entertainment: Transactional) and was recently named to The Hollywood Reporter’s 2015 “Top 100 Power Lawyers” list, an honor he’s received multiple times. He was also recognized by Variety as a 2015 Legal Impact Report honoree, which identifies the top 50 entertainment lawyers making a noteworthy impact in the entertainment industry. Variety has also named him a “Hollywood Dealmaker” on multiple occasions and he has been recognized in Variety’s annual “Dealmakers Impact Report.” In addition, the Daily Journal recognized him as one of California’s Top 50 Entertainment Lawyers in 2014. Mr. Thompson currently serves as the co-chair of the UCLA Entertainment Symposium Advisory Committee.
Source: www.sidley.com
