Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP 
“Powerful magnetic forces” have brought Hollywood and the Chinese film industry together. And after a period of testing each other out, the relationship has entered a new paradigm, says U.S. entertainment lawyer Lindsay Conner.“China and the States are starting to become better partners in terms of discussing critical business issues and understanding each other’s needs. It has taken a while for the bridging of cultures and styles,” says Conner, partner and co-chair of the entertainment and media practice at L.A.-based...
Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP
Lindsay
Conner
Partner / Co-Chair, Entertainment & Media
He is co-chair of Manatt’s entertainment and media practice and heads the film, television and digital content practice group. He has served as chief outside entertainment counsel for major film studios and television networks, global telecommunications companies, film and television production and distribution companies, and digital media companies, as well as banks, financial institutions and private equity funds.
Conner’s clientele is global, and he advises clients through the entire life cycle of film, television and digital media assets. He has restructured the production and distribution of a multibillion-dollar television franchise, closed half-billion-dollar feature film finance and distribution deals, and negotiated studio film slate and independent film financing deals and international television finance, production and distribution deals, as well as deals for the acquisition of companies and film and television assets.
The Harvard Law School grad also represented Beijing’s Perfect World Pictures in its five-year, 50-film, historic 2016 deal with Universal, valued at $500 million, marking the first direct Chinese investment in a film slate of one of the six major studios. He also repped China’s largest publicly held film company, Huayi Bros, in its three-year, 18-film co-finance deal with STX Entertainment, and represented Sony Pictures Entertainment in two recent deals equaling more than $1 billion.
