On Tuesday, we had the honor of having Alison Lima, Head of Business and Legal Affairs at DreamWorks Animation, speak to us at lunch. It was especially nice to have her speak as Ms. Lima is a '96 grad of King Hall. She mentioned that when she went here, not only did the school have a newspaper, but she wrote snarky TV reviews of Beverly Hills, 90210 and Melrose Place. Anyone want to resurrect this? Because I am definitely on board.
Some of you may remember reading about Ms. Lima in the UC Davis magazine sent out last Christmas. Here is a pdf version of the magazine, her feature occurs on page 26, and is a great read
https://www.law.ucdavis.edu/publications-broadcasts/files/Counselor-2013.pdfHer presentation began with an introduction to DreamWorks Animation. First, we watched a sizzle reel celebrating their 20th anniversary. It included clips from all 28 features they've made to date. I didn't even realize DreamWorks did "Chicken Run" until seeing it. She has been at the company for 14 years, so she has been involved with a great deal of their films. Ms. Lima also mentioned that Dreamworks has been on the list of Top 100 Places to Work for the past 5 years, and after hearing her presentation, we can all see why.
Ms. Lima then discussed her path to DreamWorks. While working at a firm, she was assigned to a case involving a dispute between Jeffrey Katzenberg and Walt Disney Company. She said that over the 2 years she worked on that case, she came to realize that a) she didn't like litigation, and b) that she really liked the people at DreamWorks. She took one of the employees out for lunch, and asked for a job. Thankfully, a position opened up, and she went to work for them. Early on the job, her superior quit, leaving her with all of the responsibility and relatively little experience in studio contracts. After having to take over, someone told her to pay attention to four things in a contract: 1) No injunctive relief, 2) Insurance clause, 3) Indemnity clause, and 4) Works for Hire/ownership language.
Next, she gave us a little Studio 101. She discussed the differences between business and legal affairs at most studios. Business affairs are generally the deal-makers. They negotiate deal points: how to pay, who is being paid on the back-end, material terms with talent, etc. Legal affairs, on the other hand, draft the long form agreements, serve as production counsel, and are responsible for contract compliance. She said that the best attorneys in business affairs once worked in legal affairs, because legal affairs deal with very fine details.
She also gave general advice for students. She emphasized that you should always behave like you are interviewing for your dream job. She discussed the importance of firm experience, good grades, understanding of contracts, and not giving up if you are initially passed over for a position.
Ms. Lima concluded her presentation by talking about some of her proudest franchise deals. First, she discussed How to Train Your Dragon. DreamWorks initially only purchased the motion picture rights for the first book, but before the film was released, the studio bough the rights to the entire thirteen-book series. Due to this, they were able to create a franchise, complete with viking ship displays in Wal-Marts, and two seasons of a TV show that is meant to bridge the time between the two films. Ms. Lima also talked about buying the copyright in Troll dolls, which are soon to be known as DreamWorks' Trolls. And she ended with the preview for the upcoming film, Mr. Peabody and Sherman, which she helped negotiate the deal for over 8 years ago. You can check it out here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hy6oD7BZw50.
Ms. Lima continued what has been an excellent culture week for ESLS. We wanted to thank her again for coming back to Davis and speaking to us.
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