E. O’Brien Kelley has practiced in the areas of general corporate transactional work, film finance, and commercial litigation for over twenty years. In his seventeen years at the international law firm of DLA Piper (in Washington, New York and Los Angeles), he represented major film studios, large institutional lenders, single-picture production companies and film funds in development and production finance, tax credit financing, general corporate transactions, and complex cross-border production deals. He also represented major financial and pharmaceutical corporations in complex litigation matters in state and federal courts across the United States. Since his time at DLA, Mr. Kelley has represented production companies in selecting and forming their corporate entities; the acquisition of intellectual property rights through options, shopping agreements and outright acquisition; and structuring agreements with investors to produce motion picture content. He has also represented on-screen talent in negotiating agreements with their producers and in navigating the complex rules and regulations established by the actors’ guilds. He continues to represent commercial entities in resolving disputes both in and out of the court system, and maintains a solid commitment to representing clients on a pro bono basis.

 

From 2011-2013, as a DLA Piper pro bono initiative, Mr. Kelley, at the request of then-mayor Cory Booker, founded and led the Newark Office of Film and Television, a non-profit organization whose focus was driving film and tv production revenue to Newark, New Jersey and developing film-focused education opportunities for Newark’s young people.  During Mr. Kelley’s tenure as Director of the NOFT, production revenue in the city increased by almost $40MM per year and the NOFT partnered with the TriBeCa Film Institute to create a social justice film exploration program with 30 Newark high school students. In addition, Mr. Kelley worked closely with New Jersey state legislators to revive the state’s film and tv tax incentive program to encourage production companies to create cinematic art in the City of Newark.

 

Mr. Kelley graduated from Miami University in 1990 with B.A. in International Studies and The Moritz College of Law at The Ohio State University with a J.D. in 1994. He is a member of the Bar of the State of New York, The United States Supreme Court and various U.S. Appellate and District Courts in New York and other states.

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Call: 917-375-3092

Email: okelley@obkelleylaw.com