Christopher D. Brearton

Partner

Christopher Brearton is a partner in O’Melveny’s Century City office and is a member of the Entertainment and Media Practice. Christopher primarily advises motion picture studios, independent producers, financial institutions, private equity funds, television networks, and sports organizations. The spectrum of advice ranges from the creation of joint ventures and strategic/financial alliances, to complex commercial licensing/distribution arrangements, to motion picture project financing, to industry-specific mergers and acquisitions.

Christopher is also a former Certified Public Accountant (CPA), having spent several years with the accounting firm of KPMG prior to joining O’Melveny. During his tenure at KPMG, Christopher worked in the Information, Communications and Entertainment practice group, advising clients in the motion picture, music, and television industries.

Christopher was selected by The Los Angeles Business Journal as a member of its "Who's Who in the Entertainment Industry: The Next Generation" and was named a "Rising Star" in a survey conducted by Law and Politics Media, Inc. and published in Los Angeles magazine.

Illustrative Professional Experience

• Represents an international sports organization in connection with the licensing of broadcast and sponsorship rights across the world
• Represents a number of high net worth individuals in connection with the formation, financing and operating of start-up motion picture production companies, including the development, production, financing and distribution of motion picture assets
• Represents major international investment banks and private equity funds in transactions ranging from industry specific mergers and acquisitions, to asset-acked securitization style financings in the motion picture industry, to industry-specific direct equity and debt investments
• Represents leading producer of motion pictures and animated feature films in connection with the spin-off and initial public offering of its animation division and an overall multi-year, multi-picture distribution arrangement with a major studio
• Represented the leading Spanish-speaking television network in its acquisition of broadcast rights for the FIFA 2010 and 2014 World Cups and the mobile platform exhibition rights to the 2006 FIFA World Cup
• Represents a number of senior executives in the entertainment industry in the negotiation of employment agreements

Professional Activities

Counsel Member, The Motion Picture and Television Fund: Next Generation Counsel
Member, Beverly Hills Bar Association
Speaker, "Entering Hollywood and Beyond—Paving the Way for Outside Investors," National Investment Community’s Forum on Entertainment Finance (October 2006)
Awards, Named a "Rising Star" in a survey conducted by Law & Politics Media Inc. and published in Los Angeles magazine (2008); named a Legal500 recommended lawyer for Media, technology and telecoms: Film, music and TV (2008)