What are the responsibilities and job description for the Executive Director, Business Affairs - ABC News position at General Entertainment Content?
The ABC News Business Affairs Executive Director is a seasoned negotiator who is business-minded with a thorough understanding of the culture and drivers of the news media, broadcast, and entertainment industry. This person is a professional who is comfortable with developing and maintaining strong relationships with internal and external colleagues and stakeholders to advance the goals of the business. This individual manages on and off-air talent and production matters for network news and non-fiction programming. They advise network executives on deal structures and negotiate personal employment service agreements with representatives for ABC News production and on-air talent. They also work closely and strategize with ABC News executives to negotiate various production deals, including location releases, as well as partnership agreements for special projects and programming. In addition, this individual advises on rights issues and risk assessments for complex licensing matters related to network programming distribution. Interfaces with various members of the Legal department, including, Labor, Employment, Tax, Transactional, and Litigation to manage legal issues related to the business of the News division. Supervises and reviews work product and reports generated by the department’s contracts administrator. Comfortable working independently with minimal supervision from department’s Senior Vice President and collaborates/escalates on matters when necessary.
Responsibilities :
Basic Qualifications :
Responsibilities :
- Annually negotiate over 140 talent contracts (for all levels of on and off-air talent); license and location agreements for ABC News programming and specials; negotiate with unrepresented talent, lawyers and agents all major deal points including compensation and production duties.
- Hold and lead monthly talent contract meetings with program executives, including the Talent department, Finance, Human Resources, and Operations – advise, counsel, and discuss deal terms; also meet and counsel on an ad hoc basis.
- Negotiate location agreements for special programming on behalf of Good Morning America
- Provide risk analysis on the use of third-party content to the Rights & Clearances Department and key internal stakeholders in conjunction with the Legal department.
- Advise on talent issues for long-form programming.
- Collaborate closely with News Practices, Public Relations, Talent Department, and Rights & Clearances for evaluation of ABC News talent and content.
- Negotiate special projects and partnership deals on behalf of News Practices, Politics Group, and Investigative Unit for special programming related to political and election news coverage.
- Research and report on historical and current data related to talent production service agreements for executive management; supervise work of department’s contracts administrator related to such projects.
- Work closely with members of the Legal department, (Labor, Employment, Transactional, Tax, and Litigation), for guidance and consultation on deal development, completion, and conflict resolution.
Basic Qualifications :
- At least 10 years’ experience in media, business and corporate law
- Have strong understanding and familiarity with both news broadcasting and long-form protocols
- Solid foundational understanding of copyright law and news standards and practices
- Outstanding writing, analysis and negotiating of contracts
- Adept at building and maintaining strong internal and external relationships
- Possess excellent communication and organizational skills