Peter Kaufman is an entertainment lawyer and partner at Kaufman Abdel-Aal LLP. He specializes in finance, production and distribution of film, television, music, publishing, digital and internet-based matters. His practice includes the representation of international and domestic distributors, financiers, content libraries, sales agents, producers, directors, writers and actors.
Mr. Kaufman serves on the arbitration panels for the Independent Film and Television Alliance (“IFTA”) and the American Arbitration Association. He is a member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the Producers Guild of America, and Film Independent. Mr. Kaufman is also a former chair of the Intellectual Property and Entertainment Law Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association.
He received an “AV Preeminent” rating from Martindale-Hubbell, a “Superb” rating from Avvo, and Thomson Reuters named him a “Super Lawyer” in 2017 and 2018. These are the highest awards these organizations accord to lawyers.
Mr. Kaufman previously served as General Counsel and Vice-President of Business Affairs for ComedyWorld.com; as Vice-President of Business and Legal Affairs for Film Roman; and as Director of Business and Legal Affairs for the independent production and distribution company, LIVE Entertainment Inc. through its transition to Artisan Entertainment Inc. (subsequently acquired by Lions Gate Entertainment).
Mr. Kaufman has written about entertainment law for “Los Angeles Lawyer Magazine” and blogs at dealfatigue.com. He was a contributor to “The Complete Film Production Handbook”, 4thEd., and the co‑editor of two syllabi on entertainment law. He previously served on IFTA’s drafting committee overseeing one of the revisions to the Model International Licensing Agreement.
Selected speaking engagements include USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, the Film Independent Forum, UCLA Extension, the Bloomberg Film & Television Summit, the Directors Guild of America, and the Producers Guild of America.
Selected press includes interviews with CNBC on crowd funding film, TV and web projects; the Associated Press on the impact of the Academy Awards on talent negotiations; Film Independent on financing and distributing independent motion pictures; and mashable.com on deal-making at Comicon.
Prior to his move into entertainment law, Mr. Kaufman was a litigator with the Century City (Los Angeles) law firm, Parkinson, Wolf, Lazar and Leo.
He is a graduate of Boston University’s School of Law (1989) and earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and psychology from Emory University (1986) in Atlanta.
