LAUREN MENKES is a transactional entertainment attorney with over 30 years of experience spanning all aspects of the television/streaming, motion picture and literary industries including scripted, unscripted, live action and animated formats. Lauren’s current roster of clients includes authors, screenwriters, speakers, journalists, directors, producers, actors/reality talent, models, business executives, graphic designers, literary agents and more. Lauren diligently guides her clients from the development through distribution stages to protect their intellectual property and brand status. At Boyarski Fritz, she also works on major television, streaming, feature and podcast transactions.

 

Prior to joining Boyarski Fritz, Lauren had her own private practice for several years after working at Wise Entertainment Law, where she negotiated, drafted and revised reality television development and production contracts for the firm’s production company clients including talent and location access agreements, hold agreements, music licenses, releases (e.g., footage, location, talent, trademark) and co-production agreements with a variety of networks. There, she was also production counsel for numerous unscripted pilots and series as well as handled executive employment agreements and speaking engagement agreements for individual clients.

 

Before her private practice, Lauren spent two decades in Los Angeles as an in-house legal and business affairs executive for various companies including United Talent Agency, Comedy Central, PorchLight Entertainment, Walt Disney Television, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, and Vidmark (now Lionsgate).

 

While at UTA (for over 6 years), Lauren negotiated television (reality and scripted), feature development and production contracts for individual and corporate clients of the agency, including a broad array of transactions such as test options for pilot/series, movies of the week, host, voice-over, commercials, endorsements, sponsorships, holding, blind script, staff writer, executive producer, director, overall and network license agreements. She also negotiated and drafted numerous option/purchase rights acquisition and shopping agreements for books, screenplays and/or life stories for the agency’s prominent author clients for release as motion pictures and series.

 

Prior to United Talent Agency, Lauren was Vice President of Business & Legal Affairs, West Coast for Comedy Central for over three years. At Comedy Central, Lauren created their templates and negotiated and drafted development and production agreements for live action and animation programming, including format licenses and package fees. She also advised the company on clearance matters, location agreements, lease agreements for production offices and filming facilities, music and clip licensing, and labor issues. At CC, she was the production attorney for numerous series.

 

Before joining Comedy Central, Lauren was Vice President of Business Affairs for PorchLight Entertainment for two years. As the company’s first and sole in-house counsel, she created all their templates and negotiated and drafted agreements for development, production, co-production, financing, acquisition and distribution, including broadcaster licensing agreements, AFMA licenses and ancillary rights agreements such as merchandising, music licensing, library rights collection, for non-union and union children’s and family entertainment programming.

 

Lauren is an active member of the New York and Maryland Bars and an inactive member of the California and District of Columbia Bars. Lauren graduated magna cum laude with an A.B. degree from Duke University and received her J.D. degree from Emory University School of Law. 

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Lauren is a Duke University Library Advisory Board Member and a DukeDC Board Member (as the founding DC/MD/VA regional chapter representative of the Duke Entertainment Media & Arts Network "DEMAN"). Lauren is also an active volunteer for Duke Alumni Engagement and Development and Duke Careers. Lauren is a former member of the Women in Film & Video (WIFV) Board but is still an active volunteer and member. She does pro bono legal work through MDVLA and WALA and mentors college students and young professionals.

 

Lauren resides in Bethesda, MD with her husband and cavapoo and frequently travels to NYC where she was born and raised.

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