Apr 1, 2021
We welcome US Entertainment Attorney-David Helfant to The Entertainment Engine podcast!
David’s clients have included Hollywood actress Jennifer Love Hewitt, Johnny Carson, Paramount Pictures, Walt Disney, Slash, Sony Pictures & John Travolta plus much more…
This week on The Entertainment Engine podcast we welcome a very special guest US entertainment attorney — David Helfant to the show.
For the past 40 years, David has been practicing as an entertainment attorney specializing in music, motion picture, television, and video production and distribution.
He also focused on emerging growth and new technologies, new media, and the digital distribution of music on the Internet for various corporate and entertainment clients.
David Helant is an expert in representing record producers, recording artists, record and publishing companies, major motion picture studios, and television, film, and video production companies.
His clients have included Johnny Carson, Slash, Van Halen, Stanley Clarke, Teddy Pendergrass, Columbia Pictures, The Walt Disney Company, Paramount Pictures, to name just a few.
David Helfant was the Senior Vice President of Paramount Pictures and headed their Music Business and Legal Affairs Department for almost four years where he supervised attorneys, paralegals, and assistants in negotiating and documenting soundtrack album, artist, producer, license, and music publishing agreements for motion picture productions at Paramount, MTV Films, and Nickelodeon Films.
Paramount pictures projects have included the following;
“The Italian Job”, “The Longest Yard”, “School Of Rock”, “Mean Girls”, “Rugrats Go Wild”, “Team America”, “The Manchurian Candidate”, “Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow”, “Lemony Snicket’s A Series Of Unfortunate Events”, “SpongeBob Squarepants: The Movie”
David has also been outside music counsel for The Weinstein Company, performing Business & Legal Affairs services on award-winning and highly acclaimed films such as;
“Lion”, “Gold”, “Southpaw”, “No Escape“, “August: Osage County”, “Lee Daniels’ The Butler”, “Big Eyes”, “Philomena”, “Snowpiercer”, “The Iron Lady”, “My Week With Marilyn”, “Paddington”, “I Don’t Know How She Does It”, “Escape From Planet Earth”, “Scream 4”, “Scary Movie 5”, “The Tillman Story” and “Lawless”.
This also brought the opportunity for David to work and manage the US Actress, producer, director, author, singer/songwriter, Jennifer Love Hewitt, whose Hollywood career spans almost 30 years.
Jennifer achieved much of her success by starring in movies such as,
“I Know What You Did Last Summer,” “Heartbreakers,” “Can Hardly Wait” and “The Client List”, a movie of the week for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television.
But, her biggest break when she was younger was getting signed to LA Gear, which resulted in a global poster deal with the sneaker company and Michael Jackson.
The news headlines, “Jacko and Love”, appeared everywhere around the world.
David Helfant has also worked with many other high-profile clients over the years, which have included the following;
Johnny Carson, Slash, John Travolta, The Kinks, Phil Collins, Genesis, Savage Garden, Paul Rodgers, Jennifer Warnes plus much more.
David has also acted as the music supervisor for Troika Pictures’ “The Call” starring Halle Berry and Abigail Breslin and directed by Brad Anderson, whose credits include “The Machinist” and “Transsiberian”.
The Picture was released on March 15, 2013, by Sony Pictures Entertainment in the U.S. and Canada and opened at №2 at the box office for $17.1 million.
David has also packaged and sold several music-driven TV specials to PBS, including “Rock Prophecies”, the award-winning documentary on the life and career of Robert Knight, the famous rock photographer whose work has including the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Jeff Beck, Slash, ZZ Top, and Stevie Ray Vaughn.
Plus David Helfant has had the privilege of sitting on the Board of Governors for the L.A. Chapter of the Recording Academy for 10 years.
During that time frame, he was Secretary of the L.A. Chapter for 2 years, served as the Chair of the Advocacy Committee and the Co-Chair of the Jazz Committee with Dave Koz, and has been a member of the Recording Academy for 36 years.
David also talks about The Guitar Center Music Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on granting instruments and other musician services to various music education non-profit organizations, recently announced the appointment of David as Chairman of the Board for the Foundation.
The announcement was made by the Foundation’s Board of Directors and reflects the organization’s goal of growing its charitable initiatives.
Through his new venture as a principal in 4Jacks Entertainment, David is acting as the exclusive branding and licensing agent for the world-renowned Troubadour nightclub in West Hollywood, including producing a live concert TV series called “Live From The Troubadour” and a ten-hour documentary about the life and times of Doug Weston in opening and running one of the most important and influential concert venues in the world.
The Troubadour was voted the №2 venue in the country by Rolling Stone magazine!.
There will also be a new merch line created for The Troubadour and sold at many retailers across the country.
David has also worked with a wide variety of corporate clients over the years including the following entertainment industry giants:
The Walt Disney Company, Paramount Pictures Corporation, Lucasfilm Ltd, Sony Pictures Entertainment, NBC Universal Television, The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, Spyglass Entertainment, Interscope Pictures, The Little Film Company.
Having spent time with David at last years NAMM industry event in Los Angeles, it was very clear to me, Davids's ethos and outlook on life and the entertainment industry is a positive one mixed with decades of experience and knowledge working with some of the most iconic industry figures for the past 40 years!
To learn more about the chat with David, click on the podcast link below;
David’s ability to pivot between music manager, entertainment attorney, music supervisor, and philanthropist is attributed and a credit to his drive to bring huge value to the community.
It is certainly going to be an interesting year for us all, but ONE thing is for sure to navigate the entertainment industry you are going to need a great team with experienced advisors — across; legal, management, accountant & agent!
By Pete Moore
