Neil Ollivierra

Teaches or Lectures in These Online Courses: Motion Picture Production Law.

Neil Ollivierra is the Vice President of Business and Legal Affairs at Lionsgate Entertainment where his responsibilities include negotiating, drafting and amending a wide variety of development and production agreements with respect to rights, cast, crew, location, product release, product placement, turnaround and quitclaim deals, finance, escrow, NOIA, visual effects services, Department of Defense military assistance, real property leases, guarantees and settlement agreements. He provides business and legal counsel to Lionsgate’s development and production executives—interpreting and applying collective bargaining agreement provisions, as well as domestic and foreign case law, civil statutes and administrative code—and drafts memoranda with respect to labor, entertainment and intellectual property matters. He further files intellectual property registration and recordation documents on behalf of the company, including those related to copyrights, trademarks and liens, and has successfully appealed the rejection of trademark applications with the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Prior to entering the practice of law, Professor Ollivierra for many years enjoyed the privilege of working on both the creative and business sides of the arts on an international scale. As the manager of the pioneering techno record label Transmat Records during its most prolific years, wherein celebrated artists such as Grammy-nominated producer Carl Craig exploded onto the global scene, he supervised the development, marketing and licensing of hundreds of musical works in operations based in United States, Europe and Asia. As a professional music producer, he has recorded for record labels in England, Belgium, Japan and the United States, and as a music performer he has toured domestically and abroad. His acrylic paintings hang in homes and corporate environments in Paris, London, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Detroit, and his critical essays on the subjects of film and music have been published in England, Germany and the USA.

Professor Ollivierra perceives art as a discipline of communication, and his professional interests lie in facilitating the development of artistic works that showcase a high standard of craftsmanship and collaboration, and which inspire the exchange of new ideas. “By examining the art of a particular culture, one can learn much of what is deemed important to the everyday lives of its citizens,” he says. “This understanding is key to effective communication, and for me it also nurtures a personal appreciation for the variety of life and beauty that abounds in the world.” Professor Ollivierra earned his law degree at the Southwestern Law School.