Matthew Valentinas
Of Counsel

Matthew ValentinasMatthew Valentinas advises an array of clients covering all transactional entertainment matters including authors, screenwriters, directors, producers, production companies, publishers, life-story rights, estate rights, comedians, broadcasters, actors, podcasters, and radio and television personalities.

Matthew has also held business affairs positions for a major studio, an international sales agency, and two independent film and television distributors. In his role as production counsel for projects Matthew handles everything from loan-out company formation and production financing through development, pre-production, production, post-production, sales and exhibition. A list of agreements Matthew handles for clients include the following:

  • Production counsel for feature length motion pictures, television series and documentaries
  • Book-to-film/television agreements
  • Publishing agreements
  • Life-story depiction and estate rights agreements
  • Option & purchase agreements
  • Producer agreements
  • Development agreements
  • Investor and financing agreements
  • Talent and crew agreements
  • Licensing and distribution agreements
  • Sales agency agreements
  • Advise and negotiate deals for unscripted and alternative television series (i.e. reality TV)
  • Corporate filings including Articles of Incorporation (C-Corp & S-Corp) and Articles of Organization (LLCs)
  • Shopping and appearance agreements
  • Loan-out corporations and personal service contract negotiations
  • Management agreements
  • Acquisition agreements
  • Crowdfunding counsel
  • Branding and merchandising agreements
  • Marketing and promotional agreements
  • Collaboration and co-production agreements
  • Non-Disclosure Agreements
  • Location Agreements
  • SAG-AFTRA, WGA, DGA, PGA, IATSE review and compliance
  • Releases and clearance review
  • Opinion letters for First Amendment and fair use issues
  • Copyright registration and analysis

Matthew is also an affiliated agent with the New York and Boston literary agency, Kneerim & Williams, LLC. Kneerim & Williams is a full-service literary and dramatic rights agency. Additionally, he also is the literary manager for numerous authors and screenwriters under his Mom’s Basement Management banner handling long term career strategy for clients. Managing tasks include providing submission services, screenplay and manuscript coverage, and advising on book proposal creation. Matthew also serves as an Executive Producer on numerous film and television and digital media productions through Mom’s Basement Media Inc. which packages and produces projects based on rights acquired or represented by Matthew.

He frequently speaks on panels at film festivals, colleges, and law schools including The New Hampshire Film Festival, The Boston Globe Documentary series, Harvard Square Script Writers, The Independent Television Festival, Bright Lights Series at Emerson College, Northeastern University, University of New Hampshire Law School, and New England Law School. Matthew has been interviewed by numerous radio and television shows, magazines, and newspapers including The Hollywood Reporter, Le Figaro, Deadline Hollywood, The New York Daily News, Der Spiegel, Elle Magazine, The National Enquirer, RTL Television, NPR, RT, The Daily Mail, The Guardian, and The Boston Globe among numerous other publications and podcasts.

Matthew received his BFA in film and television production from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University and earned his JD from Suffolk University Law School. He is admitted to practice in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. You can reach him on Twitter @MattValentinas.

Email: Matt@sennottwilliams.com
Phone: 617.303.1663