Players On the Move

Melina Spadone, who while at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman served as a crisis attorney for the producers behind the movie Rust, is taking the legal reins for one of those producers. Spadone recently started as general counsel and chief of staff for Thomasville Pictures, a boutique studio and production-services firm headquartered in Thomasville, GA. Its credits include the 2022 films Sam and Kate starring Dustin Hoffman, Bandit with Josh Duhamel and Mel Gibson, and One Way with Kevin Bacon. Spadone was working from Pillsbury's New York offices when, in October 2021, producer Alec Baldwin accidentally fatally shot cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during filming in New Mexico. Baldwin, who also is star of the Rust film, said he thought the gun he was rehearsing with contained only dummy rounds. In the aftermath of Hutchins' death, the New Mexico Department of Occupational Health and Safety Review Bureau charged that the production team had failed to "furnish employment and a place of employment which were free from recognized hazards" and characterized it as a serious, "willful" violation. The bureau in 2022 fined the producers $136,793, the maximum permitted under the law. Spadone worked with Pillsbury partner Tom Van Wyngarden to persuade the bureau to reduce the penalty to $100,000 and remove the "willful" characterization. "We are satisfied that the settlement reflects the right outcome: The withdrawal by the bureau of the 'willful' designation, reduced penalties and revised alleged violation description language which removed largely unnecessary, inflammatory language," Wyngarden said following the February 2023 resolution. In an interview with Law.com, Spadone called Hutchins' death "an unimaginable and horrible tragedy." She said that part of her motivation to join Thomasville was to resolve that issue and help provide some semblance of closure for the Hutchins family. The death spurred a barrage of litigation, including a suit brought by Hutchins' widower Matthew Hutchins and their young son. The parties reached a confidential settlement, though one term was that Matthew be made an executive producer of the film. Another case, which remains in the early stages, was filed in June by Hutchins' mother and sister in New Mexico. It alleges that "Baldwin chose to play Russian Roulette with a loaded gun without checking it and without having the armorer do so. His behavior and that of the producers of Rust were intentional and/or negligent acts and/or omissions, without any just or excuse and with utter disregard of consequences of said acts and/or omissions." In 2022, the Hollywood Reporter named Spadone among the best 35 crisis lawyers in the entertainment business for her work on the Rust case. Spadone, who plans to remain based in Los Angeles, said she will have a range of responsibilities at Thomasville. One of those will be finalizing credits for Rust, which resumed production in April 2023 and is scheduled for release in November. Thomasville typically produces 10 to 12 movies a year. Spadone will be handling any litigation from lenders related to its productions as well as helping it execute plans to begin producing films in Europe, which will require navigating European Union regulations. … Henry Hoberman is retiring as chief legal and business affairs officer of A+E Networks, wrapping up a nearly four-decade career in the tumultuous and fast-moving entertainment industry. Hoberman has been legal chief of New York City-based A+E Networks since 2013, a span when the company expanded its global footprint and launched novel programming, including several series featuring World Wrestling Entertainment personalities. A+E Networks, owned by a joint venture of The Walt Disney Co. and Hearst, is best known for the cable channels A+E, History and Lifetime, which each has about 65 million U.S. subscribers. It also operates a host of other networks, including Crime + Investigation, Blaze and Vice TV. Deadline broke the news of Hoberman's retirement and reported that his successor will be Deputy General Counsel Stephanie Plasse and that she'll transition to the chief legal and business affairs officer role in February 2025. Plasse has risen through A+E Networks' legal ranks since joining the company in 2013. Before that, Plasse spent nearly four years at HBO, where she served as vice president, networks business and legal affairs. Before going in-house, she was an associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore and at Greenberg Traurig. Hoberman, who will continue with A+E as a consultant, joined the company 11 years ago after serving two years as global general counsel of the Motion Picture Association of America. Earlier in his career, Hoberman was an assistant U.S. attorney, a partner at Baker & Hostetler and co-leader of its media and communications group, and held various leadership roles at The Walt Disney Co. and ABC, including head of litigation for all of ABC's media properties. … Veteran sports and entertainment attorney Andrew Lee is leaving the firm Foley & Lardner to return to the New York Jets and resume his role heading the football team's legal department. Lee served as the Jets general counsel from 2005 to 2009. He is replacing Jill Kelley, who stepped down as the team's top lawyer in July after four years in the role. Lee's reunion with the Jets comes as the National Football League (NFL) strives to expand its international media-rights deals. The NFL's annual revenue has swelled to about $20 billion, and Commissioner Roger Goodell aims to reach $25 billion by 2027. The league is seeking a candidate to succeed its longtime General Counsel Jeff Pash, who has been in the NFL's legal department since 1997. In 2020, Lee joined Foley's New York office as special adviser to the firm's sports and entertainment group, whose other attorneys shared Lee's in-house experience with major professional sports teams, including Michael Wall, who served with the National Hockey League's Boston Bruins, and former National Basketball Association assistant general counsel Jon Israel. From 2011 to 2014 Lee was general counsel to the NY/NJ Super Bowl Host Committee, the group responsible for organizing Super Bowl XLVIII. Between 2009 and 2020 Lee founded and managed the practice ALL Counsel, primarily serving as outside counsel to clients in sports and entertainment. Prior to joining the Jets, he was an attorney at New York-based Proskauer Rose for eight years, working with the firm's sports law group. … Christine Masse, a Seattle attorney who has spent her entire 25-year career with the law firm Miller Nash, is stepping down to become chief legal officer of the city's two professional soccer teams — Major League Soccer's Seattle Sounders and the National Women's Soccer League's Seattle Reign. The two teams have had overlapping ownership since June, when the Sounders combined with private equity giant Carlyle Group to buy the Reign for $58 million from the French holding company OL Groupe. Washington, D.C.-based Carlyle Group's purchase of the team was the latest in a string of big bets in sports, media and entertainment. Since 2018, it has plowed more than $4 billion into the sectors, including investments in the global sports marketing company Infront, and Deltatre, a technology provider for the sports industry. Masse's new role serves as her first job change since she received her law degree from the University of Washington in 1999 and began as an associate at Miller Nash that October. She's been a partner there since 2007, working with clients in a broad swath of fields, including regulated industries and sports. In recent years, Masse served as co-chair of the firm's sports, entertainment and media team, advising clubs and venues on legal and operational issues. Masse co-chaired Miller Nash's tribal team, providing counsel to Native American tribes on such issues as gaming and real estate, and chaired the firm's cannabis team. In the news release announcing Masse's hiring, the Sounders said she "will be responsible for ensuring legal compliance across all organizational and club operations, providing expert and tactical legal guidance to proactively manage risk and facilitate strategic business initiatives."