Production Attorney Loren Zitomersky (JD '09) on "Mary Poppins Returns"

December 4, 2018 | Loren Zitomersky (JD '09) recently moved to Sony Pictures Entertainment to serve as their Vice President of Legal Affairs, and his move started with a huge motion picture. Loren served as the production attorney on the upcoming film "Mary Poppins Returns." He advised the producers, filmmakers and studio executives, among others, in all legal matters during the production of the film. His main responsibilities included negotiating and drafting the talent agreements (e.g., actors, writers, producers, the director) and any rights acquisition agreements. He also supervised the legal clearances (essentially, analyzing any intellectual property issues and mitigating any associated risks), drafted corporate structuring agreements, reviewed the chain of title, and negotiated and drafted the physical production agreements (e.g., locations, equipment rentals, leases).

Loren said: "Working on this film was one of the best professional experiences of my career because of my fondness for the original Mary Poppins. I very much enjoyed negotiating the deals for such an amazing cast – Emily Blunt, Meryl Streep, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Dick Van Dyke, Colin Firth (among others)! When I read the script for the first time, I knew this was going to be such a magical film, and it turned out better than I could have ever expected. I absolutely love the new music. Emily Blunt does such a superb job as Mary Poppins."

In August of 2018, Loren left Walt Disney Studios after working for the company for a total of nine years (including a Graduate Associate internship during the summer following his 2L year at Pepperdine Law) to take a position at Sony Pictures Entertainment as Vice President, Legal Affairs, Columbia Pictures.