Michael Leow
Partner
Practice Areas
Corporate & Commercial • Media & Entertainment
- Admissions
- Hong Kong • England & Wales (Barrister) • Singapore (Advocate & Solicitor)
- Languages
- Cantonese • English • Mandarin
Contact
- Tel
- (852) 2230 2876
- Fax
- (852) 2845 1637
- michael.leow@haldanes.com
- Profile
Michael has successfully established himself as one of the leading entertainment lawyers in the Asia Pacific Region.
Michael has represented some of the key players in the film and television industry in the region over the last 20 years, some of whom have grown to be good friends.
He started out working with sales agent and distributors advising on cross border film licensing and acquisition deals, before going on to represent production companies, directors and producers in local productions and pan-Asian and international co-productions.
With the changes in the way content is distributed and consumed in the digital world, Michael is increasingly involved in advising on new structures and partnerships for the development, financing and production of content whether it be film or episodic series on a regional and international level.
This has resulted in the need for a more intimate and collaborative relationship with clients to find a total solution from acquisition of original works and IP to production and ultimately maximising commercial exploitation of the finished work.
In addition, Michael has advised clients on financing (equity and debt) of entertainment projects, talent issues and arrangements, live concerts, fan meets, remake and subsequent productions, releases and clearances and chain of title issues.
Michael was a member of the Singapore Film Commission Advisory Committee of the InfoComm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and the Hong Kong Asian Film Awards (AFA) and is currently an honorary legal advisor for the Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF).
Michael has also been involved on the non-legal side of the business and has taken on associate producer roles on some film projects in Asia.
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Notable Cases:
- Advising the HK branch of an overseas bank on their new media financing business providing debt financing to fund the cost of production of feature films in Asia.
- Advising an Indonesian production and financing company in their sale to, and subsequent co-development and coproduction with, Netflix of the episodic series adaptation of award winning Filipino graphic novel “Trese”.
- Advising HK based production company on potential issue arising from it production and distribution of a biopic of a HK singer icon.
- Advising Taiwanese creative agency on their investment and grant programmes for development production and distribution of audiovisual content and the set-up of a creative lab for incubating scriptwriters.
- Representing HK based financier in its co-investment and co-production of the feature film “Cloud Atlas”.
- Advising US/HK VR production company in its collaboration with a US based Christian resource company to produce VR videos for online VR interactive distribution
- Advising US Studio on its 3 picture co-development and coproduction deal with Vietnamese studio
- Advising HK based company on its acquisition of all language audiovisual rights to award winning Chinese novella “Folding Beijing”
- Advising Korean entertainment studio on their content licensing deals for the Asian region
- Film credits include: Co producer for “Au Revoir Taipei” and Associate Producer on “Suk Suk” and “Revenge of the Pontianak”
Publications:
- More than Meets the Eyes to Chinese Artists Salary Caps
- Content development in the digital age: The option purchase deal
- The Media and Entertainment Law Review (Hong Kong Chapter) (4th Edition) by The Law Reviews