Steven Beer, Rip Beyman Speak with Reuters About Move to Lewis Brisbois’ Entertainment, Media & Sports Practice

New York, N.Y. (July 19, 2021) - New York Partner and National Co-Chair of Lewis Brisbois’ Entertainment, Media & Sports Practice Steven Beer and New York Partner Richard “Rip” Beyman recently spoke with Reuters for an article titled “Dealmaker Pair Sees Bigger Stage in Hop From Boutique to Lewis Brisbois.” The article discusses why the attorneys decided to join Lewis Brisbois, their plans for the future, and their insights on how the pandemic has affected the entertainment industry.

As the article describes, Messrs. Beer and Beyman have worked together as partners for almost a decade at a boutique firm where Mr. Beyman spent 30 years. They have represented individual media and entertainment professionals, as well as film production, finance, and distribution companies. As Co-Chair of Lewis Brisbois’ Entertainment, Media & Sports Practice Jonathan Pink previously noted in a press release regarding Messrs. Beer and Beyman’s arrival at Lewis Brisbois, the attorneys’ work spans "creative conception, IP protection, finance, production, distribution, and talent – managing the gamut of contracts at all levels of the industry.”

Mr. Beer, who represented Britney Spears at the inception of her career, told Reuters that joining a full service law firm would provide him and Mr. Beyman with “the bandwidth to support new clients." He added that although boutique firms give lawyers a “chance to go deep,” Lewis Brisbois will offer clients the benefit of extensive experience across various practice areas. In discussing his plans for cross-practice coordination, Mr. Beer noted, “We have access to expertise that complements ours: in tax, in corporate, in litigation. For our clients, they benefit from having experts across the buffet,” adding, “[Beyman] and I plan to stick to our knitting and team up with other experts in the firm to our clients' benefit.”

In describing how the pandemic impacted the entertainment industry, Mr. Beyman told Reuters that “the entertainment business especially was impacted because production ground to a halt. Any kind of interface with customers was put aside, and it allowed people to develop properties and to think outside the box.” In addition, Mr. Beyman shared his thoughts concerning developments that may take place going forward, explaining, “The blockchain world matured in the pandemic because people were home and thinking of ways to engage audiences. NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, which started out as RPTs, are becoming something that might be expanded into areas of entertainment via touring.”

Likewise, Mr. Beer described, “Perhaps the greatest change last year was the emergence of streaming technology and how it saved the film festival business.” He further noted, “Here I am at Cannes talking with colleagues who program and run film festivals -- they discovered the importance of the streaming technology and virtual programming of their other festivals, and many of them plan to continue leveraging the digital technology. . . . The virtual component that saved many festivals last year is not going away. Although the in-person festival is magical for the people factor, the virtual element can complement the classic festival experience and create new opportunities.”

You may access the full Reuters article here. Learn more about Messrs. Beer and Beyman's professional backgrounds here.