David Shraga

Of Counsel
Email: david@annagueymccann.com
Phone: 424.431.0078

Entertainment lawyer, former studio executive and dealmaker, litigator, and mediator David Shraga advises artists and industry stakeholders across the range of issues arising in today’s evolving media and intellectual property landscape. He helps them to close deals, achieve their business goals with integrity, and resolve disputes that might stand in the way.

In the digital media era, David has kept clients at the forefront of transformation by crafting and structuring new domestic and international models of development, production, financing and distribution. With the dynamic changes come new relationships, new pressures and, inevitably, new headwinds to navigate for talent, studios and creators transforming the industry. David addresses the challenges by building common ground amid competing demands while preserving respect for each party in the process.

David’s major Hollywood studio experience is notable. After serving as lead negotiator for domestic and global SVOD productions on behalf of Universal’s international television studio, he most recently guided Miramax’s international television operations as Senior Vice President and Head of Global Television Business & Legal Affairs.

Working within the studio system, David has advised studio presidents, senior leadership and high-level producers, and he’s negotiated with the top agents and dealmakers in the industry acting on behalf of the premiere artists in the business.

Included among his deals are projects for Guy Ritchie (The Gentlemen), Working Title (producers of Bridget Jones), Carnival Films (producers of Downton Abbey and Day of the Jackal), David Heyman (producer of Harry Potter and Apples Never Fall), the Halloween and Child’s Play franchises, Martin Scorsese, Kevin Hart, Freida Pinto, and other A-list performers and directors.

Known for his patient disposition, courtesy and integrity, David has spent his entire career deftly resolving the emotional and business issues that arise in relationships with talent and their representatives, studios and platforms, and other key industry collaborators. His experience includes scores of traditional and novel talent and rights deals, licensing and distribution agreements for platforms such Netflix, Amazon Prime, Apple+ and others, and domestic and international co-production arrangements with collaborators in the UK, France, Spain, Australia, Canada and beyond.

David’s prior experience as a trial lawyer in private practice adds another dimension to his advice and counsel.

His early career highlights include building a complex litigation and intellectual property law practice at Alschuler Grossman Stein & Kahan LLP. Next, he founded a litigation boutique focused on entertainment, media and IP law, enhancing his practical perspective on resolution as a business owner himself. David has also served as a guest lecturer on television law and IP at Pepperdine Caruso School of Law.

As a mediator of litigated cases, David draws from his cumulative and varied experiences, including in courtrooms and as settlement counsel on global deals and disputes. He applies his in-house practicality to guide parties toward resolution in entertainment, media, IP and complex business cases.

David contributes to the Los Angeles legal community on several fronts. As secretary of the Entertainment Law Section of the Beverly Hills Bar Association, and as a speaker to groups such as Women in AI Governance, he has offered cutting edge webinars analyzing the first AI litigation suit brought by the major Hollywood studios against a generative AI company.

He is also a co-host of Will Work For Food, which to date has raised nearly $1MM by offering donation-based educational programming for an international audience of mediators/arbitrators, lawyers and others who negotiate.

As a moderator and speaker, he has led webinars offering tips to demystify the Hollywood dealmaking process, strategies for managing complex and emotionally charged negotiations, and effective techniques for mediators.

David is also a member of the Southern California Mediation Association and has spoken at their annual conference on negotiation strategies in the entertainment industry that achieve breakthrough results. Additionally, David serves as a volunteer mediator with the Los Angeles Superior Court’s Resolve LA Mediation Program, as well as with California Lawyers for the Arts, and as a mediator trainer for the Western Center on Law & Poverty.

David earned his undergraduate degree from Yale University and then headed West to USC Gould School of Law, where he was a member of Southern California Law Review and worked as a full-time extern for the Honorable Dean D. Pregerson (C.D. Cal.). David serves as Of Counsel with Annaguey McCann, providing a resource for entertainment and media clients in connection with their commercial contracts, rights and services agreements, and strategic business operations.

Practice Areas
Entertainment and Media Transactions and Litigation
Arbitration/Mediation
Complex Business Litigation
Intellectual Property Transactions and Litigation
Labor & Employment (Media/Entertainment)