The April meeting took place on Wednesday, April 5, in the BHBA Boardroom.
The April meeting minutes are set forth below.

In attendance:

Matthew Belloni mbelloni@hollywoodreporter.com
Dave Bortman davesq@earthlink.net 
Michael Cerrati mcerrati@gmail.com
Judith Dornstein jdornstein@adelphia.net  / Judith@dornsteinlaw.com
Miles Feldman miles@brownewoods.com
Pamela Forster pamelaforster@earthlink.net
Joel Grossman joel@grossmanmediation.com
Nick Kurtz nkurtz@jrllp.com
Leigh Leshner venturepub@aol.com
Susan Rabin srabin@spattorney.com
Caroline Raufi craufi@stroock.com
Marissa Román mroman@akingump.com
Mark Staenberg mstaenberg@bhba.org 

The meeting was CALLED TO ORDER at approximately 8:40 AM.
Marissa Román served as chairperson of the meeting. Caroline Raufi served as co-chairperson of the meeting.
There was no READING OF THE MINUTES of the last meeting.
* * *
Marissa Román began the meeting by introducing a new guest, Nick Kurtz, an attorney with Johnson and Rishwain, practicing entertainment and business litigation.

ENTERTAINMENT LAWYER OF THE YEAR EVENT
Next, Ex Comm members discussed the upcoming Entertainment Lawyer of the Year (ELOY) event honoring Kenneth Ziffren, which will be held on Thursday, April 27, 2006, at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel.
Marissa suggested that the Ex Comm strive to circulate ELOY formal invitations eight (8) to ten (10) weeks prior to future ELOY events.

Marissa informed the Ex Comm that ELOY sales were going well: individual and table sales, Gold, Silver and Bronze Sponsorships.

Marissa thanked Susan Rabin, Judith Dornstein, and Ilsa Jouette for all their sales efforts regarding the ELOY event.
* * *
PRELIMINARY MATTERS

Southwestern Law School/Beverly Hills Bar Association Joint Entertainment Law Symposium
Next, the Ex Comm discussed the upcoming Fall Southwestern Law School/Beverly Hills Bar Association joint
Entertainment Law Symposium. This will be the second such collaborative effort, the first having been the November 2005 “Entertainment Without Borders: Practicing Entertainment Law in a Global Environment,” which was a success.

Caroline Raufi, Pamela Forster, and Eric Harbert are on the symposium planning committee. Caroline gave the Ex Comm an update on the upcoming symposium, which is currently untitled. In order to avoid competing with other various symposiums, such as AFM and the BHBA/USC and UCLA programs, the symposium will be held in mid-April 2007, with the exact date TBD. It will be international in theme. Program topics will address the global marketplace; talent immigration and tax issues; and technology transitions. Caroline pointed out that the symposium last year attracted a lot of students as well as attorneys and others in the entertainment industry. Marissa suggested the BHBA focus on promoting the symposium well in advance of the event. The TV Academy and Women in Film can promote the program to their members; other entertainment organizations that can promote the event should be contacted.

USC Law School/Beverly Hills Bar Association Joint Entertainment Law Symposium
Next, Judith gave the Ex Comm an update on the BHBA/USC Symposium to be held on September 9, 2006, which is currently untitled. This year's program will be broad, focusing on new media and new technology and how to generate revenue, and the Guilds. There will be ethics and litigation panels. Further details TBD.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Next, Marissa congratulated Pamela Forster on the March Program about collaboration agreements and ethical considerations, which was well attended with approximately 80-85 in attendance.
Next, Ex Comm members discussed upcoming programs.

APRIL 19, 2006
Kia Kamran and Leigh Leshner are organizing the April program, " Digital Destination: Nuts and Bolts of Digital Delivery of Music," which will address music content providers in the context of deal-making and media convergence. The IP Section and The Grammy Foundation’s Entertainment Law Initiative will co-sponsor (on a non-revenue sharing basis) the program. The Panelists are Tuhin Roy, Managing Director, Digital Rights Agency; Gary Stiffelman, Partner, Ziffren, Brittenham, Branca, Fischer, Gilbert-Lurie, Stiffelman, Cook, Johnson, Lande & Wolf LLP; and David Ring, Sr VP Business Affairs & Business Development, Universal Music Group. Zahavah Levine, General Counsel, YouTube.Com, will moderate the program.

Marissa reminded Leigh about obtaining Speaker Releases and ensuring Pamela Weston receives all program materials at least one (1) week prior to the program. Marissa also informed Leigh that she and Kia should inform Pam if they intend to include the biographies in the program materials. Leigh will also find out if there will be any audio-visuals, in which case she and Kia will coordinate with Yuri Motruk.

MAY 17, 2006
Gordon Firemark and Joel Grossman are organizing the May program: "A Little Too Friendly: Sexual Harassment in the Friends case." The program will address the "Friends" TV show sexual harassment case pending in the California Supreme Court. The Labor and Employment Law Section will co-sponsor (on a non-revenue sharing basis) the program. Confirmed panelists are Nathan Goldberg (Plaintiff side) and Adam Levin (Defense side). Adam Levin will give a PowerPoint presentation, to be coordinated with Yuri; and there will be TV clips shown at the program, already cleared for use except for the Webcast portion of the program. Joel will follow-up with Pamela Weston regarding the program flyer information.

JUNE 21, 2006
Susan Rabin and Judith Dornstein are organizing the June program: "You May Already be Famous: Developments in Rights of Publicity." The program will address the value of rights and how to manage these rights (whether the person is alive or deceased) and litigation issues, with Bela Lugosi, Jr. giving an overview of the law. The IP Section will co-sponsor (on a non-revenue sharing basis) the program. Confirmed panelists are: Jeremy Williams, Warner Brothers; Lawrence Heller (Defense side); Thomas White, a consultant/expert witness who represents the estates of celebrities; and Bela Lugosi, Jr. of O’Brien Zarian. Susan will moderate the program. Susan indicated the "Perfect Storm" clip may be shown during the program and, if so, will ensure it is cleared for showing at the program if not for the Webcast.

JULY 19, 2006
David Bortman and Miles Feldman will organize the July program, which will address video game publisher trends by such players as Electronic Arts (EA), the largest video game publisher, to develop games based on film titles. The details of the program are in the formative stage. David Freeman, The Freeman Group, Game Designer/Writer Consultant is a confirmed panelist. His bio includes working or having worked as a designer and/or writer on games for Sony, Activision, Ubisoft, Atari, Microsoft, Vivendi Universal Games, and others. David and Miles will work together to secure a lawyer, ideally someone from Electronic Arts or Activision to speak on the panel. In that regard, Miles will contact George Rose, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Activision and extend a speaking invitation to him. Marissa reminded David and Miles that four speakers and a moderator should be the maximum.

David asked the Ex Comm to share any ideas they may have regarding a catchy title for the program.
Michael Cerrati wrote an article on the program topic and Pamela suggested it be included in the program materials. Marc reminded Michael that the BHBA would need re-print permission.
Marissa reminded the Ex Comm that ideally the BHBA would like to receive the basic program title and list of speakers three (3) months in advance of a program. Also, program organizers should inform Pamela Weston of the length of the program, i.e. 1 or 1.5 hours.

AUGUST 9, 2006
Greg Slewitt will organize a program on Branded Entertainment, which has been moved from August 16 to August 9 to accommodate speaker availability. Shaun Clark, a partner in the Entertainment and Media Practice Group at Sheppard Mullin, will moderate. Further program details TBD.

SEPTEMBER 2006
Joe Schleimer will organize the September program on the nuts and bolts of entertainment litigation for non-litigators, which will include a discussion about the use of investigators. Joe has approached the Litigation Section about a program co-sponsorship. Further program details TBD.

OCTOBER 2006
Miles Feldman will organize the October program. Topic and further details TBD.

NOVEMBER 2006
Marissa informed the Ex Comm that the Family Law Section is interested in co-sponsoring a program with the Entertainment Law Section. Further details TBD.
* * *
SUMMER EX. COMM MEETINGS
Next, the Ex Comm discussed the status of summer Ex Comm meetings.
The July Ex Comm meeting will be held on Wednesday, July 12, in light of the July 4 holiday the previous week.

There will be no August Ex Comm meeting.

The September Ex Comm meeting will take place on Wednesday, September 6, the regular meeting date of the first Wednesday of the month.
* * *
CLOSING COMMENTS
Next, Marc Staenberg announced that the BHBA has been in negotiations with the Hollywood Reporter (HR) regarding its advertising of future BHBA events in terms of both HR print and its new Hollywood Reporter Esquire publication that will focus on entertainment law, scheduled to launch in mid to late May 2006. HR will be a media sponsor of the 2006 ELOY. Further, HR wants to do a special congratulatory and substantive issue about the BHBA in connection with its 75th Anniversary Gala in December 2006.

Matthew Belloni has joined the Hollywood Reporter as legal editor of the new HR Esquire publication, which, among other items, will include databases of all deals and litigation filings, a weekly digest (featuring trend stories, profiles of big cases, deals, attorneys involved), and an events calendar. There will be a daily updated Web site component. Attorneys will be able to submit articles for publication. Marissa suggested that Matthew contact the marketing directors of the various law firms, as they are good at funneling articles. Matthew asks that anyone with any story idea suggestions or contributions please contact him at mbelloni@hollywoodreporter.com.
In closing, Marissa reminded the Ex Comm members to purchase a ticket for the ELOY event.
* * *
FUTURE EX. COMM. MEETINGS
The May meeting will take place at 8:30 a.m. on May 3, 2006 (on the regular meeting date of the first Wednesday of the month).
* * *
There being no further business to discuss, the meeting ADJOURNED at approximately 9:45 a.m.