Kirk T. Schroder, Partner

Education

• University of Virginia, Ph.D.
• University of Richmond, J.D.
• University of Richmond, B.A. & B.S.B.A.

Personal Affiliations

• Former Chair of the American Bar Association Forum on Entertainment & Sports Industries Virginia State Bar

Publications

• The Essential Guide to Entertainment Law, co-edited by Kirk Schroder

Bar Admissions

• New York
• Virginia
• District of Columbia
• Georgia

Practice Areas

• Film
• Film Production
• Film Finance
• Collective Bargaining Agreements
• Film Distribution
• Union & Non-Union
• Live Theater & Stage Appearances
• Television
• TV Production
• Interactive Games & Entertainment
• Game Financing
• Game Publishing
• Publishing
• Authors
• Advances
• Major, Regional, Academic, Niche Publishers
• Agent-Author Relationships
• Book Publishing Contracts
• Ancillary Rights
• Magazine Publishing
• National Syndication
• Newpapers
• Music
• Musicians
• Record Labels
• Live Performance Promoters
• Venues
• Visual Arts
• Public Art
• Private Art
• Art Merchandising
• Art Licensing
• Education Policy Advocacy

Representative Matters

• Kirk serves as counsel for film production companies and film financiers who have distribution agreements with major Hollywood studios. Representing award-winning, independent filmmakers and producers, he has extensive working knowledge of the many legal and business aspects of filmmaking (including production, collective bargaining agreements, financing and distribution arrangements). For more than a decade, he served as a counsel to Universal Pictures. Kirk also represents creative talent such as writers, directors and actors for varying size productions both in union and non-union settings.
• Kirk was instrumental in the formation of and provided legal representation for one of the leading public speakers forums in the United States, which involved negotiating public appearances for celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, Mikhail Gorbachev, Margaret Thatcher, and many other nationally popular speakers. His work on the stage extends from clients in various regional playhouses to those in off-Broadway and off-off Broadway related theater venues.
• Kirk’s television practice includes representing executive producers, show runners, writers, directors, actors and story right holders. A number of his clients have various types of production deals in both episodic and non-scripted television programming with major broadcast and cable networks and with PBS. Kirk has worked on behalf of many on-air personalities, several of whom are nationally syndicated.
• An emerging part of Kirk’s law practice is in the interactive entertainment and gaming space where Kirk works primarily with game developers in financing arrangements and with publisher agreements and related legal issues. He has presented at legal conferences on topics related to game development and is a member of the Video Game Bar Association.
• Kirk has strong credentials in the field of literature, representing a broad array of authors, from first-time novelists to well-established writers commanding six-figure advances and more. He has hands-on experience with publishers, ranging from major houses to regional, academic and niche presses. He has negotiated the full spectrum of literary publishing deals, from agent-author relationships to book publishing contracts and ancillary rights. Kirk also has represented magazine publishers and nationally syndicated writers whose work runs in major newspapers and magazines.
• Kirk’s legal work in the music industry is primarily talent-oriented. He also represents various regionally known record labels. Representative clients currently include a variety of artists with major or independent record label deals as well as several major live performance promoters and venues.
• Kirk has a significant law practice involving public and private art. He is a past chairman of the Virginia State Bar’s Lawyers for the Arts Committee and has been honored for his legal work by the Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts. Many of his clients have merchandising and licensing deals for the use of their visual images with major national catalogues. Kirk is a frequent lecturer on visual art law-related topics.
• Kirk's many clients include representing Universal Pictures in numerous film productions, New York Times Best Selling Authors: David Baldacci (Wish You Well), Margot Shetterly (Hidden Figures) and Beth Macy (Dopesick), MTV reality television stars Catelynn and Tyler Baltierra, television documentary company Lone Wolf Media, nationally acclaimed game designer Bruce Glassco, astrologer Susan Hughes, the Amazon Aid Foundation, the International Baptist Mission Board, the estate of sculptor Felix de Weldon, The Symphony Orchestra of Northern Virginia, the national art project "Americans Who Tell The Truth" and The David Ortiz Children's Fund.
• In live stage Kirk has counseled various Equity theater houses. He was counsel to the largest public speaker forum in the nation and to one of the top five advertising agencies in the USA ("The Martin Agency").
• Kirk has handled a variety of film and television finance issues and has extensive film and television distribution agreements. Kirk advises film and television investors as well as purchasers of entertainment libraries and catalogs.
• Kirk has represented the late legendary producer Rick Hall of Fame Studios and continues to represent his legacy film and television company. Kirk represented famous New York sculptress Karen Atta and other public visual artists and galleries. He has represented former government employees with respect to security clearances for book reviews and represents various producers in unscripted and reality television productions.
• Education Policy Advocacy
  • Kirk is very active in and passionate about education and children’s issues. While maintaining his private law practice, Kirk served as president of the Virginia Board of Education from 1998–2002 during a period of major K-12 education reform in Virginia. Upon the expiration of his term, one major Virginia newspaper editorial stated that of all of the gubernatorial appointments made during that period “none excelled that of Richmond attorney Kirk Schroder as president of the Virginia Board of Education.” (See “Schroder scored high marks as education chief”, The Virginian-Pilot, February 8, 2002, page B10).
  • He has also served on boards of other distinguished education institutions such as the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) in Atlanta. He is the first president of the Charlottesville-Albemarle Public Education Fund and served as the chair of the education policy committee for the Virginia Chamber of Commerce.
  • While he does not promote himself as an education lawyer, Kirk has substantial education policy and legal experience. So much so that Kirk is named in the current edition of The Best Lawyers in America® for the field of education law. A limited portion of his practice involves education policy issues for specific causes of interest and other circumstances (such as K-12 or higher education student disciplinary matters or unique education issues of interest) when he feels his involvement can be of assistance.
  • He holds a Ph.D in Education from the University of Virginia. Kirk has taught courses in education policy and school law at graduate level institutions of higher education.

Curious Things About Kirk

• Kirk’s law practice involves prominent people in various alternative arts who have a presence in national entertainment media. Such clients include professional herbalists, eastern spiritual practitioners, shamans, psychic mediums, feng shui experts, astrologers, and other alternative practitioners who are active in public media.
• Kirk is also quite passionate about healthy diets and food policy issues. He is especially concerned about the adverse effects of certain government and manufacturing policies on America’s food supply and on the American population.
• Ellwood Thompson’s and Dawson’s Market, two prominent natural food markets, together have engaged Kirk to serve as their official “Food Advocate.” In this role, Kirk works with their management in developing store standards and on public and legal advocacy related to food policy. As their Food Advocate, he also publishes a weekly blog found at Ellwood Thompson’s.

Personal Affiliations

• Former Chair of the American Bar Association Forum on Entertainment & Sports IndustriesVirginia State Bar

Presentations

• Key Legal Issues in the Development, Financing, Production & Distribution of Theatrical Motion Pictures.
• Counseling Clients in the Entertainment Industry 2017 – Book Publishing; Current Developments in Entertainment and Sports Litigation; Film recorded March, 2017 in New York
• Successfully Addressing Union and Guild Issues for Film and Television Productions. University of Miami Entertainment & Sports Law Society Symposium. (2017)
• The Evolving Landscape of Content Distribution. University of Virginia’s Symposium for Entertainment and Sports Law. (2015)
• Entertainment Law Potpourri. An Assortment of Interesting Entertainment Law Practices and Ethical Concerns. 28th Annual North American Law Summit: Entertainment, Sports, and Intellectual Property. (2016)
• Beg, Borrow or Steal: The Legal Perils and Pragmatics in Independent Financing for Film and TV. American Bar Association Forum on Entertainment and Sports Industries Webinar. (2014)
• Legal Issues in Film. 25th Annual North American Entertainment, Sports, & Intellectual Property Law Conference. (2013)
• Current Developments in Publishing. 25th Annual North American Entertainment, Sports, & Intellectual Property Law Conference. (2013)
• Crowdfunding 2.0 The JOBS Act Game Changer. American Bar Association Webinar. (2013)
• Emerging Issues in Literary Publishing. The Fourth Annual
• International Legal Symposium on the World of Music, Film, Television and Sports. (2013)
• Entertainers, Sports and Labor Law: Where Entertainers, Athletes and the Law Merge or Collide.
• The Fourth Annual International Legal Symposium on the World of Music, Film, Television and Sports. (2013)
• Advising Your Client on the Legal and Business Aspects of Video Gaming within the Entertainment Industry. The Third Annual International Legal Symposium on the World of Music, Film, Television and Sports. (2012)
• Licensing & Branding Music in the Advertising World. Second Annual Nashville Entertainment Law Symposium. (2012)
• The Basics of Entertainment Law. National Business Institute. (2012)
• Clearing Rights: What “Borat” Wrought. SXSW. (2012)
• Outsourcing Legal Work & Professional Responsibility. American Bar Association Forum on Entertainment & Sports Law Annual Meeting. (2012)
• Is Your Business Card a Professional Licensure Complaint? American Bar Association Forum on Entertainment & Sports Law Annual Meeting. (2012)
• Building An Entertainment Law Practice. Counseling Clients in the Entertainment Industry, Practicing Law Institute: New York. (2010, 2011, 2012)

Awards & Honors

• Virginia's Go-To Lawyers: Business Law 2021
• Listed in The Best Lawyers in America®
• Ranked an “AV” attorney by Martindale Hubbell, its highest available rating
  • CV, BV, and AV are registered certification marks of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc., used in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards, and policies.