 | David Zitzerman | Partner |
| dzitzerman@goodmans.ca | vCard |
|
Bay Adelaide Centre - West Tower 333 Bay Street, Suite 3400 Toronto, ON M5H 2S7 |
Tel: 416.597.4172 Fax: 416.979.1234 |
David Zitzerman is a partner and head of the Entertainment Law Group at Goodmans LLP. He has exclusively practised entertainment law for over 25 years. His practice focuses on the film, television and on-line industries in Canada and the United States. His clients include independent producers, Canadian networks, Hollywood studios, US networks, cable services and OTT services, private equity investors, European broadcasters, film and TV distributors, publishers, game companies, talent guilds and agencies, writers and performers.
REPRESENTATIVE WORK
David’s representative work includes acting for:
Over-The-Top (OTT) Services
- Disney+, CBS All-Access, and NBC Hayu in connection with the launch of their respective OTT services in Canada
Hollywood Studios and US Cable, Network and OTT Services
- Amazon Studios, Netflix, Apple Studios, AMC, Discovery, EPIX, MGM, DreamWorks, YouTube, Disney, Showtime, Warner Bros., Twin Cities Public Television, Cloudco, Viacom, NBCU and CBS in connection with their productions in Canada
Canadian Clients
- WildBrain, Entertainment One, Shaftesbury, Insight, Bell Media, Cineflix, 9 Story Media, Boat Rocker Media, Breakthrough, Music Canada, Nelson Education, the Writers Guild of Canada and Dr. Jordan Peterson
Investment Canada Act (ICA) Advice
- NBCU, Elevation Pictures, Shaftesbury, Red Arrow, 9 Story Media, Argonon, Boat Rocker Media and Apple Canada
International Co-Productions and Joint Ventures
- Sumitomo, Bento Box, Discovery Communications, Shaftesbury, NBCU, Fred Rogers Company, WGBH and Moody Studios
RECOGNITION
He is recognized as a leading entertainment lawyer by Who’s Who Legal Canada, The 2021 Lexpert/American Lawyer Media Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada, the 2021 Chambers Directory (Band 1 –Media & Entertainment Canada) and The 2020 Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory. He is recommended for both defamation and media law and entertainment law in the 2022 edition of The Best Lawyers in Canada. He is included as a noted media lawyer in Euromoney’s 2020 Guide to the World’s Leading Technology, Media & Telecommunications Lawyers, was named the “2020 Toronto Entertainment Lawyer” of the Year by Best Lawyers and one of the 30 leading media lawyers in the world (2002, 2010-2021) by Euromoney’s The Best of the Best. He is listed as a Global Elite Thought Leader in Entertainment in WWL: Thought Leaders –Global Elite 2022 and rated AV Preeminent (2016-2021) by Martindale-Hubbell.
PROFESSIONAL INVOLVEMENT
David regularly lectures on entertainment law, appears on BNN Bloomberg and CBC Radio and speaks at Canadian, U.S. and international entertainment-related seminars and podcasts. He is an Adjunct Professor teaching entertainment law at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. He has published a number of articles and is a co-author of “Entertainment Law in Canada” published by LexisNexis. David is a director of the Canadian Film Centre and is on the Program Advisory Committee of the Ryerson School of Radio & Television Arts and is an arbitrator for the Independent Film & Television Alliance. He is a member of Film Ontario, the Canadian Media Production Association, the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television and is a Gold Patron of the Toronto International Film Festival.
| Education | University of Toronto (J.D., 1981) University of Manitoba (B.A., Gold Medal - Highest Standing in Arts, 1978) |
| Professional Affiliations | Law Society of Ontario |
