Course completion is flexible and based on your preferences, with a roadmap provided to help guide your progress.
Content start here
Dealmaking for Entertainment Professionals
Executive Education Online Course
Shape the deals that define entertainment.
This online course will help you master the strategic and structural decisions that determine whether an entertainment deal succeeds — or stalls out behind the scenes. Designed for professionals who don’t just review deals but are responsible for making them work, this course guides participants on how to effectively address friction before it costs time, leverage, or deal value.
Through five focused modules, you will gain practical insights on deal architecture, negotiation strategy, content acquisition, talent economics, and risk across distribution models. Interviews with senior industry executives, applied exercises from real-world scenarios, live office hours and short lectures will give participants greater confidence and strategic clarity to succeed in today’s competitive entertainment marketplace.
Unlock Your Career Potential with USC
On-Demand Access
Self-paced, online training modules can be accessed over a 6-month period
Top Legal Experts
Learn from, and engage with, renowned USC faculty and legal practitioners
Live Office Hours
Our cohort approach includes virtual office hours and networking opportunities with course professors and peers
Course Description
Learn how high-stakes entertainment deals actually get made. This course provides experienced professionals with a practical framework for analyzing, structuring, and negotiating the agreements that drive film, TV, streaming and digital content.
Throughout the course, participants explore contract architecture, negotiation strategy, IP acquisition, talent economics, and distribution/financing models through expert interviews, case discussions, and applied exercises. You’ll learn to spot leverage, allocate risk, anticipate counterpart incentives and structure deals that move projects to greenlight and distribution.
Who Should Take This Course?
- Studio/network/production executives
- Content acquisition professionals (film, TV, streaming, digital)
- Development creatives and executive producers
- Business affairs, strategy, and finance professionals
- Agents, managers, and talent representatives
- Lawyers with a business-facing role or strategic advisor
Course Start Date
This course starts June 17, 2026. Coursework will be available to access for 6 months.
Registration Period: January 26 – June 17
Course Objectives
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
- Evaluate entertainment contracts for deal viability, leverage, and risk—not just legal sufficiency.
- Negotiate more strategically by anticipating studio, streamer, talent, financier, and distributor priorities.
- Close deals effectively using proven negotiation techniques to manage momentum, impasses, and multi-party dynamics.
- Structure IP acquisition and development deals, including options, adaptations, and original development.
- Build greenlight-friendly, above-the-line compensation models that balance fees and backend participation.
- Understand modern distribution and financing models, including co-financing, presales, and windowing strategies.
- Decode profit participation structures, waterfalls, and recoupment into clear business decision-making.
- Apply course frameworks to a real or case-study deal and produce an actionable deal strategy deliverable.
Course Structure
Module 1
CRACKING THE ENTERTAINMENT CONTRACT CODE
Mastering Deal Architecture and Contract Analysis
Module 2
CLOSING NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE DEALS
The Art and Science of Entertainment Negotiations and Strategy
Module 3
THE BATTLE FOR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Insider Knowledge on Structuring Content Acquisition and Development Deals
Module 4
A-LIST TALENT & ABOVE-THE-LINE ECONOMICS
Compensation, Control and Attachment Strategies to Obtain Greenlight
Module 5
MITIGATING FINANCIAL RISK ACROSS DISTRIBUTION FRAMEWORKS
Navigating the Web of Distribution, Multi-Party Financing and Recoupment Models
Professors
LEAD PROFESSOR
Kimberlina McKinney
Kimberlina N. McKinney, Esq. is an entertainment and business affairs lawyer with more than a decade of experience structuring, negotiating and managing complex media and content deals across film, television, digital and live events. She serves as Senior Counsel in the Entertainment & Business Transactional Group at Newell Law Group. Previously, she was Vice President of Business and Legal Affairs at Fremantle Media and served as Director of Business and Legal Affairs at A+E Studios and held business and legal affairs roles at Levity Live and Fullscreen Media. Before that, Kimberlina litigated high-profile intellectual property, right of publicity and right of privacy cases at Harder Stonerock, LLP. McKinney is also an experienced educator, teaching entertainment dealmaking, negotiations, and business law as an Adjunct Professor at USC Gould School of Law, UCLA School of Law and Cal State Northridge. McKinney holds a JD from UCLA School of Law and a BA from Scripps College, studying international law and sociology in Ecuador and Switzerland. She is admitted to the California State Bar.
COURSE CONTRIBUTOR
Baron Ojogho, Esq
Baron Ojogho, Esq. is a Los Angeles-based entertainment and sports attorney at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, where his practice focuses on the financing, development, production, and distribution of television, film, digital, and sports content. He advises studios, streamers, broadcasters, leagues, and production companies on complex transactions across scripted and unscripted programming, live events, and sports productions. An active speaker and educator, Baron regularly contributes to industry conversations on negotiation strategy and the evolving relationship between content, technology, and live events.
COURSE CONTRIBUTOR
Ke’Andra Levingston
Ke’Andra Levingston is a business affairs executive and attorney at global talent agency William Morris Endeavor (WME), where she negotiates deals for on-camera talent, writers, producers, directors, and production companies. Prior to joining WME, she served as Director of Business and Legal Affairs at Bunim-Murray Productions and at Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine. She began her legal career in Mergers & Acquisitions and Global Finance at Sidley Austin LLP. In addition to her legal practice, Ke’Andra is a writer and creative. She is a proud alumna of Spelman College and Harvard Law School.
Contributing Experts
Dani Wassel
Mark Mazie
Elizabeth Zee
Lauren Schwartz
Andrea Meigs
John Meigs
Contributor opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of their employer or affiliated organization.
Tuition
General Registration$1,400
Trojan Family (10% discount) $1,260
Gould Education Partner Organizations (10% discount) $1,260
Government/Non-Profit/Military/Law Enforcement (10% discount) $1,260
Group Rate* (10% discount) $1,260
*Available for groups of three or more people from the same organization. To register a group, please email execed@law.usc.edu.
Custom Partnerships
USC Gould Executive Education offers specialized partnerships with organizations to build legal skills that are essential to your business growth and success. Collaborate with us to create custom, engaging learning experiences in targeted areas of law to meet your organization's unique professional development goals.
To learn more, reach out to execed@law.usc.edu.
Professional Development Tuition Assistance
If your organization offers professional development support or tuition assistance, we encourage you to explore employer sponsorship for this program. The certificate is designed to deliver immediate, practical value while expanding your professional network, and many employers are willing to subsidize part or all of the tuition as an investment in their talent.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much time should I expect to spend per week on coursework? 
When do the courses start?
Please visit each individual course page for information on the start date.
Can I really complete the course at my own pace, or are there deadlines I need to meet?
There are no deadlines other than the final assessment, which needs to be submitted by the end of the course.
What happens if I do not finish the course within the 6-month access period?
If you do not finish the course within the 6-month access period, you may re-apply to take the course again. Access shuts off after 6 months.
Can I download videos or materials to watch offline?
Videos are only available to be played online. Video transcripts, required reading and other e-learning materials may be downloaded and viewed offline.
Can I skip around between modules, or do they need to be completed in order?
Each module builds off of the prior modules, and therefore should be completed in order.
Is MCLE credit available for this program?
This course does not qualify for MCLE credit.
Can I cancel or share my registration?
All payments are non-refundable and non-transferable.
About This Course
Register by June 17, 2026
SUBSCRIBE
ExecEd Course Updates
Executive Education Program
USC Gould School of Law Executive Education trains professionals to expand their expertise and learn at the cutting-edge of today's legal landscape. Led by USC Gould professors and expert practitioners, each course is an immersive exploration of a specialized area of law. Through on-demand programming that blends academic precision with real-world relevance, USC Gould ExecEd advances your personal, professional and career growth.
Questions?
Contact us at execed@law.usc.edu.
USC Gould School of Law
699 Exposition Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90089-0071
Copyright © 2026 USC Gould. All Rights Reserved.