Attorneys

BAI’s attorneys have a variety of in-house backgrounds and hands-on experience in motion picture production and financing. We are intimately familiar with the needs of our clients, and are sensitive to the considerations they face when hiring outside professionals. We are proud of the level of expertise our attorneys bring to the negotiation and closing of deals.

Stephen S. Monas — An experienced lawyer and executive with over 25 years in the entertainment industry, Steve Monas founded Business Affairs, Inc. in July of 1999, with just one client.

Since that time, Steve and his staff have built the list of BAI’s clients to over 300 of the most respected names in the independent motion picture and television industries, and Steve has represented producers, distributors and financiers in every aspect of the entertainment business.

Steve is a frequent lecturer, moderator, and panelist at seminars on the entertainment industry at Loyola Law School, UCLA Extension, and the South by Southwest Film Festival, among other venues.

Before founding BAI, Steve served as Executive Vice President and head of Business Affairs for MDP Worldwide, President of Vision International, Vice President of Business Affairs with Vestron Pictures, and as an associate with New York law firms Frankfurt Garbus Klein & Selz, Pavia & Harcourt, and Brown & Wood. Steve received his J.D. from Columbia University in 1981, and is admitted to practice in both New York and California.
Elizabeth Elliott Hopkins — An associate attorney with over 10 years in the entertainment industry, Elizabeth joined BAI in March of 2008.

At BAI, Elizabeth advises clients from development to delivery of their motion picture and television projects. Recent motion picture projects include: “As Cool As I Am”, “Red Tails”, “The Conspirator”, “Leonie”, “Let Me In”, “Dear John”, and “The Spy Next Door”. In addition, Elizabeth serves as production counsel on the reality television shows “Flipping Dixie” and “Mobbed”, produced by and featuring Howie Mandel.

Prior to law school, Elizabeth was an agent at Abrams Artists Theatrical Agency in New York where she booked on-camera commercials and soap operas. She then spent four years as a manager at Wilhelmina Models NY where she booked models on such varied projects as the runway shows at NYC fashion week and major advertising campaigns with such companies as Deutsch, Inc., BBDO Worldwide, and Grey Advertising. During law school, Elizabeth worked in the corporate and entertainment divisions of Frankfurt, Kurnit, Klein and Selz PC and then focused on production legal at the entertainment law firm of Epstein, Levinsohn, Bodine, Hurwitz & Weinstein. Elizabeth’s varied experience allows her to view entertainment law negotiations from both sides of the agreement.

Elizabeth received her B.F.A from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, her J.D. from Brooklyn Law School, and is admitted to practice in California.

Greg Snodgrass — As an associate attorney at BAI, Greg negotiates and drafts agreements relating to every step of the motion picture production process, from the acquisition of source material (including option purchase agreements) through development and financing (writer, shopping, attachment, investment, interparty and finder’s fee agreements) into production (talent, crew, location and product placement agreements) and distribution (acquisition and sales agency agreements). Additionally, Greg reviews and resolves complex chain of title histories for motion picture properties and helps coordinate tax credit financing transactions.

Greg joined BAI in 2010 after working at a small Century City entertainment law firm, where he represented independent producers in connection with their film and television projects. Greg received his B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and his J.D. from Indiana University - Bloomington. He is admitted to practice law in California.

Nicole Papincak — Nicole returned to BAI in September of 2011 following graduation from Loyola Law School and summer internships with Khorrami, Pollard & Abir LLP (2009) and BAI (2010). Nicole began her career at BAI in 2005 shortly after college, starting as an administrative assistant and rising to become Senior Legal Assistant and Director of Film Delivery. In this capacity, Nicole coordinated and expedited film delivery on behalf of BAI’s clients, and assisted with production counsel jobs, guild sign-ups, minor confirmations, and film financings. Through this work, Nicole has an unusually sophisticated understanding of production and related legal issues for a first year associate.

Nicole received her BA from Smith College, and her JD from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles. At Loyola, Nicole was Staff Editor and Senior Production Editor of the Loyola Law Review, VP of the Student Bar Association, VP of OutLaw, Secretary of the Entertainment & Sports Law Society, and was the recipient of the 2011 ALI-ABA Scholarship and Leadership Award. You can catch Nicole singing with the a cappella group “The Tuesdays,” or with her band, “VictorVictoria.” Nicole is admitted to practice law in California.

Tom Moglovkin — An entertainment lawyer with over 18 years of experience, 15 of them in different divisions of Twentieth Century Fox, Tom joined BAI in early 2009 as Of Counsel. Prior to joining BAI, Tom was VP, Business Affairs at Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Twentieth Century Fox Animation, and News Corporation/New Digital Media, and Senior VP, Business Affairs at Twentieth Century Fox. He brings experience in studio-level negotiation of talent agreements for both live-action and animated theatrical motion pictures, strategic development and financial analysis of motion picture properties, and knows his way around all phases of studio motion picture production from acquisition through distribution. Additionally, from his time with NewsCorp, he brings experience in the negotiation and drafting of strategic alliance, talent and website design agreements for NewsCorp’s internet and new media divisions.

Tom received his JD from USC Law School, where he was Articles Editor of Southern California Law Review, and published “Original Digital: No More Free Samples” a copyright analysis of digital sampling technologies. From 2003-2004, Tom was Adjunct Professor at USC Law School, teaching Legal Issues in the Television and Motion Picture Industries. Tom is admitted to practice law in California.