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 20 years in the entertainment industry, Mr. Monas founded Business Affairs, Inc. in July of 1999, with just one client.

Since that time, Mr. Monas has built the list of BAI’s clients to over 250 of the most respected names in the independent motion picture and television industries, and has represented producers, distributors and financiers in every aspect of the entertainment business.

Mr. Monas is a frequent lecturer, moderator, and panelist at seminars on the entertainment industry at Loyola Law School, Producers Guild of America, and the American Film Institute, among other venues, and teaches a course at the UCLA Extension on the film business.

Before founding BAI, Mr. Monas 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 firms Frankfurt Garbus Klein & Selz, Pavia & Harcourt, and Brown & Wood. Mr. Monas received his J.D. from Columbia University in 1981, and is admitted to practice in both New York and 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.

Mr. Moglovkin 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, Mr. Moglovkin was Adjunct Professor at USC Law School, teaching Legal Issues in the Television and Motion Picture Industries. Mr. Moglovkin is admitted to practice law in California.
Elizabeth Elliott Hopkins—An associate attorney with over 6 years in the entertainment industry as both an agent and manager, Ms. Hopkins joined BAI in March of 2008.

Prior to law school, Ms. Hopkins spent two years at Abrams Artists Theatrical Agency in New York. Ms. Hopkins became an agent a year and a half into her tenure at Abrams and spent time booking 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, Ms. Hopkins 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. Ms. Hopkin’s varied experience allows her to view entertainment law negotiations from both sides of the agreement.

Ms. Hopkins 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—Mr. Snodgrass joined the Company in 2010 after working at the Law Offices of Weinberg & Fyvolent in Century City, where he handled matters related to the production of film and television.

At BAI, Mr. Snodgrass has negotiated and drafted Distribution Agreements, Option-Purchase and other Rights Agreements, Finder’s Fee, Shopping, and Non-Disclosure Agreements, and has reviewed and summarized complex Chain of Title histories for various motion picture properties.

Mr. Snodgrass received his BA from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and his JD from Indiana University. He is admitted to practice law in California.