Porsha Gauthier, Counsel

First Year of Call
2011

Areas of Practice
Entertainment and Sports Law

Description
Porsha’s law practice focuses on intellectual property rights and corporate commercial matters for film, television, and digital media including scripted comedy series, drama, reality and lifestyle programming, and feature films. Porsha specializes in animation (especially kids’ content) and music rights. She works closely with clients during development, post-production, global distribution, and broadcast premieres. She regularly advises clients in dealings with industry specific governmental funding agencies including CAVCO, Ontario Creates (formerly OMDC), CMF, and Creative BC and has extensive experience structuring domestic (Canadian) productions and inter-provincial co-productions.Porsha’s client services include business strategy for small and medium sized companies, sales, distribution, and rights management, and finding synergies between the entertainment industry and more traditional corporate commercial goods and services companies.Porsha has worked in the entertainment industry for over 20 years having started her career in A&R (Artist & Repertoire) for Universal Music and moving into national marketing and advertising for Warner Strategic Marketing as well as artist management with Bruce Allen Talent (Bryan Adams, Michael Bublé, Anne Murray, and Jann Arden). During this period Porsha lived and worked in Vancouver, Toronto, and Los Angeles, returning to Toronto to attend Osgoode Hall Law School.Most recently Porsha was the Vice-President Operations & Legal, Entertainment for Spin Master Ltd. (TSX:TOY) (Abby Hatcher, Bakugan, Hatchimals). Porsha managed the rapid growth of a niche animation business within Spin Master’s primary business of global toy sales. She focused exclusively on the business of film and television production and was responsible for industry analysis, enterprise risk management, long-term strategic planning, organizational change, and talent recruitment. Porsha created synergies between animation’s unique audio-visual production needs and the worldwide manufacture and sale of consumer goods connected to animated properties, including the global pre- school phenomenon PAW Patrol broadcast in over 160 countries and territories.