Michael is a partner in the Entertainment and Media Industry Group. For more than 35 years, Michael has worked in film and television financing, usually representing banks and other financiers in connection with single production or distribution financings, revolving lines of credit, and tax-structured transactions. He has also represented producers, distributors, private investors, and broadcasters. He has particular knowledge in gap, presale, and tax credit lending, as well as complex multi-party financings, and is highly regarded for his drafting ability: many of the standard documents used in film financings in the UK are substantially authored by Michael. He is active with Coutts & Co., Barclays, Natixis Coficine, Arbuthnot Latham & Co., the British Film Institute, the BBC, Three Point Capital, Paterson James, and The Bureau, among others.
Experience
Representative matters
Representative matters
“One for the Money” – a British comedy film (about a lottery winner) starring Carey Mulligan and produced by Steve Coogan’s production company
“Svalta” – an upcoming comedy thriller written by James Serafinowicz, Nat Saunders, and Nick Frost, who also stars alongside Aisling Bea and Sebastian Croft
“I’ll Play Mother” – a horror film starring Susanne West (Goodnight Mummy), Jo Martin (Doctor Who, Back to Life), and Shubham Saraf (A Suitable Boy), with Brad Watson (The Siege) directing from a screenplay by Libby Adams
“One for the Money” – a British comedy film (about a lottery winner) starring Carey Mulligan and produced by Steve Coogan’s production company
“Svalta” – an upcoming comedy thriller written by James Serafinowicz, Nat Saunders, and Nick Frost, who also stars alongside Aisling Bea and Sebastian Croft
“I’ll Play Mother” – a horror film starring Susanne West (Goodnight Mummy), Jo Martin (Doctor Who, Back to Life), and Shubham Saraf (A Suitable Boy), with Brad Watson (The Siege) directing from a screenplay by Libby Adams
“Freud’s Last Session” – a drama film starring Anthony Hopkins, Matthew Goode, and Liv Lisa Fries; based on the stage play of the same name by Mark St. Germain, which itself is based upon the book, The Question of God, by Armand Nicholi
The latest Mike Leigh film (untitled as of February 2024), produced by Potboiler
“Funny Woman” – a Potboiler production for Sky, starring Gemma Arterton as a model in the swinging sixties
“Wolf Hall” – the BBC drama series starring Mark Rylance, Damian Lewis, and Claire Foy, based on Hilary Mantel’s novels
“A Very Royal Scandal” – a Blueprint production for Amazon that dramatizes the infamous interview Prince Andrew gave to Emily Maitlis, starring Ruth Wilson and Michael Sheen
“The Fortune Hotel” – an upcoming reality game show for ITV, hosted by Steve Mangan
“Undercover Doctor: Secrets of the Big Shop”: a Channel Four commission featuring Dr Michael Mosley
“Ricky, Sue and Trip or Two” – a nostalgic travelogue produced by Nine Lives Media for Channel 4, featuring Ricky Tomlinson and Sue Johnston
Series 23 of “Gogglebox” and Series 18 of “Four in a Bed” – both produced by Studio Lambert for Channel 4
“999 on the Frontline” – a Channel 4 commission about the West Midlands ambulance force, produced by Curve Media
“Country House Auction” – an ITV commission following auctions in Ireland, produced by Big Mountain Productions
“Don’t Look Down” and “Can’t Sell Must Sell” – two reality programmes (the first about celebrities who suffer from vertigo doing high-wire walking between cable cars; the second about unsellable houses that are transformed, produced by South Shore Productions for Channel 4
“Out There” – a drama about a Welsh hill-farmer starring Martin Clunes and produced by Buffalo Pictures for ITV, to be distributed internationally by All3 Media
“Joan” – an upcoming British crime drama television series for ITVX, created by Anna Symon. Sophie Turner plays real-life character Joan Hannington, a figure known as “the Godmother” by certain aspects of the British criminal underworld
“DI Ray” – produced by Hat Trick and Jed Mercurio (Line of Duty) for ITV, this is a crime drama series starring Parminder Nagra
“Breathtaking” – produced by Hat Trick and Jed Mercurio for ITV, this is a thought-provoking and poignant account of an NHS doctor in the eye of the storm during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic
“Passenger” – a drama series for ITV and Britbox, produced by Sister Pictures and starring Wunmi Mosaku
“Dreamland” – a British comedy television series based on Sharon Horgan's 2017 Sky Arts short, Morgana Robinson's Summer, which premiered on Sky Atlantic in April 2023
“Hotel Portofino” – we have acted for Barclays in the financing of all three series of this show, which premiered on Sky Atlantic and is available on Britbox. It is a period drama series created and written by Matt Baker and produced by Eagle Eye, about a British family in the 1920s who own an Italian resort and hotel for wealthy clients
Advising the producers of “Queen at Sea” – starring Juliette Binoche and Tom Courtenay and directed by writer-director Lance Hammer – in relation to the production and financing of that film
Advising Pipe Entertainment in relation to a large volume of contract receivables purchase transactions in the film sector
Recognitions
- Ranked in Chambers UK for UK-wide Media & Entertainment: Film & Television, 2011-2026
- Included in The Legal 500 UK 2026 ‘Hall of Fame’ for Media: Media finance
- Selected through peer review for inclusion in The Best Lawyers™ in the United Kingdom for Media & Entertainment Law, 2009-2025
Credentials
Education
Education
- University of Cambridge, St Catharine's College
Professional admissions & qualifications
Professional admissions & qualifications
- England and Wales
News
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