AGBO Films Hires Former MGM, Amazon Lawyer as New Legal Chief

AGBO Films LLC, one of the largest independent studios in Hollywood, has hired Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.’s former top lawyer to lead a revamped in-house legal team.

Lesley Freeman succeeds AGBO’s former legal chief and head of business affairs Rik Toulon, who spent two years with the business after serving as a partner at Katten Muchin Rosenman and as general counsel for CBS Films Inc.

“I’ve worked with Lesley for many years and know firsthand what an exceptional leader she will be for AGBO’s next phase of accelerated growth and innovation,” AGBO partner Christopher Brearton said in a statement.

Movie directors Joe and Anthony Russo, who made their name—and money—with “Avengers” films from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, founded AGBO in 2017. Tokyo-based video game maker Nexon Co. Ltd. in 2022 bought a a 38% stake in the company, which at the time was valued at $1.1 billion.

Lesley Freeman

MGM hired Freeman as its chief legal officer in 2017 after she spent almost a decade with the legal team at HBO, now part of media giant Paramount Global.

She most recently was a vice president of legal and senior adviser for global media and entertainment legal at Amazon.com Inc., which was advised by Cravath, Swaine & Moore on its roughly $8.5 billion acquisition of MGM in 2022. Michael Deal, a veteran in-house lawyer at Amazon, last year assumed legal oversight for Amazon MGM Studios.

Freeman began her career working in the entertainment, sports, and media practice at O’Melveny & Myers, a law firm known for its deep ties to the film industry. Bruce Tobey, a former co-head of the entertainment practice at O’Melveny, last year took the top legal job at what is now called Lionsgate Studios Corp.

Revamped Team

Among those joining Freeman at AGBO are newly hired business and legal affairs executives Michael Bogner and Ilyssa Adler.

Bogner is another ex-HBO lawyer who most recently was a director of business and legal affairs at Netflix Inc., which has been reorganizing its law department.

Adler comes aboard after working briefly at Black Bear, an independent film studio formed by former Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom associate Teddy Schwarzman, and nearly six years at Ubisoft Entertainment SA, a French video game maker that recently reshuffled its legal leadership.

Skadden counseled AGBO two years ago on its sale of a minority stake to Nexo, which was advised by Loeb & Loeb. Reed Smith has represented AGBO in trademark matters, according to public filings by the film studio.

Freeman’s move to AGBO marks a reunion of sorts. Brearton also left Amazon, where he was a vice president of corporate strategy, earlier this year to join AGBO as a partner.

MGM had recruited Brearton in 2018 from Latham & Watkins, where he led the firm’s office in Century City, California. Latham landed Brearton three years prior as part of a high-profile entertainment industry team it hired from O’Melveny.