Sr. Director, TV Business Affairs (Scripted)

Job Position(s): Sr. Director, TV Business Affairs (Scripted)

Lionsgate is hiring a Sr. Director, TV Business Affairs (Scripted) based in Santa Monica, CA. This role sits at the center of the studio’s scripted television operation, handling the full arc of deal-making from early development agreements and test deals through production financing and downstream distribution. It is built for an entertainment attorney or senior business affairs professional who is comfortable running complex negotiations independently across episodic television, pilots, and co-production arrangements.

About the Role

The Sr. Director, TV Business Affairs (Scripted) reports into senior business affairs leadership within Lionsgate Television and serves as the primary commercial and legal point of contact for assigned scripted projects across their full lifecycle. Day-to-day work moves between negotiating writer and showrunner deals, advising creative executives on development strategy, and working through contractual issues that surface during prep, production, and post. The role touches linear, SVOD, and AVOD distribution, so knowledge of how rights flow across platforms is essential.

Key Responsibilities

• Negotiate and draft the full range of scripted television agreements, including writer, director, producer, and showrunner deals, series and pilot agreements, and underlying rights option and purchase agreements.
• Structure and close test deals, test options, and development agreements in coordination with creative executives working across the scripted television development slate.
• Advise internal teams on compensation models, back-end participation structures, and guild compliance across WGA, DGA, and SAG-AFTRA agreements.
• Serve as the business affairs lead on co-production, financing, and deficit arrangements tied to scripted television projects at various stages of development and production.
• Review scripts, outlines, and development materials for rights implications, chain-of-title issues, and contractual obligations affecting domestic and international exploitation.
• Support distribution and licensing arrangements across linear and streaming platforms, interpreting existing agreements in response to downstream distribution and ancillary needs.

What You Bring

• J.D. required, with active bar membership in at least one U.S. state, California preferred.
• Six to ten years of experience in television business affairs or entertainment law, focused specifically on scripted television at a studio, network, production company, or major law firm.
• Demonstrated experience negotiating test deals, test options, and scripted development agreements from the ground up.
• Working knowledge of WGA, DGA, and SAG-AFTRA guild agreements as they apply to scripted episodic television production.
• Proven ability to manage a high-volume deal flow across multiple scripted projects simultaneously without losing detail or momentum.

Why This Role

Lionsgate Television operates as a leading independent studio with a library and production pipeline that gives its business affairs team consistent exposure to high-profile scripted projects and varied deal structures. This Sr. Director, TV Business Affairs (Scripted) position offers direct access to senior leadership and genuine ownership over complex negotiations rather than a support function. The role is five days per week in office in Santa Monica, which reflects the collaborative, hands-on nature of how the business affairs team operates alongside creative and production.

Apply now for the Sr. Director, TV Business Affairs (Scripted) role at Lionsgate and bring your scripted television deal-making experience to one of the industry’s most active independent studios.