Marcie Cleary

Marcie Cleary is a partner in the Entertainment Group at Frankfurt Kurnit, representing clients in the film, television, digital, and book publishing industries.

Ms. Cleary structures and negotiates entertainment transactions for individual and corporate clients in the film, television, digital, and book publishing industries. Her clients include actors, news correspondents, writers, directors, producers, authors, podcasters and influencers.

Ms. Cleary has significant experience representing comedians in connection with deals for stand-up specials, television and digital series, motion pictures, and recorded albums. Ms. Cleary also has become one of the podcast industry’s go-to lawyers. She represents a number of successful podcast creators, hosts, on-air talent, and producers, as well as underlying rights holders.

Before joining Frankfurt Kurnit, Ms. Cleary was a corporate associate at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP where her experience included advising William Morris Endeavor Entertainment (WME) on its strategic partnership with, and sale of a minority interest to, Silver Lake, and advising Apollo Global Management on its acquisition of CKX, Inc., an owner of rights to the American Idol franchise and the Elvis Presley Estate.

Ms. Cleary is recognized by The Hollywood Reporter in its 2021 Power Lawyers list of the Top 20 Entertainment Lawyers in New York. She is recognized by Variety in its 2022 and 2021 Dealmakers Impact Report and in Variety’s 2023, 2022, 2021, and 2020 Legal Impact Report. She was previously recognized in the Up Next List of Variety’s 2018 Legal Impact Report. She is recognized by Best Lawyers in America in the 2023 edition of “Ones to Watch” for Entertainment and Sports law. Chambers USA includes her in the 2023 edition for Entertainment & Media: Advisory. She also was recognized in the 2022 and 2023 editions of The Legal 500 for her expertise in media & entertainment law. Business Insider includes her in their list of the thirteen leading attorneys who work with digital creators and influencers. She has also been recognized in Super Lawyers magazine as a “Rising Star” in the Entertainment & Sports field.

Ms. Cleary is a member of the New York University Lawyer Alumni Mentoring Program Advisory Board, the Harlem School of the Arts Associate Board, and the Board of Comedy Gives Back. Ms. Cleary is also a lecturer at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale. She is admitted to practice in New York.