Elsa Ramo

Recently named to Variety’s “2020 Legal Impact Report” and 2019 “Dealmakers List,” Elsa Ramo has represented over 100 films and 50 television scripted and unscripted series in 2019 alone, including Emmy award-winning shows and films which debuted at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.

Elsa provides comprehensive legal services to producers, financiers, creators and owners of film, television and digital content and projects across a range of budgets and production levels. She established her own law firm to enable up-and-coming filmmakers and producers to bring their stories to life. Her clients include Imagine Entertainment, Fox, Balboa Productions (Sylvester Stallone’s production company), Scout Productions (creators and EPs of “Queer Eye”), Boardwalk Pictures (EPs for “Chefs Table”) and Skydance.

Elsa’s leadership within the legal and entertainment communities extends beyond her successful Beverly Hills firm. She dedicates substantial time to mentoring women through various organizations. Additionally, Elsa is a go-to commentator and instructor on legal issues related to film financing and the entertainment market.

Elsa Ramo founded the firm in 2005 on the Universal Studios backlot after several clients approached her to handle their independent productions. Now as managing partner to the firm, she handles client matters as well as manages the firm’s attorneys and packaging and sales department.

Select Clients

Production, Distribution and Finance 

• New Line Cinema
• Imagine Entertainment, Imagine Documentaries, Imagine Kids & Family, and Imagine Impact
• Boardwalk Pictures
  • Emmy-nominated “Chef’s Table,” 2015-present
  • 2020 Sundance selection “We Are Freestyle Love Supreme”
• Scout Productions
  • Emmy-nominated Netflix series “Queer Eye”
• LOL (Kevin Hart’s production company)
• Campfire (Ross Dinerstein, Ross Girard)
• Balboa (Sylvester Stallone’s production company)
• The Jim Henson Company
• Skydance
• Rumble
• Rustic Films
  • 2019 TIFF selection “Synchronic”
• Unified Pictures
• Backup Studio
• Good Deed Entertainment
• Rumble Films
• 828 Media
• Bond It

Independent Producers, Writers, and Directors

• Vera Maio (“Two Sentence Horror Story”)
• Scott Mednick
• Judy Cairo (“Dirty Dancing” remake, 2017, “Crazy Heart”)
• Anne Clements

Select Projects and Deals

Indie Packaging, Sales and Monetization

• “Four Good Days” featuring Glen Close and Mila Kunis, a 2020 Sundance premiere
• “Diane,” a 2020 Spirit Award nominee for best first feature
• “The Quarry,” a 2020 SXSW selection
• “Chick Fight” starring Alec Baldwin, Milan Alkerman, Bella Thorne
• “Freaks,” an acclaimed 2019 TIFF premiere by Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein
• “Arkansas” starring Vince Vaughn and Liam Hemsworth
• “Collection” starring Alex Pettyfer, Mike Vogel
• David Brown’s “The Undertaker’s Wife”
• “Clemency,” a 2019 TIFF premiere and 2020 Spirit Award nominee
• “White Rabbit,” Sundance 2018 premiere
• “Call Me By Your Name,” 2017 – Represented all three producers, including Memento Films, on their sale of film to Sony Pictures Classics
• “Dragged Across Concrete,” dedicated closed equity film fund for movie starring Mel Gibson/Vince Vaughn, 2017

Television, New Media and Digital

• Boardwalk Pictures Netflix series “Chef’s Table,” “Cheer,” “The Goop Lab,” “Last Chance U”
• Fox
• Skydance’s “Altered Carbon,” and “Grace and Frankie“
• Vice
• A24

Awards/Recognitions

• “Legal Impact Report,” Variety, 2020
• “Dealmakers Impact Report,” Variety, 2019
• “International Insiders in the US,” Screen Daily, 2019
• “Women of Influence,” L.A. Biz Journals, 2019
• “Legal Impact Report,” Variety, 2019
• “Most Influential Minority Lawyers,” Los Angeles Business Journal, 2019
• “Trailblazers Elite Boutique,” The National Law Journal, 2018
• “Hollywood’s New Leaders in Law and Finance,” Variety, 2017
• “Most Influential Minority Attorneys,” Los Angeles Business Journal, 2017
• “Women’s Impact Report,” Variety, 2014
• “Power List: Laying Down the Law in Hollywood,” The Story Exchange
• “Artistic License Award,” California Lawyers for the Arts, 2010

Publications

• “5 Things Producers Should Do When They Can’t Produce,” written by Elsa Ramo for The Wrap

Media Mentions

• “The coronavirus has infected the film industry…..and the patient will never be the same,” KNX News 1070
• A live conversation on A New California: The Future of Entertainment, Fox 11 News
• “Reopening Hollywood: What the film industry could look like in a new California,” Fox 11 News
• “KNX In Depth: brace yourself for… the challenges of restarting TV & film production,” KNX 1070 
• “Most Hollywood Companies Not Insured Against Pandemics, Will Have to ‘Absorb the Losses,” The Wrap
• “Why ‘Hustlers’ Real-life Stripper Has Uphill Battle in Lawsuit Against STX, Jennifer Lopez,” The Wrap
• “Why Eliminating the Paramount Antitrust Decrees Won’t Shake Up the Movie Business,” Variety
• “Hollywood writers fired their agents. Now agencies are sidelining writers in new deals,” Los Angeles Times
• “Hollywood rolls out the red carpet for Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, hoping to cash in on a new market,” Los Angeles Times
• “Women to Watch: Indie Attorney Elsa Ramo,” Indie Wire
• “5 Things a Producer Must Know about Hollywood Dealmaking,” The Wrap
• “Understanding Copyright Law in the Age of Content,” Forbes
• “Lady Lawyers from AFM,” Latino Weekly Review

Recent Speaking Engagements

• Moderator for “Stage 32 presents COVID-19 – A Conversation with Industry Professionals of the Current State of the Entertainment Industry“
• Key Speaker for Film Financing Workshop with Women in Media
• SXSW Panel Moderator in 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 for the festival
• Common Sexual Harassment Claims Issues – Reporting, Investigation, Settlements and Liability, Practicing Law Institute
• California Lawyers for the Arts
• Film Independent
• LawReviewCLE
• Institute for International Film Financing
• University of Southern California, American Film Institute, University of California Los Angeles
• SXSW V2V
• Slamdance Film Festival
• Digital Hollywood, most recently May 2019

Affiliations

• Committee Member, UCLA Entertainment Law Symposium
• Founder, Professional Entertainment Female Attorneys (PEFA)
• Arts Circle Member, Film Independent
• Women in Film
• California Lawyers for the Arts
• American Bar Association
• Los Angeles County Bar Association
• Beverly Hills Bar Association

Bar Admissions

• State Bar of California
• The District of Columbia Bar
• New York State Bar

Education

J.D., University of San Diego School of Law
B.A., University of California, Riverside