Marcie Cleary

Practice Areas

Branded Entertainment

Celebrity Branding

Entertainment

Publishing

Sports

Career

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 widely recognized as one of the nation’s leading entertainment lawyers. The Hollywood Reporter includes Ms. Cleary in its 2023 “Power Lawyers” list of the top 25 entertainment lawyers in New York, and included her in its 2021 "Power Lawyers" list of the top 20 entertainment lawyers in New York. Variety has recognized Ms. Cleary in its 2022 & 2021 Dealmakers Impact Reports, and in its Legal Impact Reports for the past five consecutive years. Best Lawyers in America includes Ms. Cleary in the 2024 and 2023 editions of “Ones to Watch” for Entertainment and Sports Law. Chambers USA includes her in the 2023 edition for Entertainment & Media: Advisory work. The Legal 500 praises Ms. Cleary in its 2023 and 2022 editions for her expertise in Media & Entertainment Law, and Super Lawyers magazine included her for her Entertainment & Sports work in 2023. Business Insider also includes Ms. Cleary in their list of the 13 leading attorneys who work with digital creators and influencers.

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 was also a past lecturer at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale. She is admitted to practice in New York.

Education