Sandra Forman

Sandra Forman, of counsel to Rich May, has a diverse practice in the areas of entertainment and copyright law. Her clients include film and television producers and directors, screenwriters, animators, book authors, talent, software and book publishers, distributors, and multi-media and educational software producers. Ms. Forman leads the firm’s Entertainment Copyright and Trademark practice group.

Ms. Forman began her career in the entertainment field at WGBH in Boston where she co-developed the Commercial Marketing Department and created ancillary distribution opportunities for WGBH programs worldwide. With the assistance of a venture capitalist she later founded Forman Entertainment Group for the purpose of developing film and television projects. She was simultaneously “of counsel” to the former Boston law firm of Budd, Wiley and Richlin and, in that capacity, represented entertainment clients as both an attorney and a consultant.

In addition to her legal practice, Ms Forman has served over the past several years as project director and legal counsel on the Eyes on the Prize Re-Release Project. Eyes on the Prize is the definitive documentary series on the Civil Rights Movement. In 2003, Ms. Forman began to work with Blackside, producer of Eyes on the Prize, to raise funds to clear the extensive rights in the series and prepare the 14 hours of programming for rebroadcast on PBS and distribution in the educational market. Ms. Forman’s efforts resulted in major funding for the re-release of the series from the Ford Foundation and the Gilder Foundation, as well as funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to conduct a national outreach campaign. In her current role as project director and legal counsel, Ms. Forman is instrumental in managing all of the complex facets of this considerable endeavor and handling the legal contracts relating to rights renewal and distribution of the series.

Ms. Forman serves on the Board of Directors of Filmmakers Collaborative, the Advisory Board of the Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, and the Advisory Committee of Women in Film and Video New England.