JOB TITLE: General Counsel
MANAGER(S): Head of Content Affairs
CRAFT: Business Operations
LEVEL: Director
DEPARTMENT / TEAM: Creative / Content
At Cinereach, our mission is to connect creators with the insights, allies, and support they need to make—and move—culture through their stories. If you believe legal leadership should be a strategic enabler, and you enjoy the challenge of operating where nonprofit compliance meets media innovation, then we want you to join us as our General Counsel.
As Cinereach's General Counsel, you will build the legal infrastructure that enables the organization to compete in the entertainment industry while maintaining nonprofit compliance rigor. You'll provide the operational legal excellence and strategic coordination that allows Cinereach to deploy funds, scale content partnerships, and explore innovative revenue models.
You're joining as Cinereach tests innovative approaches to narrative systems investing, building legal operations that enable both current deployment of funds and future growth.
Strategic Partnership & Coordination (30%)
• Coordinate multiple specialized external counsel (nonprofit/tax, entertainment, fund structures) and synthesize their guidance into actionable business frameworks and templates
• Participate in cross-functional senior leadership discussions with investment, content affairs, partnerships, and finance teams
• Advise on what Cinereach can and cannot do within its nonprofit structure as it explores new business models, maintaining an optimistic attitude that a creative solution likely exists to meet almost any challenge
• Partner with finance and fund development leadership to understand legal implications of various funding models and investment structuresSupport organizational leadership through strategic transition period, building legal foundation flexible enough for future strategic evolution
Entertainment/Media Operations (45%)
• Draft, review and negotiate content partnerships, production agreements, and distribution deals in partnership with Content Affairs team
• Develop standardized contract templates for recurring deal structures (development agreements, co-production deals, partnership frameworks)
• Provide timely legal guidance that enables rather than delays business operations in fast-moving entertainment industry context
• Support capital deployment with investment agreement review and co-investor partnership documentation
• Manage intellectual property strategy and rights management across Cinereach's creative portfolio and ensure compliance with ongoing third-party contractual obligations
• Support revenue diversification pilots including fee-for-service consulting and Story Lab programming
Legal Operations & Compliance (25%)
• Build legal operations systems and processes that support efficient, scalable operations
• Draft corporate resolutions, employment offer letters and consulting contracts, vendor agreements and other required legal documentation for organizational operations
• Manage external counsel relationships across multiple specializations, determining when to leverage outside expertise versus handling matters in-house
• Ensure compliance with 501(c)(3) requirements, employment law, and relevant entertainment industry regulations
• Develop and maintain impeccable institutional knowledge systems, paper trails, and archives
• Manage the organization’s corporate entity structure, subsidiary formation and dissolutionsHelp liaise with Cinereach’s insurance brokers/ underwriters on insurance matters
• Media industry expertise: Deep understanding of content development, production, and distribution deal structures. Practical experience negotiating entertainment agreements with comfort in industry norms and practices. Ability to provide real-time guidance that keeps creative projects moving at industry speed. Familiarity with rights management, clearances, and intellectual property issues in media production
• Strategic coordination: You can manage complex stakeholder relationships and coordinate multiple specialized experts. You synthesize technical input from various sources into clear strategic recommendations. You build institutional knowledge systems that create organizational efficiency beyond your individual bandwidth
• Fluency in nonprofit compliance: You understand 501(c)(3) requirements and can navigate the nuanced intersection of nonprofit organizations engaging in for-profit activity and impact investment models
• Enablement mindset: You translate legal constraints into actionable guidance, finding paths forward rather than just identifying risks. You build systems and templates that empower others to make informed decisions. You distinguish between "we absolutely cannot do this" versus "here's how we can structure this to work". You understand that legal leadership serves the mission, not the other way around
Legal Credentials (Required)
• Juris Doctor (J.D.) from an accredited law school
• Active bar membership in at least one U.S. jurisdiction in good standing
• Ability to practice or obtain authorization to practice in relevant jurisdictions for entertainment and nonprofit work
Entertainment/Media Legal Experience (Required)
• 10+ years legal experience with significant entertainment, media, or content industry focus
• Demonstrated experience negotiating and executing complex media agreements (production, development, distribution, co-production)
• Understanding of contemporary media landscape including streaming, digital distribution, and content partnership models
• Track record of providing practical business guidance that keeps creative projects moving at industry pace
• Comfort with rights management, clearances, and intellectual property issues in media production
Nonprofit or Public Sector Experience (Strongly Preferred)
• Experience at the intersection of nonprofit organizations and commercial activity, ideally in arts/culture sector
• Exposure to 501(c)(3) compliance challenges, hybrid structures, or impact investing models
• Understanding of how mission-driven organizations navigate earned revenue and investment activities
In-House Legal Leadership (Required)
• Experience managing legal functions internally
• Track record of building legal infrastructure—templates, processes, frameworks—that enabled organizational efficiency and scale
• Demonstrated ability to coordinate external specialized counsel while building in-house capability
• Experience determining when to build in-house expertise versus leverage outside specialists
• Comfort operating as sole in-house counsel with strategic external counsel coordination
Bonus Qualifications
• Fund structure or investment legal experience
• Experience in emerging business models at the intersection of multiple legal domains
• Entertainment industry network and relationships
• Legal turnaround times decrease significantly, enabling business operations to move at the speed required for media industry competitiveness
• Leadership and staff demonstrate clear understanding of what Cinereach can and cannot do within its structure, making informed decisions without constant legal escalation
• You are recognized as a key voice in senior leadership discussions about media partnerships, fund development, capital deployment and organizational strategy, with the role evolving toward CEO reporting as appropriate
• Capital deployment proceeding smoothly with appropriate legal documentation and risk managementPartners relay that they feel the engagements we craft are pioneering, fair, and feel respectful.
• Salary Range $150,000-$170,000 depending on experience
• Comprehensive benefits including 401(k) matching, health insurance, generous holiday, vacation and sick leave
• Remote-first organization with quarterly in-person gatherings
• Opportunity to build legal infrastructure for a creative organization testing innovative approaches at the intersection of storytelling and systems change
• Collaborative culture that values both strategic thinking and practical executionPartnership with Content Affairs team working with high-caliber creators and compelling projects
• Professional development support and access to specialized external counsel relationships
• Potential for role evolution as organization scales and permanent CEO defines future strategy
Founded in the aftermath of 9/11, Cinereach began supporting filmmakers challenging dominant cultural scripts with nuance, artistry, and empathy. What started as grantmaking expanded into fellowships, productions, and first-of-their-kind investments.
The nonprofit learned a crucial lesson: individual voices alone couldn't shift cultural narratives at scale. The most meaningful change required network effects.
Today, Cinereach operates as both a creative sanctuary and narrative strategist. We equip artists with tools and infrastructure that make transformative storytelling more resonant and capable of moving through systems.
We power stories designed not for isolated brilliance, but for reverberation. Our goal isn't just impact—it's cultural momentum.
Our organizational values are the beliefs and principles behind our work and decision-making.
• Stay Tuned In: Cultural fluency isn’t theory, it’s instinct.
• Move in Constellation: We make our best work together.
• Protect the Spark: We trust process over perfection and leave room for surprise.
• Turn Insight Into Impact: We don’t just name what’s shifting—we make it matter.
• Play the Long Game: We think in seasons, not sprints.
