Manager, Contract Administration
About The Position
The Manager, Contract Administration, handles all aspects of contract administration processes and manages three Contract Administrators in support of Walt Disney Pictures and Walt Disney Animation Studios. This role reports to the Director, Contract Administration. The Contract Administration team manages contracts, facilitates development payments, tracks producing overall deals and rights expirations, and ensures that our writers, directors, producers, and rightsholders are timely and properly paid in accordance with their contracts and all guild and union requirements (e.g., WGA, DGA, IATSE). The team works closely with Studio Business Affairs, Legal Affairs, Creative, Payroll, Accounts Payable, Production Finance, Labor Relations, and Physical Production across Walt Disney Pictures, 20th Century Studios, Searchlight Pictures, and Walt Disney Animation Studios. The team is currently composed of the Director, five Contract Administrators, and one Coordinator.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience
- At least 5 years of experience in contract administration or business affairs administration in the entertainment industry
- At least 2 years of experience as a people leader
- Knowledge of payroll processes and applicable guild and union requirements (e.g., WGA, DGA, IATSE), procedures, terminology, policies, and standards
- Familiarity with all contract types applicable to feature films, including above-the-line talent agreements (e.g., writers, directors, producers, actors), rights agreements, and overall/term deals
- Strong analytical, organization, time-management, and prioritization skills, with the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously, multi-task, and prioritize deadlines and deliverables
- Excellent written and oral communication skills
- Detail-oriented mindset with exceptional proofreading skills
- Ability to interact, collaborate, and communicate with personnel of various levels throughout Studios
- Must be able to read and interpret legal contracts and guild and union collective bargaining agreements
- Prior work experience at a major studio
- Tech savvy mindset with computer proficiency with the Microsoft Office suite (e.g., Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams, Copilot); familiarity with document management systems (e.g., NetDocuments) and complex databases used to track deals, important dates, and payments; and demonstrated willingness to adopt new technologies, including AI-powered productivity tools to support workflow efficiency
Responsibilities
- Coordinate and distribute tasks among three Contract Administrators who support Walt Disney Pictures and Walt Disney Animation Studios
- Provide supervisory support to three Contract Administrators
- Assist the Director with designing and conducting trainings as needed by the department
- Review talent agreements to identify rights and financial obligations, summarize key terms, conduct rights research, and generate reports as needed
- Stay current on payroll systems, guild/union and tax rules
- Coordinate with external talent representatives
- Manage payment processing from development through production
- Prepare legal correspondence for term deals, turnarounds, options, and talent payments
- Collaborate with the Director and IT to improve internal contract database, define best practices, and lead testing of system updates
- Assist the Director with providing deal precedent data to Business Affairs and Legal Affairs
- Assist the Director with creating and refining reports from internal database
Benefits
- A bonus and/or long-term incentive units may be provided as part of the compensation package
- Full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Manager
Number of Employees
5,001-10,000 employees
