Summer/Fall 2011 Newsletter

Iliya — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 21:03:31 +0000

Recent Projects

Investment: FLG represented MakerBot Industries – the maker of open-source 3-D printers – in a placement of Series B preferred stock to venture capital investors led by The Foundry Group.

Agency Agreement: FLG negotiated a long-term Digital Agency of Record Agreement between Big Spaceship and Lucas Films.

Patents: FLG negotiated a technology license for a digital production company, which avoided costly patent infringement litigation. This controversial and hotly debated issue is a huge continuing concern to the interactive design industry. For more information on this topic, please visit SoDA’s website blog which examines ways to identify and mitigate risk on patent infringement.

Trademarks: FLG negotiated a trademark co-existence agreement, allowing our client to continue its design and publishing services without change.

Business Immigration: We continue to maintain an excellent track record in obtaining approvals for H-1B and O-1 Extraordinary Ability visas and Exceptional Ability green cards for our clients’ talent.

New Client of Note: We have helped establish a new literary agency – Hannigan Salky Getzler Agency (HSGA).

Talent Management: Our client, Rinko Kikuchi, just finished shooting 47 Ronin (2012), an action film starring Keanu Reeves, and is beginning production of Pacific Rim (2013) – a sci-film mega-flick to be directed by Guillermo del Toro. Ms. Kikuchi’s most recent film, Norwegian Wood (2010) is a film adaptation of the novel written by Haruki Murakami and is directed by Anh Hung Tran. The film is scheduled to open in the U.S. in select theaters later this year.

Upcoming Events at 287 Spring

September 16 – Art Opening: exhibit by Steven Gawoski.

September 22 – Fundraiser: launch benefit for The Calyx Institute, a research organization which aims to study how to better protect consumers’ privacy rights. The Calyx Institute has garnered media attention in recent times and public interest is increasing globally. For more information, please visit: The Calyx Institute.

October 6 – Video Screening: Made from Scratch. For more information on the event and submission guidelines, please click here.

Film Screening: “Made From Scratch”: Call for Submission

Benjamin — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 04:01:42 +0000

FLG will be hosting a film event curated by marketing and innovation consultancy agency, FATHOM+HATCH. If interested in presenting your own short film, please see the submission guidelines below:

Cultivating heirloom urban farms. Designing unorthodox musical instruments. Founding new workshops in old warehouses. New York offers the chance to incubate dreams and breathe fresh life into enduring passions. It has long had a siren’s call for those driven to create the bespoke, the repurposed, the transformative. It is a living laboratory for human exceptionalism.

To celebrate this cultural dynamism, FATHOM+HATCH, a New York-based marketing and innovation consultancy, is hosting an evening of short films to explore the theme of ‘Made From Scratch.’ It will spotlight the ongoing legacy of New Yorkers who create products, companies, and ideas wrung from the raw materials of the City and themselves.

A total of six short films will be showcased at a screening party at The Art Space at 287 Spring, hosted by FATHOM+HATCH on Thursday, October 6th 2011. The final six films will be selected by a panel of judges, including renowned photographer George Lange and co-founder of tech blogs Gizmodo and Engadget Peter Rojas. Each of the six selected filmmakers will receive a membership to the IFCenter. The audience’s favorite, to be voted on the night of the screening, will receive a prize of $1,000.

Criteria for Submission:

WHO: You needn’t be an expert filmmaker to submit your work. You can be in school or dabble with a camera on the side. Your own particular perspective is the critical credential
WHAT: New York-centric stories that capture the creation of culture made from scratch. Modest, heroic, artsy, businessy, but always focused on New Yorkers following their creative passions
LENGTH: From 3-5 minutes
FORM: Should comprise original film with audio, or a series of stills with audio, in a common digital format
PARTICULARS: With each submission please include 1) the title, 2) a brief biography of the artist, and 3) a short description of the submitted work
WHERE: Please email submissions and questions to fathomandhatch@gmail.com with submissions and questions pertaining to qualifications, the event, etc.
Upcoming Deadlines:

Wednesday, September 28th 2011: All Submissions must be entered
Monday, October 3rd 2011: Selected films will be announced
Thursday, October 6th 2011: Screenings and reception will take place at 287 Spring Street, New York with live tweets from @ppl_are_amazing. More information to follow.
FATHOM+HATCH is a marketing consultancy that specializes in brand strategy and innovation to help companies do amazing things.

Old New Year Party – January 14, 2011, 7pm+

Iliya — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 23:04:25 +0000

Dear Clients and Friends:

Fridman Law Group wishes you the best in the new year 2011!
Please help us usher it in on the Julian/Old Russian calendar on Friday, January 14, starting at 7:00pm.
Appropriate spirits, hors d’oeuvres and entertainment will be served.

Iliya, Jerald, Arina and Ben

287 Spring Street, Ground Floor, New York, NY 10013

For inquiries and RSVP, please contact Iliya at iliya@fridmanlawgroup.com

Photos from the Mangdala Opening

Iliya — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 03:35:43 +0000

Some photos from the opening for the Mangdala exhibit:

http://www.streetwalkersnyc.com/2010/10/hiroki-otsuka-mangdala.html?spref=fb

Hiroki Otsuka’s “Mangdala”

Iliya — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 20:16:38 +0000

Please join us at our office this Thursday, September 30, for the opening of Hiroki Otsuka’s “Mangdala” (Manga + Mandala). Click here for the Press Release.

Summer 2010 Newsletter

admin — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 23:48:45 +0000

Summer 2010 Newsletter

Recent Projects

M&A: FLG represented a distributor of video security equipment in the sale of its business to a leading U.S. manufacturer of building products. FLG also represented the target company’s principal in negotiating his consulting agreement with the acquiring company.

Securities: FLG represented a rapidly growing technology company in a private placement of Series A convertible preferred stock to a group of venture capital funds and angel investors, led by Highline Venture Partners.

Trademarks: FLG negotiated a trademark co-existence agreement between U.S. and EU trademark holders. This agreement permits our client to continue to sell a new product line in Europe, while protecting its retail brand in the United States.

Domain Name Arbitration: FLG successfully obtained a high-priced domain name for a client through ICANN arbitration against a cyber-squatter.

Distribution Agreement: FLG is representing an Asian company in negotiations to secure exclusive distribution rights for a line of health and beauty products manufactured in the United States.

Commercial Leases: To accommodate our clients’ growth, we have negotiated several new leases with large commercial landlords in New York City. In several instances, our clients preferred to add space in their current buildings, in order to avoid disruptive relocation and to take advantage of favorable lease terms. If you foresee needing more space in the near future, request a right to sublet a portion of the space, so that the additional space is there when you need it on short notice.

Talent Management: FLG has been engaged to manage the international career of Rinko Kikuchi, a Japanese actress best known for her Oscar-nominated performance in Babel (2006). Rinko’s new film, Norwegian Wood, the first screen adaptation of a Haruki Murakami novel, is opening at the Venice Film Festival in September. In July, FLG’s managing partner, Iliya Fridman, accompanied Rinko to the Paris Cinema Film Festival, which honored her with screenings of “Map of the Sounds of Tokyo” (2009) and several of her other films. (See also the Upcoming Events section below) 1

Business Immigration: Recently, FLG obtained an EB-1 (exceptional ability) green card for a Brazilian graphic designer, as well as several O-1 (extraordinary ability) and H-1B work visas for our clients’ employees.

Changes in the Law

New “Accredited Investor” Standard: On July 21, 2010, President Obama signed into

law the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Act”). The Act has adopted a new definition of “accredited investor” in Regulation D to provide that an accredited investor is one whose net worth, individual or joint with the spouse, at the time of purchase, is $1,000,000, excluding the value of a primary residence. Previously, the net worth had to be $1,000,000, including the value of a primary residence. This change is effective immediately upon enactment of the law. When raising a limited amount of capital, Regulation D does not require companies to provide disclosures to accredited investors. However, if offers are made to non-accredited investors, then companies have to provide extended disclosures about their business, industry, risks and also their financial statements. There are other ways for investors to qualify as “accredited” which have remained unchanged, such as by having earned $200,000 (or $300,000 together with the spouse) in each of the past 2 years. Still, this change makes it more difficult for privately held businesses to raise money, since the pool of accredited individuals has shrunk and providing extensive disclosures for non-accredited investors can add significant costs.

Rising H-1B Costs: On August 13, President Obama signed into law a $2,000 increase in the filing fees for H-1B work visa applications by companies with over 50 employees, more than half of whom are on H or L visas. While this fee hike should not affect the majority of U.S. businesses, it indicates an alarming trend in government policy.

Upcoming Events at 287 Spring Exhibition

“Mangdala” by Hiroki Otsuka: On September 30, 2010, continuing our tradition of lending our ground-floor space to curators and artists, we will open an exhibit by a renowned Manga artist Hiroki Otsuka. Coming on the heels of Hiroki’s shows at Japan Society and galleries in Brooklyn and Berlin, this exhibition will feature brand-new works created specifically for our space. The exhibition is curated by FLG’s friend and client, Matthew Waldman of Nooka (www.nooka.com). You can find a press release for the show here — http://www.fridmanlawgroup.com/mangdala.

“Business People Who Code” Meetup: On August 5th, 2010, FLG hosted the first monthly Business People Who Code meetup. The session was entitled “Intro to C-Programming”. We may also host the next meetup on September 2, 2010 at 7PM. For more detailed information, please visit: www.meetup.com/Business-People-Who-Code.

Film Screening – “Map of the Sounds of Tokyo”: We are going to screen this beautiful film directed by Isabel Coixet (nominated for Best Director at Cannes last year), starring Rinko Kikuchi. Please check our website for the exact date and time. You can view a trailer here: http://www.nipponcinema.com/trailers/map-of-the-sounds-of-tokyo-jp/.

For more information, please visit us at www.fridmanlawgroup.com.

Business People Who Code Meetup hosted by Fridman Law Group, September 2, 2010, 7:00PM

admin — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 20:21:21 +0000

FLG hosted the first monthly Business People Who Code Meetup on August 5. The next meetup takes places here at FLG on September 2, 2010 at 7PM. For more detailed information, please visit: http://www.meetup.com/Business-People-Who-Code/calendar/14112078/

Startup Meetup at 8PM EST, [Simulcast]

admin — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 17:50:30 +0000

FLG is hosting the NY section of the Startups Meetup that is being simulcast around the globe. The meetup starts at 8PM EST. Please come by and join us at 287 Spring Street.

For more information, please visit: http://www.meetup.com/STARTUPS

Summer 2010 Update + New Site Design

admin — Wed, 26 May 2010 01:14:01 +0000

We would like to introduce you to Arina Shulga, who has joined Fridman Law Group as Partner. This is an important milestone in the history of our firm, one that helps address the evolving needs of our clients.

Arina comes to Fridman Law Group from one of the largest and most prestigious firms in NYC – Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP – where she represented Fortune 500 companies, investors and underwriters in debt and equity offerings (including IPOs), joint ventures, and public company SEC reporting. Arina’s public company experience is a perfect complement to our firm’s existing corporate and transactional practice.

We would also like to take this opportunity to announce the launch of Fridman Law Group’s redesigned website – fridmanlawgroup.com – and to invite you to a reception at our office at 6:00PM on Wednesday, June 23, 2010. Feel free to contact us at info@fridmanlawgroup.com with any questions or suggestions. We look forward to catching up with each of you individually and working together towards even more success in the coming months.

Shared Work – an alternative to layoffs

admin — Mon, 24 May 2010 21:03:57 +0000

NY State will pay 50% of employees’ Friday wages if they switch to a 4-day workweek due to economic circumstances.

http://www.labor.state.ny.us/ui/dande/sharedwork1.shtm