Gordon Judge has a unique combination of experience gained within the film industry and from working as a commercial lawyer in private practice. He has been working with the film industry both in Ireland and internationally for almost 20 years. He qualified as a solicitor in Ireland in 1989 and worked in a law firm in Palo Alto, California for a couple of years before returning to Ireland.
He worked in-house for a German film distributor and sales agent, where he was involved in distribution and co-production arrangements for a variety of international productions ranging from Joseph Vilsmaier’s “Stalingrad” to Peter Jackson’s “Heavenly Creatures” filmed in New Zealand. During this time, he travelled regularly to Los Angeles and attended international film markets.
Gordon Judge has considerable experience of advising companies establishing in Ireland, whether to operate as a film production company for a single project to avail of the Section 481 tax and other benefits available to film production companies or on a more permanent basis. He advises on structures required to avail of the benefits of Section 481 and advises international financiers generally on the validity and enforceability against Irish entities of loan and credit agreements and the perfection of related security. From January 2015, Section 481 has been extended to 2020 and the scheme has been changed from an investor based tax relief to a tax credit based system which will provide producers with a tax credit of 32% of qualifying expenditure on films and television productions.
In addition to representing the interests of financiers on a large number of productions supported by Section 481 finance, he has advised producers and co-producers on production legal issues for Irish productions that include:
- Dead Bodies – directed by Robert Quinn
- Goldfish Memory – directed by Liz Gill
- “Evelyn” starring Pearse Brosnan, Aidan Quinn and Julianna Marguiles
- Wilde Stories – an animated series for Channel 4
- The Island of Inis Cool – an animated series for TG4
- “This Is My Father” – an Irish Canadian co-production starring Aidan Quinn
- “The General” – directed by John Boorman and starring Brendan Gleeson
- “48 Angels”
- “The Tiger’s Tale” – directed by John Boorman and starring Brendan Gleeson
He has also advised writers, musicians and other contributors in relation to film and television projects and has handled a number of international music licensing arrangements on behalf of Irish clients.
Gordon Judge & Co, Solicitors, was initially established as a sole practice and now operates as a partnership with a broad range of expertise in finance, banking and security work. We provide commercial and business law advice to a variety of clients in other businesses that include pension trustees, the music industry, a third level media college, office equipment leasing, software development and financial spread betting.
Memberships:
- International Association of Entertainment Lawyers
- Business Law Committee of the Dublin Solicitors Bar Association
- Associate member of the Association of Pensioneer Trustees of Ireland
- The Law Society of Ireland
He is a former board member of the Dublin International Film Festival.