Australia’s pioneering entertainment lawyer Lloyd Hart has retired after nearly 45 years of service to the industry.
Arguably the first lawyer to specialise in entertainment law for the Australian film and television industry, he qualified as BA LLB in Brisbane, where he was born into a legal family and his father was a Supreme Court judge in Queensland.
He then travelled to the UK and Canada, gaining an LLM – Master of Laws – from London University.
He started in the entertainment business in 1971 as in-house legal for the Australian Film Development Corporation, the first government funding agency, which was set up by the Gorton government in 1970.
No film investment contracts existed at that time because there had never before been government funds available to be invested. As there were no precedents he had to create the basic development and investment contracts from scratch.
In 1975 when the Australian Film Commission replaced the AFDC, he was employed as the AFC’s first legal officer and his pioneering legal work continued.
Subsequently he moved to the NSW Film Corporation, working with CEO Paul Riomfalvy and General Manager Jenny Woods, and from there to private practice, where he has continued to specialise in entertainment law, intellectual property and new media law.
In 1980 he was retained by Richard Soames, then head of the completion bond company Film Finances, to act for Film Finances in Australia and New Zealand. During his 35-year association with Film Finances he oversaw the legal work on more than a thousand completion bonds – probably a world record.
Lloyd’s intimate knowledge of all aspects of the film industry’s legal and financing contracts over the evolution of the industry is unique. His experience has been accompanied by a healthy commonsense and an understanding that the contracts exist to get films made, not the other way around. Many a filmmaker has had cause to thank him for his ability to cut through and to concentrate on the practical problems in order to complete the contracting in a timely manner.
Nina Stevenson, one of Australia’s leading entertainment lawyers, said: “Lloyd was a pioneer of film and television law in Australia and I am forever grateful that he gave me my first job after law school. He was my mentor and taught me many things, but most especially to use my right brain as well as my left.”
Speaking on behalf of Lloyd’s clients, Bryan Brown said: "First off, how dare Lloyd retire? That’s so damn selfish. What am I going to do without him? Lloyd has watched my back for 30 years. I love talking to Lloyd. I ring him and we chat for ages about everything and we laugh and then I’ve forgotten what I was ringing for. Cost me a fortune those calls.Then the bill arrives with the costs and a note saying 'but let's call it so much.' I don’t know how he can afford to live.
"A most generous, warm, considerate friend and colleague and I am going to miss him greatly."
Russell Allen, his colleague in the firm Lloyd Hart Lawyers, will continue to service their clients under his own name.
Lloyd’s son Graham has also been working in the firm for the last five years and will continue in practice.