Legal Ammunition for Independents

When: Thursday, July 5th, from 6:30 - 8:30 pm

Where: Loosecubes HQ in DUMBO (20 Jay St. Suite #904, Brooklyn 11201)

Speakers:

Ilya Kushnirsky Esq.

Hannah Kreiswirth & Amber Lee, Founders of BklynHaus

Joseph Caserto, Freelancers Union Board Member & Adjunct Assistant Professor of Digital Communications and Media Instructor at NYU

Susan Davis, National Contract Advisor of the National Writers Union

Agenda: 

6:30pm - 7:00pm Networking (light refreshments will be provided)

7:00pm - 7:30pm Mini Workshop with Ilya Kushnirsky

7:30pm - 8:15pm Panel Discussion with Hannah Kreiswirth, Amber Lee, Susan Davis, and Joseph Caserto

8:15pm - 8:30pm Closing & Q&A

In light of Independence Day, we're celebrating our community -- independents! Join us for an evening workshop & panel on freelancer legal empowerment. We'll share legal tips and learn from experts and fellow freelancers on how to protect yourself with contracts, negotiation and payment.

We'll kick off the evening with some good ol' networking, followed by a presentation by Ilya Kushnirsky Esq. covering pertinent freelance legal how-tos, including:

• Protecting your work effectively
• How to prevent getting stiffed by clients
• Creating contracts that you and your clients both feel good about

In the second part of the evening, four panelists with varied perspectives on freelance life will discuss some of their biggest legal challenges and how to overcome them: client war stories, tips on drafting good statements of work, and freelancer hacks related to business negotiations and contracts. Discussion is encouraged!

Throughout the evening we'll point to various (free) resources that will allow you to more confidently navigate the legal waters as an independent professional. 

SPEAKERS

Ilya Kushnirsky

For nine years, Ilya was involved with the Wonderland art collective, where he helped artists make their living from their work (and threw great underground parties). He’s also done stints with the Museum of the Moving Image, Dance Parade, and Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts. Today, Ilya runs his own legal practice that helps artists, creative professionals, entrepreneurs, and techies. He collects art, graphic novels, and will talk your ear off about The Hold Steady and French new wave cinema if you let him.

Hannah Kreiswirth

Hannah Kreiswirth is an entrepreneur, strategic producer and artist agent. Hannah has worked in New York since 2006 in a wide range of contexts —in film and TV, media and publishing, start-ups, and advertising. In 2010 she dove into entrepreneurism and co-founded the creative and digital talent agency -- Bklyn Haus, the arts and culture website -- Join Bklyn, and the NY Content Meet Up, a monthly industry seminar series.  An energetic creative at heart, Hannah is consistently inspired by and striving towards social change and artistic engagement.  

Amber Lee

Amber Lee is a New York based entrepreneur and musician. Over the past five years, Amber has worked for Tremor Video, the industries largest video advertising network, and Oddcast, an interactive media technology company, producing campaigns for clients such as CBS, P&G, Sony Entertainment, Nissan, and Microsoft. Since 2010, Amber co-founded the creative and digital talent agency, Bklyn Haus, the arts and culture website, Join Bklyn, and the New York Content Meet Up, a monthly seminar series that has showcased speakers from the Huffington Post, New York Times, Squidoo and Digitas. 

Joseph Caserto

Joseph Caserto is an award-winning design professional, educator, and consultant, based in New York City, who specializes in publication art direction and design. Joseph earned a BFA with honors in Communications Design from Pratt Institute, where he completed one of the first classes in graphic design produced with a Macintosh. With nearly 20 years of professional experience, he is currently a freelance art director and designer whose clients have included Billboard, BusinessWeek, Marie Claire, PC, TV Guide, and Vibe magazines. He received American Graphic Design Awards from GD USA magazine annually, from 2008-2011, and a Create Award in 2008. Joseph is an active member of AIGA, Graphic Artists’ Guild, Freelancers Union, where he also sits on the Board of Directors, and the Society of Publication Designers, where he is a Member of the Student Outreach Committee. He has taught at The City College of New York and NYU.

Susan Davis

Susan E. Davis, author of four nonfiction books and a self-published novel, has been the National Contract Advisor of the National Writers Union since 2007.