Anshu Bhaskaran

• A competent in-house counsel with more than 16 years of experience in diversified high paced business with expertise in commercial contracting and advisory work.
• A strategic and analytical problem solver who focuses on the overall picture to ascertain business direction and proactively formulate risk mitigation strategies.
• Ability to work under pressure and deliver a quality product in this fast-paced dynamic business environment.
• A diverse mix of legal and compliance, combined with vast exposure in financial and media sectors has helped me strike the right balance between legal, compliance and business interests of an organization.
• Spearheading vide gamut of assignments including launch of OTT platform in India, US and Canada, Production deals, Technology deals, restructuring/Acquisitions/Mergers/Joint ventures
• Highly organized and motivated who enjoys autonomy as well as working with others to achieve best outcomes for the organization.

· Head Corporate Legal and Company Secretary since 2020.

· Extensive contracting experience across joint ventures (including shareholders agreements, share subscription agreements etc.) broadcast and digital technology contracts, inter-company contracts, acquisition and co-production movie deals.

· Spreadhead various acquisition/disinvestment undertaken by the Company including mergers of various jurisdictions including India, UAE, Pakistan and Mauritius.

· Part of core teams for corporate restructuring involving various business re-organization including launch of sports.

· Monitoring and supervising corporate compliance for Star India and its group companies in India across overseas and multiple joint ventures.

· Legal advisor for central functions including Business Development, Finance, Tax, Information Technology, Broadcast Operations and Engineering, Human Resources and Administration.

· Part of Internal Committee for Disney Star Group

· Leading investigations from legal standpoint for complex employee matters.

· Development and implementation of Corporate Governance policies in Star India in group companies.

· Development and implementation of due diligence process of various vendors like production houses, event management companies etc.

· Conducting risk audit.

· Conducting compliance and risk training across the Company.

· Implemented Digital Contract Management System for entire legal team across Star group.

· Engaging with regulators to overcome regulatory hurdles for key strategic deals.

· Part of core team in formulating business structure for launch of Digital Platform- Hotstarin India.

· Leading the project for launch of Hotstarin US and Canada which included: formulating business structure to launch the platform in US and Canada, understanding and implementing the local privacy laws, working closely with NY and LA 21CF teams and external counsels to overcome the initial hurdles for the launch, creating content catalogue for entertainment and sports and working with marketing and brands to structure the available content, drafting and negotiating various commercial contracts with respect to distribution of the app, partnership deals, employment, production contracts for creating original content, partnering up with payment gateway.

· Business lawyer for Star Studios- the films business vertical of Star India: advising and assisting the head of the business, as well as the production, marketing, distribution and licensing teams on all day-to-day business, contracts and other legal/ commercial issues, structuring, strategizing, due-diligence, drafting, negotiating and finalizing all legal documentation pertaining to the production and exploitation of films, including diverse investment deals, rights/ content acquisition, licensing agreements across traditional & new media, talent contracts, vendor contracts, and ad-hoc/ unique documentation.