David F. Schwartz, left, and Jonathan Gray at Gray Schwartz. Photo: David Handschuh/NYLJ

The bicoastal entertainment law firm Gray Krauss Sandler Des Rochers is nearing completion of a breakup, with its partners spinning off several new firms in the process.

Jonathan Gray and David Schwartz, who were respectively partner and of counsel, have started Gray Schwartz, currently a two-man firm, and created a consulting business to provide non-legal services. Gray is known for his work in the indie film sphere, while Schwartz focuses on theater, and both also produce shows and projects. As lawyers, they advise producers, writers, investors and other entertainment industry players.

They continue to share a Chelsea office with their former partner Andre Des Rochers, whose new firm, started with Los Angeles music lawyer Damien Granderson, is called Granderson Des Rochers. Granderson is formerly of another bicoastal firm, Davis Shapiro Lewit Grabel Leven Granderson & Blake, which is now just called Davis Shapiro Lewit Grabel & Leven, according to a person who answered the phone there.

New York-based partner Joshua Sandler, who represents film, TV, publishing and new media talent, among other clients, has also joined Granderson Des Rochers. Evan Krauss, a former partner representing artists, songwriters and others in negotiations with record companies, joined Eisner in New York, that firm announced in July.

In an interview with ALM at their offices, Gray and Schwartz said there was no animosity in the breakup of the 21-lawyer firm. Gray, for his part, said he wanted to focus on his clients—including film production companies and other players in the movie and television industries—and on his own production work, rather than having to devote so much time to firm administration.

"I found, like so many other small businesses, you kind of pass that tipping point where the focus becomes about the management of the business rather than, personally speaking, what I love, which is legal work, and specifically doing legal work in the film and television world," he said.

Movie posters at Gray Schwartz. Photo: David Handschuh/NYLJ

Someone swinging by what used to be the Gray Krauss offices will notice some changes. For one, Gray Schwartz's logo is beside the door. The business, too, is changing somewhat, and more for Gray than for Schwartz. Some periods are "heavy lawyering," Schwartz said, while other time is spent on non-legal consulting and production work.

Projects the two of them have worked on recently include the award-winning documentaries "American Factory" and "One Child Nation," picked up by Netflix and Amazon, and the shows "The Lightning Thief" and "A Bronx Tale."

Gray said he's doing less production counsel work for narrative, or fictional, films and focusing on documentaries and the business of producing; he said he's referred 50% of his workload to other lawyers. He said he and Schwartz have overlapping but distinct practices that lend themselves to an eat-what-you-kill type arrangement.

But a lot has stayed the same, too. The New York office still shares space with a post-production company called Gigantic Studio, which has drawn big-name visitors like U2, Paul Simon and the acclaimed editor and sound mixer Walter Murch. Several producers work from the location, as do other lawyers, including Nicole Compas, a former Gray Krauss lawyer now with Ramo Law.

The place is also decked out with movie posters; it's not many firms whose art galleries have been featured in New York magazine. Nor are there many lawyers whose offices include a voice-over and foley studio, where audio that wasn't picked up during a shot, like heels clicking across New York City pavement, can be recorded.

"Hundreds and hundreds of people come" to events in the office, Schwartz said. "It's part of this incredible community that really Jonathan has built over the years."

The business, too, is pretty similar, at least for Gray and Schwartz. It continues to be the case that most revenue isn't from hourly fees; nearly all of their work as counsel for production companies, for example, is flat-fee, and other work, like Gray's deal with his longtime advertising client SpotCo, is built around a monthly fee. Some fees are based on percentages of a client's earnings, which is common in the TV industry, they said, and some work is hourly.

The wind-down of Gray Krauss and the wind-up of the new firms didn't happen overnight, but it isn't totally complete, either. While it was reported in July that Davis Shapiro was splitting in two, the firm's website is still up, and Granderson Des Rocher's website isn't up yet. (Gray Schwartz's went up this week.) Gray said the process has unfolded over the course of a year or so.

Reached by phone, Des Rochers said that he and Granderson, whose firm counts about 15 lawyers, are staying out of the spotlight "until the machine is well-oiled and up and running." He said Gray Krauss "had a great run," doing work for dozens of award-winning films, but his own practice evolved from finance and production counsel to talent representation during his time at the firm.