Eric Sherman Joins Thunder Road Films & game1 as Chief Legal Officer & General Counsel

EXCLUSIVE: Ziffren Brittenham partner Eric Sherman has left to become Chief Legal Officer & General Counsel of Thunder Road Films and game1. Sherman will oversee business and legal affairs for both Thunder Road Films and game1, as well as Asbury Park Pictures.

“We have relied on Eric’s wisdom, counsel, and decency as one of our outside lawyers for more than a decade. Now we are blessed that Eric joins us at both Thunder Road and game1 to continue the rapid growth of both companies,” says Basil Iwanyk, founder and CEO.

Said Sherman: “I have worked side by side with Basil, Erica and their team at Thunder Road for over ten years. Basil’s acumen as a producer in both the studio system and in the independent world is a combination that is rarely seen today in the film making business. Continuing my journey with him in a more hands-on role, coupled with the exciting prospect of being a part of game1 and helping grow that business with Basil and Greg Economu from the ground up, makes this truly an opportunity of a lifetime.”

Sherman spent the last nine years at Ziffren Brittenham LLP where he handled all aspects of negotiations and deals for a number of writer, director, actor and producer clients across features and television. Before that Sherman worked as a Business Affairs executive at Universal Pictures in their features department. He started his entertainment career in Business and Legal Affairs at Artisan Entertainment.

Iwanyk runs Thunder Road with partner Erica Lee. Its recent output includes Halle Berry’s directing debut Bruised, the football drama National Champions, the Gerard Butler-starrer Greenland, the Neil Burger scifi thriller Voyagers and the John Wick film series, The Town, Sicario and A Star is Born.  Upcoming is Tarik Saleh’s black op thriller The Contractor starring Chris Pine & Ben Foster, Dev Patel’s directorial debut Monkey Man and the romcom Text For You starring Priyanka Chopra, Sam Heughan and Celine Dion. John Wick 4 is in post and production has begun on the John Wick spin-off TV series The Continental and the Gerard Butler & Ric Waugh reteam on Kandahar.

The content studio game1 was founded by Iwanyk and sports industry executive Greg Economou, with Mark Ciardi running day to day operations. The company produced National Champions, American Underdog: The Kurt Warner Story and Bruised with upcoming projects to include a Jim Valvano biopic, a Lamar Odom docu and a series about L.A. basketball which is being produced alongside Brooklyn Nets star James Harden.