Tom K. Ara is a partner in Weil’s Private Equity practice and leads the Firm’s entertainment, sports, and media practice from the Los Angeles office.

For over 25 years, Tom has bridged Hollywood and Wall Street, advising private equity firms, asset managers, sovereign wealth funds, family offices, institutional investors, film studios, television networks, video game companies, and digital media innovators on M&A and corporate transactions. He has led multibillion-dollar cross-border deals—including acquisitions, joint ventures, and financings—across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

Tom’s practice combines sophisticated transaction structuring with deep industry expertise in film, television, gaming, and digital media, with particular focus on intellectual property, content distribution, and strategic investments. He has worked with many of the biggest names in entertainment and been involved in numerous industry-shaping deals.

Tom has been named among Variety’s Top 500 global media leaders and recognized as a top dealmaker by Forbes, The Hollywood Reporter, Bloomberg, and the Los Angeles Times. He is consistently ranked by Chambers USA and The Legal 500, and major publications—including The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Financial Times, and CGTN—frequently seek his insights on market trends.

He serves on the Blackhouse Foundation Board, is a trustee of the US-Asia Institute, and is a member of the UCLA Entertainment Symposium Advisory Committee and the USC Institute on Entertainment Law and Business organizing committee. He is also Editor-in-Chief of LA Lawyer Magazine’s Entertainment Law Issue.

Prior to joining Weil, Tom was Global Co-Chair of the media, sports, and entertainment practice at another leading international law firm.