Kalaw
™Where cinema meets counsel: exploring the legal nuances of the filmmaking journey.
The art of filmmaking is not only a creative pursuit but also a legally complex process. Kalaw decodes how law intersects with creativity, through engaging dialogue with the directors, composers, actors, and producers who shape Indian cinema.
Sixty seconds on why cinema needs counsel.
"While creativity fuels cinema, the absence of proper legal frameworks can jeopardize a project."
From script development to final distribution, filmmakers navigate a web of rights, permissions, contracts, and compliance issues. Often overlooked, these legal aspects form the backbone of a film's legitimacy, protect the interests of creators, and ensure smooth commercial viability.
Intellectual property rights, copyright clearances, music licensing, contracts with cast and crew, censorship compliance, and distribution agreements: each stage requires careful legal attention. Understanding these nuances is crucial not only for producers and directors, but also for writers, performers, and technicians engaged in the filmmaking journey.
At Kalaw, we aim to decode how law intersects with creativity. Join us for an engaging dialogue that shapes and safeguards the filmmaking journey.
What Kalaw sets out to do.
Every episode is built around a working filmmaker's journey, tracing the legal checkpoints they crossed, the ones they missed, and what the rest of the industry can learn from both.
Law as an enabler
Reframing law as part of the creative process: a protector of ideas and relationships, not an obstacle to them.
Checkpoint by checkpoint
Key legal checkpoints across the lifecycle of a film, told through each guest's own projects and experiences.
Awareness that travels
Building real understanding of intellectual property, contracts, and compliance among filmmakers, students, and industry professionals.
Practical, not theoretical
Insights drawn from case studies and expert experience: what actually happens on sets, in studios, and in negotiations.
The filmmaking journey, decoded.
Six themes trace a film's life from first idea to final dispute, each one a conversation about the questions filmmakers actually face.
Idea to Script
Copyright ownership, plagiarism risks, and adaptations.
- Who owns an idea, and when does inspiration become infringement?
- What does a clean adaptation or remake deal actually look like?
- How do writers protect a script before it's ever pitched?
Contracts & Agreements
With writers, actors, technicians, and financiers.
- What must every artist and technician agreement cover?
- What happens, legally, when a project stalls or collapses?
- How do financiers and producers protect their stake on paper?
Music & Creative Rights
Licensing, royalties, and usage rights.
- Who owns a song: the composer, the producer, or the label?
- How do royalties actually flow after release?
- Remixes, covers, and sampling: where are the lines?
Censorship & Certification
Navigating regulatory bodies and approvals.
- How does certification really work, from cut to certificate?
- Negotiating with regulators: what can and can't be challenged?
- Theatrical vs OTT: how do the rules differ?
Distribution & Exhibition
Streaming platforms, theatres, and international markets.
- What's inside an OTT acquisition deal?
- How are revenues shared between producers, distributors, and exhibitors?
- Territory rights, dubbing rights, and the international market.
Dispute Resolution
Arbitration, litigation, and industry-specific conflict management.
- When disputes threaten a release, what are the options?
- Arbitration vs the courtroom in film industry conflicts.
- Credit battles, payment disputes, and how they actually get resolved.
Who should listen.
Kalaw is built for everyone with a stake in the story, whether they make films, study the law behind them, or simply love cinema.
Filmmakers & Artists
Aspiring and working directors, writers, performers, and technicians who want their craft protected.
Law Students
Students exploring media & entertainment law as a practice area, with real matters, not just textbooks.
Industry Professionals
Producers, managers, platforms, and studios navigating rights, contracts, and compliance daily.
Lovers of Cinema
Followers of Telugu cinema and Indian film at large, curious about what happens behind the screen.
Kalaw is hosted by ProSquad Legal's media & entertainment practice, bringing the firm's experience advising studios, OTT platforms, and production houses directly into conversation with the people who make Indian cinema.
Meet the Full Team →Voices we're bringing to the table.
Each season features conversations with the people who make cinema happen, tracing the legal side of their creative journeys.
Directors
The vision-holders: on adaptations, credit, and creative control.
Music Composers
The hitmakers: on ownership, licensing, and royalties.
Actors
The faces on screen: on contracts, endorsements, and image rights.
Producers
The risk-takers: on financing, distribution, and disputes.
Have a filmmaking journey worth decoding?
Season 01 premieres on 1st September 2026. If you're a filmmaker, composer, performer, or producer with a story, or you'd simply like a reminder when the first episode drops, we'd love to hear from you.
Kalaw™ is a trademark of ProSquad Legal. · Season 01 premieres 1st September 2026.