Mr. Marshall Orson is a co-founder and partner in consulting firm Melbourne Partners, which provides business development services for transactions related to intellectual property licensing, acquisitions, and partnerships, with a specific focus on content. He also was a co-founder and partner in the media strategy and crisis management firm, Devonwood Media.
From 1989 to 2001, Mr. Orson worked at Turner Broadcasting, including five years as Vice President and General Manager of the Turner Trade Group (“TTG”). TTG is the world’s largest media company-owned trade business; Mr. Orson oversaw its global media sales deals and retail operations, and all business and legal issues. He also held a number of business positions at Turner focusing on content creation, use, acquisition and disposition, including stints as Vice President for Turner Home Entertainment, Turner Publishing and Turner Original Productions. He joined Turner’s legal department in 1989, initially with responsibility for overseeing deals related to its motion picture library and ultimately oversaw selected production deals and due diligence projects related to Turner corporate acquisitions.
Prior to joining Turner, Mr. Orson practiced law in the Atlanta office of Paul, Hastings, Janofsky and Walker, after serving as a judicial law clerk for U.S. District Court Judge R. Allen Edgar in the Eastern District of Tennessee. He is a 2001 graduate of Leadership Atlanta and co-chaired its 2003 and 2004 Criminal Justice Day programs. He is also a past President of the Unitarian-Universalist Congregation of Atlanta.
Mr. Orson is a graduate of the Duke University School of Law (Order of the Coif and High Honors), where he served as Senior Editor of Law and Contemporary Problems. He also received his bachelor’s degree (cum laude) from Duke University.