Southampton based law firm Trethowans has helped the premium alcoholic drinks brand MARTINI® develop and finalise a ‘talent contract’ with BAFTA award winning actress Thandie Newton.

Thandie Newton, who won the Best Supporting Actress BAFTA award in 2006 for her role in the film ‘Crash’, has agreed to front the new ‘Beautiful Life’ MARTINI® drinks campaign.

The ‘talent contract’ that has been agreed details Thandie’s commitment to support and promote the MARTINI® ‘Beautiful Life’ campaign, including attending the campaign launch event, photo shoots and undertaking interviews for high-end magazines.

A ‘talent contract’ is a specialised type of agreement which called upon the expertise of the Trethowans lawyers to ensure that it was a legally watertight whilst still having a degree of flexibility to accommodate the interests of both parties. The challenge they faced was to ensure that the MARTINI® promotional campaign, and thus its commercial interests, were clearly documented and agreed whilst also having regard to the hectic schedule of a top international actress and model.

The Trethowans Team, which consisted of Associate James Allen and Solicitor Louise Thompson, had regular dealings with Thandie’s advisers in Los Angeles to negotiate and agree the terms for their client, Bacardi-Martini, in time for the campaign launch this week.

One example of the challenge facing James and Louise was the use of different legal terminology between the US and the UK. This might sound straightforward; however it was important that the contract was drafted in such a way that it was acceptable to the parties (and their advisers) and capable of interpretation under UK law.

Commenting on finalising the contract, James Allen says, “Working on such a specialised agreement within a tight timescale was an exciting challenge. There were a number of elements that required detailed negotiation and attention to detail to ensure that our client, Bacardi-Martini Ltd, ended up with the commercial agreement that they required to promote their ‘Beautiful Life’ campaign. Dealing with US advisers also added an extra dimension. We are delighted to have been able to advise and support MARTINI® in finalising this agreement for the exciting launch and promotion of their ‘The Beautiful Life’ campaign.”