Having graduated with a First Grade in Law and French at Trinity College Dublin, and a Masters in Legal and Political Theory at UCL, Silvia completed a short stint at the European Commission, and then trained in finance law at Clifford Chance. She then ransitioned to media law at Sheridans LLP, worked 4 years in-house at Ingenious Media. Since starting her freelance career in 2019, she has worked as a senior consultant at Carnival Films, and Great Point Media. For more info, please see my LinkedIn.

Silvia advises a range of clients from authors, producers, financiers, rights holders, filmmakers, freelancers, to equity investors on all matters from development through to collection of net receipts. I have worked on small indie films through to international productions, such as Guns Akimbo (2019), Blue Jean (2022), The Taste of Mango (2023), Kneecap (2024) and Deep Cover (2025). Please see my full IMDB credit list. 

Apart from Silvia’s interest in law and contracts, she previously spent some time working on short commercial and documentary film projects. She completed a course in documentary filmmaking at University College London, completed a couple of short documentaries and worked on a feature documentary idea for a number of years.

Giacomo Stucchi‑Prinetti

Film & Television Business Advisor
Solicitor (non-practicing)

With over 9 years’ experience across film and high-end TV, Giacomo advises on development, production, financing and distribution, with experience working alongside Paramount, Ringside Studios (Newen/TF1), MBC Studios and Ingenious Media. He operates across the UK, Europe and international markets as a freelance legal and business affairs consultant, specialising in complex deal structuring including co-productions and finance, and is known for a practical, production-focused approach.

Silvia’s Film Expert Talks & Teaching 

Silvia has always enjoyed preparing and conducing workshops. Before going freelance, she delivered three successful Film Finance masterclasses for Women in Film & TV (UK) and led a range of in-house workshops across entertainment law topics. Since establishing her freelance practice, she has continued to give talks and masterclasses, relishing the chance to share practical legal insight directly with filmmakers and industry professionals.

Speaking Engagements, Masterclasses and Seminars 

• In Person Workshop: Film Financing with Leading Finance and Legal Experts, with Mariyah Dosani (Calculus Media), at WFTV (21 January 2026)

"Really enjoyed the small group setting and the informal atmosphere!"

"The in-depth knowledge shared by the panellists was invaluable, I came away feeling much more confident."

"Silvia and Mariyah were both incredibly knowledgeable and helpful in their advice. It felt like a safe space for us to bring our concerns to the table and has given me lots to think about."

• Option Agreement Masterclass, Online, (16 December 2025)

"So much info that I didn't know, and very clearly presented", "Just a really good overview - especially giving us the perspective on the lender"

"It was clear and informative without being overwhelming with jargon"

"The level of information imparted. This was a one hour masterclass in film financing. Super helpful"

"The help/generosity in sharing the complex details as a good reminder / intro is really appreciated"

"Silvia's Options Masterclass is a fully comprehensive class on all that must be considered when approaching an Option agreement. Silvia as always, was clear, concise and generous with her wealth of knowledge and experience, making what can feel like a daunting process pragmatic and accessible." 

"As I already had some basic knowledge via research and dialogue with Silvia, the most helpful aspects of the talk for me were those that went beyond the immediate introductory info on Options. As a producer, it was also helpful to hear how rights holders would be advised and what would matter to them, as this paints a comprehensive picture for me to work with when approaching rights holders." 

• Film Financing: An Introduction to Production Loans, with Mariyah Dosani (Calculus Media) at WFTV (15 September 2025) 

"Thank you so much for the session on Monday night. Just incredibly helpful/useful, full of good insights and suggestions. When completing the inevitable response form that WFTV always send out post-event, I noted that your session, unlike so many, didn’t fall into the anecdotal trap (‘didn’t we all have a lovely time making this TV show/film/whatever’) but was just chock full of useful information, clearly set out and clearly presented. Thank you so much. Really useful." 

"I joined the Women in Film and TV session yesterday - it was really brilliant. A huge thank you to you and Mariyah for such an insightful hour."

• Legal Basics Masterclass, at The Kusp (12 June 2025)

Feedback from Kusp student: "Thank you so much for this today, I got a lot out of it and will definitely research more on these topics. Thanks for holding this Kusp!!" 

Feedback from Amos, Founder & MD, The Kusp: "The talk was really engaging, and Silvia made what feels like a complex and arduous process feel possible to achieve for      the members of our community at The Kusp."

• Law? What Law? - Online Masterclass, part of the Oxford Shorts Film Festival (Sept 2023)

• Law and the Movies (February 2025); and Exploring the Legal Wastelands in Film (May 2024), part of the Romford Horror Fest / Romford Film Festival 

Feedback from Spencer Hawken, Festival Director: "Silvia delivered a great talk and within a few minutes of opening the floor to questions and created instant perspective and savings for one of our international guests. Our attendees spoke highly of the talk for the duration of the festival." 

• Law and the Movies - Online Masterclass, at Cine Circle (May 2024) 

Feedback: "I really liked your clarity and approach."

• Basic Contract Law for Freelancers, at the ‘Digital Nomad Girls Forum’ (March 2022)

•  "Theory Meets Practice: A Masterclass on Film Law Agreements" at the University of Westminster (on the LLM Entertainment Law programme) (June 2019)

Her class focused on the legal underpinnings of film creation from idea to screen, with particular emphasis on key aspects of option agreements early in the creative and financing cycle of a film and distribution agreements in the exploitation and monetisation phase. 

In addition to her experience in giving talks and master classes, Silvia is a certified teacher of English as a foreign language (CerTESOS) and aims to apply her teaching experience when passing on her media law knowledge. As part of her commitment to teaching, she provides 1:1 entertainment law teaching which can be booked on her here.

Podcasts

Silvia has appeared on a number of podcasts, most recently on: Top Entertainment Lawyer Silvia Schmidt Simplifies Film Contracts

Educational Content and Writing

Silvia contributed educational content to the Raindance Film Festival platform: Covid and your Contract & Option agreements for film and TV – what should producers look out for? and was asked to write an article on option agreements for The Alliance of Independent Authors 

She also publishes extensively on her own website. 

ACADEMIC PUBLICATIONS

During her time at Legal Service of the European Commission, Silvia co-authored one article and a chapter on state aid law: 

• "Transport" in Financing Services of General Economic Interest: Reform and Modernization, Springer; Erika Szyszczak, Johan Willem van de Gronden (eds.) (2012) 

• "The post-Altmark Era Has Started: 15 Months of Application of Regulation (EC) No. 1370/2007 to Public Transport Services", European State Aid Law Quarterly 2/2011: pp. 249-263