Co-founded by content creator Callum McGinley (aka “Callux”), director Ben Doyle (aka “RVBBERDUCK”), entrepreneur Richard Mansell, and CEO Joshua Barnett, After Party Studios is a pioneering production company which operates at the intersection of mainstream and digital media. Their client roster includes Sky, Netflix, JustEat, Red Bull, Paramount and Channel 4.
The investment from SISTER Group fuels the company’s ambitions to supercharge its award-winning original IP, branded entertainment and digital-first slate and sees them join complementary founder-led, best-in-class partner companies within the SISTER Group spanning TV and film, podcasting, publishing, and music and live experiences.
The team was led by partner Ed Lane, with support from managing associate Katerina Capras, associate Julia Routledge and trainee solicitor Hugo Carter. Partner David Scott advised on tax and managing associate Mark Primrose advised on employment.
On working with Harbottle & Lewis, After Party Studios CEO Joshua Barnett commented:
“Harbottle & Lewis truly assembled the avengers supporting us with this deal. You’d be hard pushed to find a team more dedicated to the cause, and all delivered with such good grace. Thank you for your diligence, your patience and taking the time to educate us through every turn. Forever grateful.”
Ed Lane, partner at Harbottle & Lewis, added:
“We are extremely proud to have advised Josh and the team on this huge milestone. The deal with SISTER Group is a testament to their talent and hard work over a number of years, and I can’t wait to see what they do next!”
At Harbottle & Lewis, we have been immersed in the film & television industry since our founding in 1955, and it remains a key part of our heritage. We advise founders and creative businesses on a broad range of corporate and commercial matters, including fundraises and investments, M&A, commercial development and production work, specialist IP advice and litigation.
He has a particular interest and expertise in the creative industries, including film and TV, video games and music, and in the broader media, entertainment and technology sectors.
His practice spans mergers and acquisitions, fundraises from pre-seed to series A and beyond, startups, private equity, public takeovers, joint ventures, management incentive arrangements, including EMI options and growth shares, and SEIS/EIS investments. He is actively involved as a speaker and mentor for a number of different industry accelerators and trade bodies, including Indielab, BAFTA, the National Film & Television School and UKIE.
Ed trained and qualified at Linklaters, where he spent five and a half years in the private equity M&A team acting for a variety of private equity houses and businesses on leveraged and non-leveraged buy-outs, growth equity investments, exits, management incentive arrangements and bolt-on acquisitions.
Ed is ranked as a next generation partner in The Legal 500 UK guide, and is noted for his “sector expertise”, “encyclopaedic memory” and his willingness to “go the extra mile to get the best deal.”
Recent experience
She has experience in advising on mergers and acquisitions, shareholder arrangements, early-stage fundraisings, share incentive schemes and joint ventures, with particular expertise in the media, entertainment and technology sectors and the wider creative industries.
She also has a particular interest in working with charities, social enterprises and philanthropic individuals and organisations and has extensive experience advising on charity formation, governance, regulatory compliance and corporate transactions involving charities and not-for-profit entities.
Katerina is recognised as a "Leading Associate" for M&A in The Legal 500 2025 as well as a "Key Lawyer" (The Legal 500 2025) and "Associate to Watch" (Chambers UK 2025) for her charities and not-for-profit work. She has been described as having “fierce attention to detail and vast knowledge, combined with a good dose of pragmatism.”
She is a member of the Charity Law Association.
Julia has experience advising clients on mergers and acquisitions, fundraising, governance and shareholder arrangements.
Julia trained and qualified at Slaughter and May, where she worked on domestic and cross-border investments, mergers and acquisitions, and undertook a client secondment to a FTSE 100 asset manager. She joined Harbottle & Lewis in January 2026.
He has a wealth of experience providing corporate and personal tax advice to the full range of the firm’s clients and his core practice involves tax advice for entrepreneurs and their businesses. David has considerable experience advising on the tax aspects of M&A transactions and expertise in all aspects of share incentive arrangements.
David works closely with businesses at varied stages of growth and size, advising both investors and investee companies on tax efficient fundraising, including EIS and SEIS, through to an exit.
He also advises on a range of employment tax issues, including share based incentives and option schemes ranging from the implementation of EMI and CSOP share schemes to highly tailored share-based arrangements for senior management such as growth shares. He also advises on the use of employee benefit trusts (EBT) and employee ownership trusts (EOT).
As the head of the charities and philanthropy group, he advises not-for-profit organisations and individual philanthropists on all charity law issues, including commercial arrangements and corporate governance issues, as well on specific charity tax issues.
David is member of the International Tax Specialist Group (ITSG).
He frequently advises employers and employees navigating complex situations and has particular experience in various sectors, including theatre, film, television and video games, alongside technology, banking and finance.
Mark advises on grievances, disciplinaries and performance improvement plans and has extensive experience in negotiating settlement agreements, including at senior executive level. He often represents employees and employers in the agreement of employment contract and incentive terms and is adept at drafting complex bespoke documents to meet each client's unique requirements. He also frequently represents claimants and respondents in employment tribunal proceedings, including those relating to discrimination and whistleblowing, and in respect of the enforcement of post-termination restrictions. Mark is a specialist in the areas of IR35 and employment and worker status, particularly in the entertainment sector.
Mark takes a commercial, outcome-focused approach and advises in plain English. He pays close attention to each client’s ultimate objectives and avoids over-complication. He is ranked as a ‘Key Lawyer’ in The Legal 500’s UK Guide, where he is recognised for being “personable” and “able to understand unique/complex employment situations.”