Brian O’Leary

Brian O’Leary is a resourceful and accomplished senior tax counsel and finance executive specializing in the media and entertainment sector, with expertise in tax and incentives policy, project management, advocacy before government authorities and tax audit and controversy resolution. Over the course of more than 23 years Brian developed a specialty working with governments to generate economic development support while minimizing tax impacts for strategic capital projects, film, television and streaming productions and ongoing business operations. Brian worked extensively with cross-functional teams to achieve strategic and project-specific objectives in APAC, EMEA, LATAM & North America.

Brian has a record of proven success as Senior Vice President and key advisor at NBCUniversal to business leaders on executing complex, impactful company initiatives. A collaborative leader, Brian is committed to cultivating strong partnerships with key internal and external stakeholders. Brian’s delivery of substantial, performance enhancing value is the result of meticulous preparation, innovative solutions, and disciplined decision-making.

During Brian’s tenure with NBCUniversal he led the tax incentive process, including planning and budgeting, government interaction and approval, structuring production, personnel/supplier agreements, audit verification and incentive monetization. Brian steered the organization to prioritize incentive planning as a core element of decision-making across the spectrum of company projects. Brian successfully negotiated incentives at every level of government and project scale and served as subject matter expert/witness before various legislative and administrative bodies in more than a dozen states and Canadian provinces.

Brian’s tax experience includes the negotiation of tax and incentive related provisions in international sporting rights agreements, global award event contracts, supplier contracts, production service agreements and government contracts from closing arrangements to economic development agreements. Brian has worked with state and local governments and industry groups across the United States on developing and advocating for a wide range of tax policy measures including methods of apportionment, revenue sourcing, and indirect tax modifications.

Brian’s work and external engagement for NBCUniversal and current clients, including the Motion Picture Association as well as film studios, soundstage developers and government clients have earned him international recognition as an expert in tax policy, incentives, and economic development, resulting in his appointment to government film industry and economic advisory councils in the states of New York, New Jersey, New Mexico, Hawaii, California, and Georgia as well as the province of Ontario, Canada. Brian also served on the Board of the National Multistate Tax Symposium for more than a decade and undertakes numerous speaking engagements around the world on matters of credits and incentives, film financing and taxation, including speaking on the topics of film incentives and economic development policy at the Association of Film Commissioners International’s Annual Cineposium conference held in Bogota, Colombia in September 2022.