Business Affairs
Make your story, your business.
“The moment you write the first word on a page, storyboard your first frame, play your first note, paint your first stroke on canvas, you have started a business”
Izzy Abidi
Make your story, your business
Business Affairs empowers individuals and businesses by giving crucial industry insights into and providing a strategy for how creative work can be commercialised.
Some examples include understanding and negotiating deals, consulting on pitches, executive production, building a sustainable business model around your projects, understanding and negotiating deals, consulting on structuring a production/tour/licensing/distribution/event/brand partnership, as well as legal support with your contracts.
If you learn the basic vocabulary that your industry uses in deal-making, it equips you with knowledge. That dynamic can be felt in the rooms you are in, empowering you with the agency over where your work goes and how it’s used.
This ultimately allows you to focus on where you shine: your story.
Beyond business:
legal support, fine print and taking risks
If the project requires specific expertise, a larger team or specialist legal advice in your industry, Freshly draws upon its global creative and industry collective network to find the ideal business, production or legal support for your work.
Freshly has also partnered with Reviewed & Cleared, drawing upon experienced legal specialists in the tech, media, publishing and entertainment industry who understand the importance of risk taking to innovate and create.
Your creativity, supported with experience and a network
This also includes production management and policies (e.g. Production HR best-practices, intimacy coordinators, working hours, cast and crew contracts, review of incentive processes).
Cultural nuance is vital to any work and with that, Freshly also takes into account regional practicalities and cultural nuances of your project, referring you to a local network when relevant.
By working with Freshly on Business Affairs, you also get access to the Freshly Collective.
Freshly brings over 15 years of experience in the business and legal areas of technology, music, media and entertainment industries.
Alongside the Freshly Collective, this covers a range of experience from large-scale Hollywood productions to dealing with studios, streamers, venues and artist management.
some projects we’ve worked on
Deal-making for producers, artists, founders and podcasts
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brand partnership deals
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production dealmaking from script to screen
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advising businesses and founders on their story
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content creator agreements
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podcast business models
Deal-making for producers, artists, founders and podcasts • brand partnership deals • production dealmaking from script to screen • advising businesses and founders on their story • content creator agreements • podcast business models
Legal stuff: To avoid any misleading, Netflix titles on this page relate to experience as a Netflix employee from 2018 to 2024 (i.e. Netflix is not a client of Freshly Ground Stories). This work is celebrated with pride and joy, especially the wide-range of female led productions, from typically underrepresented communities.
Grounded in Experience
Client Stories
“My only regret about working with Izzy is that I didn't start doing it ten years ago. Of course, that wasn't an option, but trust me, if I could, I would clone her, take her back a decade, and then hire Clone Izzy as my business consultant while Original Izzy was doing her thang. Getting seasoned guidance from an elite industry professional is a worthwhile investment in your short - and long-term future. Izzy has the knowledge and wisdom to help creatives build a solid foundation and nurture a sustainable career. But Izzy is not just a savvy business and legal mind; she also has the creativity, playfulness, and joy to make it an uplifting process. Do not hesitate to work with her.”
Anne Sobel, Screenwriter
“Izzy is an incredible ally to independent and startup media creatives looking to navigate the legal side of their businesses. She's helped Kerning Cultures craft media-first contracts and manage IP considerations for various content projects. She's fast, knows how to explain complicated legal jargon in plain language, and knows how to translate what you're looking for into documents that protect you and are also creator-friendly. Highly recommend!”
H. Fisher, CEO & Co-Founder,
Kerning Cultures Network
“Ismat Abidi has been an invaluable asset to my music business, providing expert guidance in both Business Affairs and Coaching. Her strategic insights and hands-on approach have helped streamline our operations and improve business practices. Ismat's professionalism, combined with her empathy and deep understanding of creative industries and individuals, has made a significant positive impact. Highly recommended!”
James Locksmith, CEO & Founder, Electronic Music Life (Australia)
“Izzy is an absolute force — bursting with fresh ideas, sharp insights, and contacts that stretch across continents. She's helped us organize our ambitions, push creative boundaries from new angles, and professionalize our work to make it more stable and sustainable. She does it with a mix of charm and unstoppable energy — occasionally challenging us, but always supporting us.”
Adam S., Producer & Writer
“The Ultimate Game-Changer. Working with Izzy was hands down the best decision I could have made. If I had the budget, I would have paid her three times what I did—her expertise is that valuable. Her consultation didn’t just give me knowledge—it awakened my soul. She validated that I have what it takes to build a production studio and equipped me with the skills to shape my stories for a completely new audience: studio executives. Before working with Izzy, I knew nothing about the film and production industry. By our third session, I walked away with full confidence, landing meetings with executives and securing follow-ups—something I never imagined possible. Izzy isn’t just a consultant; she’s a catalyst for transformation. If fear or doubt is holding you back, she will change that instantly. Investing in her guidance is, without a doubt, the best investment you can make in yourself. I’ll be hiring her again as I continue to scale, and if you’re serious about making an impact, you should too. Izzy, you’re a powerhouse—thank you for everything! 🚀✨”
Fadi Hindi, CEO, Imshi Inc.
“I am truly grateful to have worked with Izzy! For years I have been slowly picking away at an idea, not realizing that my lack of confidence and business knowledge were what was holding me back from pursuing something that I am so passionate about. Izzy helped me fill in the fundamental gaps in my knowledge and in doing so have made the way forward so clear and my goals within my reach! I feel honored to be able to work with someone so experienced and yet so approachable, and hope to do so well into the future!”
Liz, Founder, Tech startup
“I can highly recommend working with Izzy. She manages to transform meetings about contracts and terms of references into energetic moments while displaying a deep knowledge about the creative industry. Izzy anticipates issues that might come up and uses plain language to explain legal subjects”
Klaas van Dijken, Director, Lighthouse Reports
Our commitment to humanity
The storytelling communities of the Global South, local and diaspora, are currently navigating an inner balance of re-charge vs. reboot.
With a pull of duty and responsibility towards the latter. In a moment where there are rapidly increasing narratives that dehumanise or stereotype the Global South, Freshly is committed to play a part, however small, in humanising stories, especially when in rooms where decisions can be made.
Ready to commercialise your creativity?
Book your free discovery call.