Sara Vandore-Mackay

Sara is a highly experienced media lawyer with over 15 years’ post-qualification experience and 12 years of specialist media law work.

Since joining Reviewed & Cleared in November 2019, Sara has worked for producers and broadcasters to provide legal advice for feature films and dramas, investigative journalism, documentaries, entertainment programmes and podcasts, for both linear and streaming platforms. She advises on all aspects of media law and compliance including privacy, data protection and defamation, copyright and fair dealing, Ofcom standards, fairness, commercial content and branding, as well as developing production protocols and considering sensitive editorial ethics and duty of care issues. In May 2020 she was appointed a legal expert for the FOCUS programme run by Film City Futures in Glasgow, providing legal and compliance advice to a number of Scottish production companies.

Recent productions that Sara has advised on include; Wonka: The Scandal That Rocked Britain, The Mysterious Mr Lagerfeld, Boris Becker: The Rise And Fall, Richard Hammond's Workshop, Skandal! Bringing Down Wirecard, The Messenger podcast, Scotland's Greatest Escapes, Runrig: There Must Be A Place, Mogwai: If The Stars Had A Sound, the What They Really Mean For You series, When Science Finds A Way podcast series, 90 Day Fiancé, Love Is Blind UK and is currently working on the sequel to zombie film 28 Days Later.

Prior to joining Reviewed & Cleared, Sara was a lawyer in the award-winning Legal & Compliance team at Channel 4 Television for eight years, providing editorial teams with pre- and post-broadcast media law and regulatory advice including programmes such as the Dispatches strand, 24 Hours in Police Custody, Grand Designs and The Undateables.

Sara has a background in high-level litigation having qualified as a solicitor in the Commercial Litigation department of magic circle law firm Allen & Overy in 2006, working on complex commercial claims. She then moved to claimant law firm Schillings in 2010, where Sara advised private clients, corporations and high net worth individuals on media law and regulatory issues in relation to newspaper publications and investigative broadcasts.

Sara has been described as “quick, clear and supportive” and prides herself on providing practical and pragmatic advice on all aspects of publication and broadcast media law. She has recently left the bright lights of London for the rolling hills of East Devon.