Warner Bros. goes to Disney for business affairs director. (People).

COURTNEY Armstrong was introduced to entertainment law as a litigator, but he really wanted a seat at the bargaining tables of Hollywood.

In his new position as director of business affairs at Warner Bros. Pictures, the 32-year-old lawyer will get the chance.

Warner Bros. lured Armstrong from Walt Disney Pictures' business and legal affairs department.

"As an attorney in legal affairs, you don't have the opportunity to get involved in the dealmaking," said Armstrong, who for three years drafted the deals that business affairs executives had negotiated. "You're carrying out people's work."

At Warner Bros., Armstrong will be going head-to-head with agents for writers, actors, directors and producers. "They're all very smart people," he said. "As a business affairs executive, you make the deal. It's not really more pressure, but a different kind of pressure."

Armstrong developed a fascination with movies while in law school, and moved to L.A. after signing on as an associate at Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker LLP in 1997.

"If I wanted to be in music entertainment law, I could have gone to L.A. or New York. But for movies, L.A. is where all the studios are," he said.

While the work at Disney was a foot in the door, the opportunity to move up at Warner Bros. was too good to pass up.

Armstrong is the youngest member of Warner's business affairs team, and although his colleagues have 10 years' more experience than he does, he doesn't feel extraordinary pressure.

Armstrong, who is single, was born in Chicago and lives in Canoga Park. He received a bachelors in mechanical engineering, a joint juris doctorate and a masters in business administration, all from Northwestern University.