Written by Kitty Luo.
Transactional entertainment attorney, Jonathan Handel, gave advice to students on becoming an entertainment lawyer at a lunch event on Tuesday, September 30. Handel graduated from Harvard College with a degree in applied math and Harvard Law School. Not only a lawyer, but also a journalist, author, and commentator, Handel began his career by working in technology and drafting the Cambridge Human Rights Ordinance. He then attended Harvard Law School, after which he clerked for Judge Goldberg on the Fifth Circuit, worked in appellate litigation at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips and concurrently as a Federal Association Independence Counsel. He then worked as Associate Counsel for the Writers Guild. As a journalist and commentator, Handel has been published in Los Angeles Times, Variety, Hollywood Reporter, Huffington Post, Billboard, Forbes and IMDb.com. He has authored multiple books and works as an adjunct professor at Southwestern, USC and UCLA.
Handel advised students interested in pursuing a path in entertainment law to read as many books as they can about the field and the industry. He recommended The Biz by Schuyler M. Moore, The Business of Television by Ken Basin, and Hollywood Dealmaking by Dina Appleton and Daniel Yankelevits. Not quite written for lawyers, yet also not quite for a layperson, these books are “at the perfect level for a law student,” Handel said.
For those who are unsure about pursuing a path in entertainment, Handel said that students should also follow trade journals such as Variety, Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, and TheWrap, as well as sign up for these publications’ newsletters.
In terms of course selection, Handel suggested that students should take as many courses as they can related to entertainment law, including the transactional law clinic and courses on copyright and trademark. Since Hollywood and entertainment have always been industries based on technology, Handel emphasized the importance of taking courses on technology law and AI.
The audience asked questions at the end of the talk related to breaking into the entertainment industry, how to transition from a legal role into creative production, and the impact of recent tariffs on foreign films. Handel advised that those interested in entertainment should move to Los Angeles and find work in either entertainment or transactional law.
With the entertainment industry facing challenges and declines in production in the era of Netflix and streaming wars, Handel warned that the entertainment industry is “in dire straits.” The emergence of AI threatens to replace many aspects of production, writing, and acting. Handel highlighted the importance of staying updated with the news and technological developments because the future of entertainment is currently beyond prediction.
