On February 20, 2026, Loyola Law School hosted its annual Entertainment Law Review (“ELR”) Symposium. On the theme of “Power Players,” the day featured panels including “Women Winning in Sports,” “Content Creator Counsel + Social Media Esquires,” and “Music Industry Mavens.” The program concluded on a powerful note with a panel featuring Robert Darwell, Partner and Head of Global Media Practice Group at Sheppard Mullin; Rina Yano, Former Senior Vice President of Business & Legal Affairs at Wonder Project; and Dan Matusov, Senior Business Affairs Executive at Amazon Studios. The panel, entitled “Film and TV Phenoms,” consisted of experts who each spoke from their extensive experience in entertainment, sharing insights on the industry’s current issues.
What became at once clear is that the landscape of entertainment law is experiencing more radical change than ever before. Why? Jay Dougherty of Loyola Law School explained it aptly when he said we’re not just experiencing “unprecedented change in terms of how entertainment is created, distributed, etc., but also in the very practice of law itself.”[1] So, what are lawyers to do? The answer is: be creative.
If there were ever a notion that lawyers had to give up creativity in the pursuit of mastering “the law,” dispel it. Clinging solely to the black letter will not serve attorneys in today’s age. In an era of constant innovation, shifting ecosystems, and new market participants, the true mark of a master lawyer is creative problem-solving. This idea seemed to echo throughout each of the panelists’ responses.
For instance, when asked about how to bridge the gap between what the creatives want and what the business team needs, Darwell explained that the job of legal is to find a way to say yes, rather than become a roadblock that interferes with the creative vision or the budgetary parameters of the project.[2] In other words, if there is a problem, a good lawyer will not just identify it and explain the risks, but find a way to resolve it so production is not inhibited. “That’s the fun part [of being an entertainment lawyer] – being creative,” said Darwell, “…finding a way to get to that ‘yes’.”[3]
Speaking from his own experience, Darwell argued that the best way to do that is by fostering a collaborative relationship with the artists so the teams can work as one and arrive at decisions together.[4] This sort of partnership between creative and legal can eliminate problems before they have a chance to develop.
To illustrate the point, he recalled one instance while working on the film, Selma, which is a biographical film about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights march of the Civil Rights Movement. The crux of the dilemma lay in the fact that the director of the film wanted to incorporate Dr. King’s iconic “I have a dream” speech, but the rights to this protected speech were held by another famous producer/director, who was not willing to license them.[5] The legal issue: How can we incorporate a speech that is central to both the plot and the message of the film when we do not have legal access to the speech itself? Because Darwell had fostered a working relationship with Selma’s director, he was able to collaborate with her on finding a solution. This dynamic prevented a scenario where the speech may have been illegally incorporated in the film. They came up with the creative solution of writing a new speech; one that captures the same essence, messaging, and legendary delivery of Dr. King’s “I have a dream.”[6] If you watch the end of Selma, you’ll hear this new speech that was written to fit the film. If you watch it after listening to Darrell’s words of wisdom, you’ll see the possibilities unlocked by creative legal problem-solving.
Of course, creativity is not the only attribute an attorney needs to excel in the world of entertainment. When asked about servicing her clients, Yano explained the importance of communication, expectation-setting, and education.[7]“Sometimes you have to educate the creatives,” she said, “there are a lot of intricacies involved.”[8] When asked the same, Matusov discussed the importance of problem-solving, but also emphasized that a good lawyer should catch potential issues during contract negotiations, before they even come to fruition and need solving.[9] He talked about the importance of first opportunity rights, payment structuring, and other key terms an astute lawyer should secure in definitive documents.[10] Yano chimed in, adding that even terms that look benign, like a Hair and Makeup term, for example, can become problematic if legalese like “reasonable and customary” is not thoroughly hashed out.[11]
Evidently, an attorney must possess a great number of skills to deliver the best service to their clients. For an entertainment attorney, creativity is perhaps the most important skill of all. This is true because working in an industry that revolves around creative minds who are in the business of producing art demands that entertainment lawyers think like an artist; they must be willing to think outside the box to protect creative vision. Moreover, it is true because, as Dougherty stated, the entertainment industry is being uniquely impacted by unprecedented change.[12] Creativity may be just the skill that keeps entertainment lawyers alive.
At the conclusion of the panel, a Loyola law student asked a poignant, if not provocative question. In essence, he asked: what advice would you give to a student or young attorney working in entertainment law in light of the fact that the very future of the industry seems to be facing an existential crisis?
The answer from each panelist was consistent. Darwell, Yano, and Matusov all agreed that, as with all things in entertainment law, to survive, one must be creative. When it comes to the growing presence of artificial intelligence in the profession, find a way to use it as a tool to enhance your own legal work. When it comes to heightened turnover rates in studios, find a way to fill gaps and distinguish your contribution to the team as an indispensable asset. When it comes to the marketplace shifting away from traditional content like film and TV, find a way to rush toward the frontier of entertainment, embracing unconventional legal roles for new and emerging creator content and media. In short, these power players left the audience with empowering words: be resilient, solution-oriented, and above all else, be creative.
[1] Jay Dougherty, “Crisis in Entertainment? Creativity is the Solution,” Presentation, Power Players 2026: Film/TV Phenoms, Loyola Law School, Feb. 20, 2026.
[2] Robert Darwell, “Crisis in Entertainment? Creativity is the Solution,” Presentation, Power Players 2026: Film/TV Phenoms, Loyola Law School, Feb. 20, 2026.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.
[6] Id.
[7] Rina Yano, “Crisis in Entertainment? Creativity is the Solution,” Presentation, Power Players 2026: Film/TV Phenoms, Loyola Law School, Feb. 20, 2026.
[8] Id.
[9]Dan Matusov, “Crisis in Entertainment? Creativity is the Solution,” Presentation, Power Players 2026: Film/TV Phenoms, Loyola Law School, Feb. 20, 2026.
[10] Id.
[11] Yano, supra note 7.
[12] Dougherty, supra note 1.