Law students go inside movie business

During a weeklong visit to Los Angeles, a contingent of Tulane Law School students took an insider"s tour of the entertainment industry: They discussed social media, piracy and other issues with lawyers from Warner Brothers, MGM, Sony, NBCUniversal, Creative Artists Agency, William Morris Endeavor, Getty and Miramax. They met with the Alliance of Women Directors. And they sat on the couch on the set of “Friends.”

The objective wasn"t to see stars; it was to learn about intellectual property in the heart of Hollywood and connect with Tulane law alumni who could share advice on making it in a fiercely competitive industry.

Elizabeth Townsend Gard, who led the trip, called it an exploration of “what is the world of law and creativity — and at what point do lawyers step in?”

The excursion hatched after a panel of copyright experts from across the United States gathered for a workshop at Tulane Law School in the spring.

In addition to exploring the legal side of the movie business, students, led by Ron Gard, director of the Tulane Law/Culture/Innovation initiative, visited the Entrepreneurship Clinic at UCLA"s Anderson School of Management. And they met with welcoming alumni, including studio executives and law firm partners, who were eager to help students prepare for and navigate the industry.

“This was an incredible opportunity to get an inside look at places we shouldn"t have access to,” said Townsend Gard, the Jill H. and Avram A. Glazer Professor in Social Entrepreneurship.

She is working to build stronger ties to Los Angeles alumni and develop an array of summer jobs and externships for Tulane law students interested in intellectual property.

“What she"s doing is so important because the way people get jobs in the entertainment industry is through contacts and who you know,” said Cynthia Waldman, MGM senior counsel, a 1986 Newcomb graduate who received her law degree in 1990 from Tulane.

Linda P. Campbell is Tulane Law School"s director of communications.