How Legendary Hollywood Producers Signed Shonda Rhimes, Anne Hathaway and John Legend

Shonda who wrote Princess Diaries 2 for me and Hathaway I discovered and Blake Lively and Jesse Williams I mean so now all of a sudden I like got the in with you know it's such an important point because I think these relationships are the things that hold you up in the world you have to stay close to them I mean I have this great relationship with John Legend which is because of you because remember that night yeah I called I called Nina I said they called me his producing partner called they need a lawyer Nina was in the car that night met me at John's house signed John and got the bonus of Chrissy and then John called me and said well I there's this young woman she's from Philly blah blah blah on and on and it turned out to be Quinta Brunson who created this great show Abbott Elementary and all of these are this all started with me going to John's house that night with you all right hello hello everyone welcome to this amazing assortment of powerhouse women who run the entertainment industry pretty much okay so we're gonna get right to it right down to it it's a tough time in the entertainment industry people are being laid off companies are going away companies are consolidating you guys are in the trenches of it every day so let's just talk take it like let's get real your view how bad is it right now in the entertainment industry you have many decades of experience between you Perlina we'll start with you how bad is it yeah you know look I tend not to be an alarmist you know I think that there's probably lots of different times in our business when people thought it was the worst it's ever been it's definitely challenging right now because I think there's been a lot of disruption in our business and people are being forced to rethink the business wholesale which I think is really troubling for a lot of people but I think in the midst of challenges there's also opportunities to rethink the business you know and and perhaps it's an opportunity for us to you know think about how do we do it differently and who we do it with differently so yeah it's it's challenging but I I don't think it's necessarily horrible here's two things one I have learned over the course of you know whatever 30 plus years you have to stay open and stay nimble because there's this this build this this business is influenced by technology culture politics you know global economy so you you have to try and live in the present but also always look for it but what I will say from the 30 years that I've been to business diversity is now a part of the business in a way that it has not been in the past and part of that is a real recognition that there's money to be made I mean I was you know making this argument for years that diversity was good business and people were like oh I don't know if we haven't tried it out we're scared to try it out but now they know and so there are more opportunities in many ways now than there were even a decade ago yeah let's talk a little bit more about that in a minute you know what's your thought yeah I I tend to agree with my colleagues because this is something that we see in the business and we've seen all along I can remember when cable TV when the DV DVD world so all these different things happened and it always felt like we weren't going to move along the truth of it is is that people have become much more adept at doing things in different ways for example you see a number of people in the business who really are small business owners and they're doing them in their homes at their computers so we see the advent of influencers and the way that they have impacted the business now that's a group in the business that didn't exist 10 15 years ago and they have changed in many ways the product we're seeing children's programming moving away from networks and broadcasting and into YouTube so so every change is an opportunity but it is a difficult time and I don't certainly don't want to make I don't I don't want to not talk about the people in the business many of the below the line people who are finding it very difficult to adjust and and we're seeing I think for them a very very tough time but I have hope that we will come through it and yet for each of you I think it's worth acknowledging each of you in your own careers whether it's in a studio system or whether it's in independent producing or whether it's as a legal representation for so many people Ava DuVernay and John Legend and so many people I can go on and on about all their credits it's like absolutely remarkable we have on stage we only have 20 minutes so what allowed you to think that there was a place for you because there were no models for the people you were at a young age and well I want to talk about each of your paths because they're so remarkable whether you're from New York or Illinois or Nigeria it's it's an act of faith to create that path and here you are now still going strong having incredible careers at a time where a lot of people are having to abandon the business frankly because it is so difficult you know how did you like project yourself into this sort of key role you have now you know in some ways in a very odd way it was a lack of opportunities that really made this so clear for me I really didn't have I remember when I was I had gone a very traditional path after Columbia Law School gone to Big Law and then from there was trying to get into the entertainment industry in in the boutique law firms and no one would hire me it was just an amazing experience to be as as experienced a lawyer I was with the kind of credentials I had and be unable to find a job so I just went I answered an ad in the newspaper and ended up in a small law firm with great lawyers who ultimately trained me to be an even better entertainment lawyer and then when it was time for me I felt it was time to strike out on my own it wasn't really a lot of other options it was so funny how a lack of options can make you can make your path very very clear and I ended up beginning my law firm we just had a 35th anniversary I think with with out being in modesty we are absolutely considered one of the top law firms we're both with her sometimes when the doors are all seem to be closed your way forward actually is a bit clearer because it's going to be what you make it and that was really the lesson that I took from this and I as such a great family such as so many strong women in my family that you know they could do it I had to do it so I'd always loved film and television my dad was huge film television buff I was a lawyer I'd practice you know Harvard Law School big law firm whatever and I decided that what I really wanted to do in life was make movies I didn't know that nobody who looked like us was making movies so it was actually you know I got when I got to Hollywood and I looked around and I'm like really and so but I had I was determined to do it I wanted to do it and I figured other people are doing it so I can do it which has been my philosophy my whole life so in some ways it was like you know the ignorance of the situation but also a belief in myself by that time because you know I'd been successful at kind of everything that I tried to do and this is the thing I really wanted to do and I really wanted to have an impact on culture I grew up not seeing people who look like us or felt like us on the screen and I wanted to change that and let's let's talk about some of the shows that you've made over the course of your career that have changed the way popular culture appears on on our screens I mean I know you I I can mention them I mean you did the pelican brief and you ran Denzel Washington's company we did devil in a blue dress and courage and fire and the preacher's wife and I picked the one that you didn't produce okay Cinderella sisterhood of the traveling pants one of my right okay so stuff that equalizer so these are things that have really had a big impact on shaping what what the conversation is what conventional wisdom what's normal what's interesting at school and I'm really proud of all right and thank you for that early and should be Perlina so you know I was born in Nigeria came to this country and I was very young so I was obsessed with television because that's how I got acclimated to this country and I think that's similar similar story for a lot of you know immigrants and you know TV teaches you you know in some ways like values like what are you supposed to aspire to what are you supposed to believe in and so I had this deep-seated desire one day to work in television but it's deep-seated because I never thought it would happen because I didn't know anyone who worked in TV and it wasn't until I got to college and I was looking for a summer job one day I saw on the board it said NBC was looking for summer associate okay college is Yale by the way so you know so so it was like my mind exploded because I didn't know that people worked in television and they could pay you to make TV show so I applied I got the job and I spent two summers in New York and it was like life-changing for me I I was in the business you know and then I had to figure out how to get a permanent job in the business that was not as easy as I thought I applied everywhere and no one wanted me so I went to do something else and worked in financial services for a while and then I decided when I want to go back into entertainment and figure it out I went to business school and then eventually made my way into a Showtime Networks on the marketing side hoping one day I'd get to the entertainment side and I did after two years and I came out to LA and I was just determined to go forge my path now it's interesting because already I where I was I felt so improbable you know that oh my gosh I'm this immigrant kid who's now in entertainment I kind of felt like there's nothing I can't do because I've already done this and what made me feel like there was a path for me I went to an event and I saw this woman who was a producer she had produced Courage Under Fire and you know all those other things that she produced and I saw her and I said oh my god there's this black woman who's a producer out there you know producing these amazing shows and by the way always looking amazing and and and so I thought like wouldn't it be great to try to you know that maybe I could find you know a path in there as well so so that's you know it is a little bit of not knowing any better you know yeah and sometimes not having another you know option that sort of gets you there and just you know it's a slow and steady path it wasn't like I had a friend or an uncle who called someone and got me the job no I was I say to people I was a third you guys are the anti-nepo I mean I say to people I was a 30-year overnight sensation you know when I got this job when I got this job you know as chairman I mean Pete it was kind of like where she came out of nowhere you know and got this job and you know and that's for some people that was the perception and for me it was you know steadily working in the business and hopefully performing well you know to get this job I just want to mention a few of the shows that Perlina's been I don't have a only have a couple cards here but at Showtime Dexter nurse Jackie is there anything you also want to mention your Showtime moments Masters of Sex Masters of Sex I love that series at NBC she was responsible shows like this is us the blacklist you've heard of any of the shows she was all she's right now she's in charge of NBC like a lot of production that includes things you're not seeing you've ever watched a law and order but then also then also hacks acts girls 5eva Emmy Emmy winning hacks the Gilded Age Bel Air Umbrella Academy so really yeah yeah okay stop there Sharon also point out that you know it looks like you're here and you've been here and it's always been like this this you know you talked about the beginning of your career and nobody would give you a job but even when you're on the path of a career there are moments that are really challenging and when you ask yourself can I continue to do this oh I just want to ask you Deborah because you and I spoke he was in Prague the other night at 11 p.m. talking awfully nice location scouting so that's you know the job's fun for sure but I mean it's high risk and you mentioned that like that's something if I have it right that ten years ago I'll quit yeah I was out so talk about that I just you know it was a time in the business Nina knows for sure cuz I was sitting over your house in tears but um it was just a time in the business where nobody was interested in making TV or movies about women about women of color about people of color it just was not happening I would go in the pitched up people's eyes would glaze over and and and and and honestly I do believe part of my success is that I have been on a mission you know like I said I wanted to have an impact on culture and imagery and so then all of a sudden I found myself just throwing stuff up against the wall like oh this is story about a dude it just didn't you know it didn't have meaning for me and if it doesn't have me for me I can't sell it I can't shape it and so I um and so I thought I said finally I'm like well maybe this is the universe's way of saying it's been a good run you need to think about doing something else and so I literally spending I've been at Disney for 20 years grateful for that but also you know had become kind of legacy wallpaper because everybody who was invested in me personally was long gone and so I took a year what you know I'm still working but to explore other options I practice law film finance you know blah blah blah blah blah whatever and when I finally decided that no this is actually Vernon Jordan was the one who was a longtime friend and I was 18 I've known him since I was 18 years old and I went in and I told him this whole story was a known expert in the entertainment industry but a expert in life in life in life okay and knew me well and he sat there and he listened to me and pour my heart out and he looked at me and he said you are too old to do anything else you have a great reputation you have great relationships you have great experience you need to figure out how to make it work and it was that kind of boom boom you know that I was like yes you're right and and I want to say one thing literally these women have held me up and I know we've helped each other and so that and for this audience you know it's really important to know for a long time and and that's important no it is Debra and I actually met I was a summer clerk Debra was a paralegal at this law firm and it was me and her and Anita Hill and we were like this we were the three we were the three black women right yes and Anita was a summer clerk also right and I've known Perlina since the very early days since I ran into you and now we work together and now when I took over a studio I said what producers do I want to be in business she called me you know out of the blue and said you know are you interested and I'm like yes yes so it's the sisterhood is really important that is so a let's talk there's representation that you guys are have carved pathways for representation you have created a sisterhood and it's really visible throughout the industry the number of women of color who are dominating in the industry it is a stunt way it's Shonda Rhimes who said that she was your intern or something like that yeah when she was a talk about mentorship yeah right these things really do matter and your careers are long enough that you're not you're still working and people who were your interns are now running like you know didn't know at the time but like are in their prime you know from Shonda who wrote Princess Diaries two for me and Hathaway I discovered and Blake Lively and Jesse Williams I mean so now all of a sudden I like got the in with you know it's such an important point because I think these relationships are the things that hold you up in the world yeah you have to stay close to them I mean I have this great relationship with John legend which is because of you because remember that night yeah Sonny I called I called Nina I said they called me his producing partner called they need a lawyer Nina was in the car that night met me at John's house signed John and got the bonus of Chrissy family and then John called me and said well I there's this young woman she's from Philly blah blah blah on and on and it turned out to be Quinta Brunson who created this great show Abbott Elementary and all of these are this all started with me going to John's house that night with you okay so that those are all words of wisdom they're gonna make me rap and I'm not going before I hear from each of you 30 days to the election Kamala or Trump what's your game oh yeah come on we know we know it matters voting for who do you think Oh Kamala Carlina is this a question question Kamala all right yeah okay you heard it here thank you