Centers Of Excellence

Ziffren Institute for Media, Entertainment, Technology and Sports Law

Located in the heart of the entertainment industry, the Ziffren Institute offers the education, experiences and connections to help students find their place in a dynamic and creative field.

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Leaders in Media and Entertainment Law

Recognized across the media and entertainment industry, Ziffren is a training ground for top attorneys and executives. A robust curriculum, cutting-edge clinics, and access to experienced alumni open the door to careers in TV, movies, sports, and tech.

The Ziffren Institute for Media, Entertainment, Technology and Sports Law is a gateway to a meaningful, lifelong career in the technology, intellectual property, entertainment and sports communities. The institute oversees the Media, Entertainment and Technology Law and Policy Specialization and our experienced faculty, including leading practitioners, offer one-of-a-kind training, and Ziffren clinics give students the opportunities to make an impact while still in school.

In their first year, students are invited to a wide array of talks, lunches and alumni events with executives from leading enterprises such as Disney, Netflix, Lionsgate, CAA, WME. In the second year, students take specialized classes in subjects including entertainment law, motion picture distribution, intellectual property, esports, entertainment guilds, and music law, and participate in externships with Los Angeles’s best technology firms, talent agencies, unions and production companies. The third year provides greater networking opportunities and on-campus experiences including the school’s Documentary Film Legal Clinic and Sports Law Simulation. Student journals and organizations offer great extra-curricular opportunities and the various Ziffren programs, including its In-series, bring leading lawyers and executives to campus to share their inside perspectives on the industry.

Read more in the Ziffren Institute Newsletter.

Follow us on LinkedIn here.

SAVE THE DATES for 46th Annual UCLA Symposium:  2022 Webinar Series | Wednesdays: June 8, June 15, June 22

Read about the 45th symposium held in June 2021.

Projects

Industry Pros Guiding Students

The Ziffren Institute brings leading lawyers, executives, agents, managers and producers, together with students for candid discussions on subjects at the forefront of the media, entertainment, technology and sports worlds.
UCLA Entertainment Symposium

A flagship event in the entertainment industry bringing together hundreds of professionals to the UCLA campus each spring to focus on trends and topics affecting the industry.
One Year Out and Five Years Out

A candid look at the day to day work lives of UCLA Law alumni one year and five years into their professional careers.
Ziffren IN-Series

Insights from the dealmakers at the center of the sports and media landscape.
Supplemental Practical Legal Education

High-level industry practitioners tap into the Ziffren Institute’s vast well of insights on the top issues of the day.
Entertainment

Students Earn Top Honors at Grammys Writing Competition

Through prestigious contests and impactful clinical work with popular artists, UCLA Law students seize many opportunities to make a mark in music law.

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Who We Are

Advisory Board

  • Members

    Valerie "Val" Ackerman '85 J.D.
    Big East Conference

    Howard L. Berman '62 B.A., '65 J.D.
    Covington & Burling LLP

    Gabriel Brakin, '01 B.A., '05 J.D.
    Participant Media

    John Branca '75 J.D.
    Ziffren Brittenham LLP

    Bernardine Brandis '75 B.A., '78 J.D.
    Walt Disney Company

    Joseph A. Calabrese
    Latham & Watkins LLP

    A. Barry Cappello '62 B.A., '65 J.D.
    Cappello & Noël LLP

    Melanie Cook '74 B.A., '78 J.D.
    Ziffren Brittenham LLP

    Robert "Bob" DeBitetto '81

    John D. Diemer '76 B.A., '80 J.D.
    Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher LLP

    Alan J. Epstein '87 J.D.
    Wilkie Farr & Gallagher LLP

    Matthew Erramouspe '96 J.D.
    Legendary Entertainment

    Stephen Espinoza '96 J.D.
    Showtime Sports

    Chad Fitzgerald '01 J.D.
    Kinsella Weitzman Iser Kump Holley LLP

    Jeffrey H. Frankel J.D. ‘91
    McKuin Frankel Whitehead LLP

    Jeffrey M. Freedman '93 J.D.
    Creative Artists Agency

    Carlos K. Goodman '88 J.D.
    Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher LLP

    Stephen "Steve" D. Greenberg '77 J.D.
    Allen & Company

    Yakub Hazzard '90 J.D.
    Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP

    Wendy A. Heller '95 B.A., '98 J.D.
    Law Offices of Wendy Heller

    Ira L. Kurgan '78 J.D.
    Kurgan Media

    Dan Limerick '97 J.D.
    William Morris Endeavor Entertainment LLC

    Joseph A. Lopez '09 J.D.
    MGA Entertainment

    Robert "Bob" Marshall '73 J.D.
    Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman & Machtinger LLP

    Kevin S. Masuda
    Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP

    Thomas "Tom" McGuire '76 B.A.
    Netflix

    Catrice Monson '97 J.D.
    ​    ​​​​​​Right Size Media; Adjunct Professor UCLA School of Law

    Robert "Bob" D. Offer '92 J.D.
    Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern LLP

    Daniel "Danny" Passman '05 J.D.
    Gang Tyre Ramer & Brown Inc.

    Peter Paterno '76 J.D.
    King, Holmes, Paterno & Soriano LLP

    Louis "Lou" Petrich '62 B.A., '65 J.D.
    Ballard Spahr LLP

    Robyn Polashuk '94 J.D.
    Covington & Burling LLP

    Nancy Newhouse Porter '78 J.D.
    Newhouse Porter Hubbard

    Amy Siegel
    O'Melveny & Myers, LLP

    Jason C. Sloane '88 J.D.
    Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern LLP

    Sandra Stern '79 J.D.
    Lionsgate

    Joseph "Joe" R. Taylor '87 J.D.
    Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz PC

    Matthew C. Thompson
    Sidley Austin LLP

    Barry Tyerman '67 B.S. '71 J.D.
    Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer Mandelbaum Morris Bernstein Trattner & Klein

    Kenneth Ziffren '65
    Partner, Ziffren Brittenham LLP
    Adjunct Faculty

For Students

The Ziffren Institute on Media, Entertainment, Technology and Sports Law offers students an immersive, cutting-edge experience. Classes are taught by leading academics and accomplished professionals in the field. A wide array of externships and internships offer students real-world experience and vital connections in the industry. Student-led organizations and publications explore industry trends and current issues in the law while forging strong bonds among students, and UCLA School of Law’s annual Entertainment Symposium is a one-of-a kind event where students learn from the leaders who are shaping the industry.

  • Media, Entertainment and Technology Law and Policy Specialization

    Students in the Media, Entertainment and Technology Law and Policy Specialization gain training in fundamental principles and specialized knowledge to practice law related to film, television, music and other creative industries.

    More information

  • Internships / Externships

    EXTERNSHIPS

    UCLA Law has a well-established program to offer credit for appropriate school-year placements, including externships with movie and television studios, networks, Silicon Beach digital media companies, production companies, talent agencies and others.

    Full-time, semester-long externships give J.D. students in their second and third years the opportunity to develop legal skills outside the classroom context, gain practical experience in supervised settings, and acquire perspectives about the lawyering process.

    Both J.D. and LL.M. candidate students also may seek part-time corporate-venue externships, so long as they comply with school requirements. Students are encouraged to check with the UCLA Law Externship Director about venues, credit, and applicable requirements.

    PAID INTERNSHIPS

    Students also have robust opportunities to pursue paid, year-round internships with media and entertainment industry organizations. Past placements have included Activision, CBS, FOX, Lionsgate, NBCUniversal, SAG-AFTRA, Warner Bros. and William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, among others.

  • Programs and Speakers

    The Ziffren Institute brings a wide variety of industry professionals - including executives, agents, journalists, lawyers and others - to the law school for informal discussions of their areas of expertise, their views of the present and future of their sector of the business, and how they got to their present positions.

    One example is the "Lunch with the Corner Office" which allows students to enjoy an intimate conversation with entertainment notables such as Bernardine Brandis '78, Executive Vice President, Business Affairs at the Walt Disney Company, and Bruce Rosenblum '82, Former President of Warner Bros. Television.

    The Ziffren Institute's Supplemental Practical Legal Education Program offers lunchtime presentations by mid-level law firm associates and in-house lawyers on matters impacting lawyers in their early years of practice. Presentations have included associates from O’Melveny & Myers LLP, Latham & Watkins LLP, as well as entertainment boutique firms Sloane Offer Weber and Dern LLP and, Schreck Rose Dapello Adams Berlin & Dunham LLP.

    The institute also supports participation in opportunities generated by industry institutions, such as the GRAMMY Foundation Entertainment Law Initiative national writing competition for law students.

  • Student Organizations
  • Entertainment Law Review / JOLT

    The Entertainment Law Review is a scholarly journal devoted to legal issues affecting film, television, radio, computer and print media. Topics addressed in professional and student work include copyright and patent issues, the regulation of the entertainment industry, and labor, constitutional, administrative and antitrust law as they relate to entertainment and media law. The Entertainment Law Review is organized by UCLA students, who manage all aspects of the publication.

    The UCLA Journal of Law and Technology (JOLT) is a student-run publication dedicated to producing the best literature on the web concerning intellectual property at the forefront of academia, society and innovation. These materials include traditional scholarly articles and comments, practical advice, and notes on emerging trends and activities from attorneys broaching the cutting edge.

  • Entertainment Symposium

    The UCLA Law Entertainment Symposium, which celebrates its 46th year in 2022, brings hundreds of entertainment professionals to the UCLA campus for a weekend each spring to focus on trends and topics affecting the industry. Volunteer opportunities for students abound. Interested students should contact the Ziffren Institute executive director for more information.

  • Online Information Sessions

    Liveguide - View recorded sessions with students on entertainment, intellectual property and sports law opportunities at UCLA Law.

Resources

News
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Cindy Lin of UCLA Law's Ziffren Institute
Sep 22, 2021

Lin Joins Ziffren Institute as Executive Director

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Aug 03, 2021

Dale Cohen Talks to the Washington Post About Celebrity Parents and the Paparazzi

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Jul 26, 2021

Ziffren Institute, UCLA Law Welcome New Faculty Director McKenna

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Events
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02 11
8:00 AM - 9:15 AM
Zoom
Rooney Rule Revisited: Considerations for Today's Corporations
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