Musical theater globetrotter-turned-entertainment attorney Darrell Miller was the guest of honor at the 2025 Variety Power of Law breakfast, presented by City National Bank. In addition to honoring one of Hollywood’s most influential attorneys (with an introduction from Angela Bassett), the annual event featured three keynote conversations between Variety writers and industry insiders.
Held at the London West Hollywood, the event honored Miller, the founding chair of the entertainment and sports law department at Fox Rothschild, for his continued excellence and commitment to the community. Variety also hosted a trio of talks with producers Lynette Howell Taylor, Will Packer and Sony president Sanford Panitch about the current state of producing in Hollywood.
Variety chief operating and marketing officer Dea Lawrence began the event by congratulating Miller, thanking supporting partner Citrin Cooperman, acknowledging that 2025 marks Variety‘s 120th anniversary and introducing City National Bank senior vice president Steven Shapiro, who delivered opening remarks.
“For more than 70 years, serving the entertainment industry has been inextricably linked to our heritage, our legacy, and who we are,” said Shapiro. “As we evolve and expand, our values and commitment to serving our community will always stay the same.” He also shared an anecdote about how, though he ended up a banker, he was initially inspired to pursue a law degree because of the classic legal drama “Perry Mason.”
“Perry Mason made it look like the easiest and most interesting job in the world. Every case could be solved in 60 minutes, including commercials,” Shapiro joked. “But Perry Mason wasn’t just winning cases, he was doing what was right and standing up for the innocent. I’m grateful to work alongside so many of you who do the right thing for your clients each and every day.”
Shapiro concluded his remarks by introducing a video montage of Miller’s clients (including Ludacris, Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Taylor Tomlinson) thanking Miller for his work and welcoming Bassett (another of his clients) to present him with the honor.
“There are some individuals who come into your life and you know right away they’re not just there to handle business. They’re there to make sure that you are seen, that you are heard and that you are represented in the most honest and honorable way,” said Bassett. “Darrell really can go into a room and figuratively and literally sing our praises. You are more than an attorney to me, you are a friend, a mentor, and a true pillar of the community. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
She ended her dedication with the help of her husband Courtney B. Vance: “In moments of stress when I gotta figure something out, I can always look to my husband and he’ll say those two words. Courtney? What would you say?”
“Call Darrell!” Vance responded from the crowd. Miller took the stage to accept his honor and reflect on his unlikely path from being a touring musical actor to a Los Angeles-based attorney.
“I started my professional career as a musical theater performer. At the height of my career after touring across the world, I was inspired to parlay it all on my way to ultimately becoming a producer,” Miller recalled. “I love and I still love music, but as I honed my craft and built relationships, I realized the art of negotiation, the creativity of problem-solving, and the passion for advocacy was just as much a part of me as the songs I sang.”
Miller says his work is driven by a desire for more communication in the entertainment industry. “I began to see in my early legal that career creators didn’t have an opportunity to understand the business, and the business people didn’t truly care to understand the creators. My career became a mission to be a bridge between the two.”
Miller concluded his speech by thanking his Fox Rothschild team, his family, and his clients. “Thank you for trusting me with your careers, believing in my vision, and for being part of my journey. Together we have pushed boundaries, made history and more often than not, we win. It is never too late to think differently and embrace change, and never too late to make a difference.”
Following Miller’s acceptance speech, Variety senior entertainment and media writer Matt Donnelly took to the stage for a conversation with Lynette Howell Taylor, producer and founder of 51 Entertainment. Howell discussed the increasing strain on Hollywood producers.
“I think it started with the pandemic, with the introduction of streaming, the writer’s strike, the challenges of shooting in California,” Taylor said. “All of those things are creating an environment where everybody is looking at how they monetize differently. Everybody is realizing the individual job they were doing is under threat and that they cannot monetize it the way they used to.”
“Actors, writers, directors, anybody that had a legitimate backend. It’s causing all sorts of friction between collaborators that also have to work together.” Taylor compared the tension producers navigate to that of the lawyers in the room. “There’s a similarity in the sense that we spend a lot of time working on spec. We don’t get compensated until something goes into production. Everybody in this room probably has percentage clients, so you’re doing all of that work ahead of time. Producing is the same way.”
Following Taylor’s insights, Variety senior entertainment writer Angelique Jackson took to the stage alongside Will Packer, producer and founder/CEO of Will Packer Productions and Will Packer Media. Packer congratulated Miller before launching into a conversation about building relationships with frequent collaborators and identifying target audiences.
“This is a people-driven business and sometimes you can forget about that. I started my career as an independent filmmaker at an HBCU, but I connected with an audience in a particular way, and I still do that to this day no matter the size of the film.”
For Packer, the key to finding long-lasting collaborators is making sure they’re people you want to spend time with. “We all have a finite amount of energy we can give to the world, but the world has infinite ways to draw energy from us, so you have to protect your energy. One of the ways of doing that is making sure you’re working with people who are also worth your time and your energy.”
After Packer and Jackson’s conversation concluded, Variety co-editor-in-chief Cynthia Littleton joined Sony president Sanford Panitch to close out the morning with a discussion about the studio’s unique position in the deal negotiation landscape.
“For Sony, we’re only in the theatrical business. It makes us unique — it’s both a weakness and an opportunity. What’s happening is a homogeny of deal-making and how deals are done because of the streamers. Is the film business in crisis? You’ve got less people going to the movies and more choices. Theatrical moviegoing is so antithetical to how we operate now. Where else in the world do you go where you can’t use your phone?”
But while streamers may be able to offer more in the way of upfront funds, Panitch says theatrical releases have a star-making capacity streamers just can’t replicate. “The theatrical bar is very high, but it’s also the only place you make movie stars. I can’t think of one [a movie star born out of a streaming film]. That’s a really odd thing. There’s something about the 40-foot person.”
