Legal Issues in Screenwriting

Presented by WP NOW, UCLA Extension’s Entertainment Studies, and Humanitas

Writing the script is tough enough—but what do screenwriters need to know as they wade into their professional careers? Whether you’re adapting work in the public domain, writing a biopic of a contemporary or historical figure, or even concerned about protecting your copyright, this panel will help you understand some basic legal frameworks that govern the film and TV industries. 

On Monday November 14 (6-8 PM PT) moderator Michelle K. Sugihara, executive director of CAPE (Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment), will be joined by panelists Roxanne Castillo, Cydney Freeman, and David Wienir to discuss what emerging screenwriters need to know. A Q&A session will follow the discussion.

This event is open only to current members of WP NOW, UCLA Extension’s Entertainment Studies program, and our Humanitas community. 

Location: Remote 

Cost: Free  

Roxanne Castillo

Roxanne Castillo is an Entertainment lawyer, currently serving as Staff Counsel to the Film Musicians Secondary Markets Fund. The past two years, she served as an independent advisor and legal counsel to entertainment companies on employment, labor, and intellectual property matters involving film and television projects. Prior to this, Roxanne served as Director of AFM Local 47’s Electronic Media Department where she was responsible for interpretation, enforcement and education on the AFM agreements, as well as serving as an educational resource on monetization of IP.

Cydney Freeman

Cydney Swofford Freeman counsels and defends traditional, new, and disruptive content creators. She is fascinated by the law's influence on creativity, with a particular interest in how copyright laws apply to choreography. Her practice focuses on First Amendment, copyright, trademark, idea-submission, defamation, right-of-publicity, privacy, reporter's privilege, and Section 230 matters. In additional to traditional litigation, she regularly provides pre-broadcast fair use, defamation, privacy, and production counseling for a wide range of documentary, scripted, and unscripted productions.

Cydney co-edits the Media Law Monitor and served on DWT's pro bono committee. She joined DWT after starting her legal career in New York, where her practice covered a broad range of First Amendment, media, commercial, and white-collar matters. She also co-chaired a pro bono program teaching the nuts and bolts of constitutional and criminal law to high school students in the Bronx.

David Wienir

David Wienir is Assistant General Counsel at HarperCollins and head of business and legal affairs at HarperCollins Productions. He is also the author of four books, including Amsterdam Exposed and Making It On Broadway. Before HarperCollins, he was a business affairs executive for over a decade at United Talent Agency (UTA) and practiced law at two of the top entertainment law firms (Gang Tyre and Grubman Indursky) where he represented clients such as Steven Spielberg and Madonna. He has been awarded the Outstanding Volunteer Award from Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, named a Rising Star by Super Lawyers Magazine, named to Variety's Legal Impact Report, and has taught entertainment law for 20+ years, including at NYU and UCLA Extension. He was educated at Columbia, Oxford, The London School of Economics, Berkeley Law, and the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

Michelle Sugihara

Michelle K. Sugihara is the Executive Director of CAPE (Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment), the pioneering non-profit professional organization creating systemic change in Hollywood from the writers’ room to the boardroom to the living room. She is a fourth generation Japanese American born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. She graduated with honors from Claremont McKenna College with a dual major in Economics and Psychology and a minor in Asian American Studies, followed by a law degree from UCLA. Prior to joining CAPE, she was an entertainment attorney, film producer, and adjunct professor for the Claremont Colleges’ Intercollegiate Department of Asian American Studies.

A prolific public speaker, Sugihara speaks across the country on Asian Representation in Media; Women in Entertainment; Diversity and Inclusion; Leadership; and other topics. She is also an associate member of Cold Tofu, the nation’s premier Asian American comedy improv and sketch group. She teaches “Improv for Lawyers” and has performed improv internationally.

Sugihara’s community involvement includes her roles as founding member of the Asian Pacific American Friends of the Theater, leadership team member of Time’s Up Women of Color, #GoldOpen co-lead, former Co-Chair of the Multicultural Bar Alliance of Southern California, member of PBS-SoCal Asian Pacific Islander Community Council, former VP of OCA-Greater Los Angeles, past president of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Los Angeles County, past member of Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles’s Executive Advisory Council, and past board member of the Japanese American Bar Association. Sugihara is a recipient of the KTLA 5 AAPI Visionaries Award, the prestigious National Asian Pacific American Bar Association’s Best Lawyers Under 40 award, and the Los Angeles County Bar Association, Real Property Section’s Outstanding Young Lawyer award. She was named a “Rising Star” in Los Angeles Magazine’s Super Lawyer Rising Star section for seven years, an honor bestowed on only 2.5 percent of attorneys in the state each year.