Nina Shaw

In her two-and-a-half-hour interview, Nina Shaw describes growing up in Harlem, New York and attending Barnard College and Columbia Law School, and recalls how she became interested in pursuing a career as an entertainment lawyer. She speaks of her time at O'Melveny & Myers, working with clients Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin of Tandem Productions/T.A.T. Communications, comments on the contributions of Lear and Yorkin to creating the business of syndication, and talks of negotiating talent deals in the 1970s and '80s. She then discusses joining the firm Dern, Mason, Swerdlow & Floum, speaks of negotiating deals for Robert Guillaume, and describes starting a firm with Ernie Del and Mike Rubel. Shaw explains how talent agents, managers, and lawyers work together, outlines what she looks for when negotiating endorsement deals for clients, and speaks of representing clients Ava DuVernay, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Arsenio Hall, and others. She talks of her involvement in The Hollywood Reporter Women in Entertainment Mentorship Program and in the Time's Up movement (she's one of the founding organizers), explains her primary responsibility to her clients, shares the best advice she's ever received, and comments on how she'd like to be remembered. Jenni Matz conducted the interview on May 2, 2018 in Beverly Hills, CA.