The 2025 Institute on Entertainment Law and Business, co-hosted by the USC Gould School of Law and the Beverly Hills Bar Association, brought together hundreds of attorneys, executives, and entertainment professionals on October 18 at USC’s University Park Campus.
The one-day hybrid event—titled “Lights, Camera, Disruption: The Legal Script for the Future of Entertainment”—examined how emerging technologies, global economics, and evolving labor dynamics are reshaping the entertainment industry.
Michael De Luca, Co-Chair and CEO of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, joined Institute Chair Bruce M. Ramer for an engaging keynote discussion about the current state and future of Hollywood. De Luca reflected on how storytelling, creative risk-taking, and business strategy must adapt amid seismic industry change.
“Art — especially cinematic art — is an empathy machine, especially if you’re seeing it in a movie theater: the ability for 300 strangers to experience a story in the same way, and they could be 300 people from different countries, different faiths, different political stripes. When you laugh at the same joke, or you cry at the same heartbreak, or you jump at the same scare, you’re immediately connected to collective humanity,” said DeLuca.
“That’s also what gets you the highest grossing movies too. The things that connect with the most amount of people, they do it because they have a broad appeal based on what unites us as human beings, and we’re not cynical about that,” DeLuca added.
The day began with an industry address by Jeffrey Cole, CEO of the Center for the Digital Future at USC Annenberg, who explored ongoing transformations in distribution, mergers and acquisitions, and the future of streaming.
“The government has been very active in the media business this year. Now, never before has the government, in my opinion, played such a prominent role,” said Cole. “This government seems to really be continuing a concerted war against information and freedom of expression. And I don’t say that in a partisan way.”
The morning plenary sessions explored the industry’s legal and economic transformation through multiple lenses. “Input & Output: Copyright and AI” examined how artificial intelligence is redefining authorship, originality, and fair use, highlighting the tension -between innovation and protection for creators, and “How Much Are Films and Television Programs Worth in the Age of Streaming and What Does That Mean for Talent?” explored the new economics shaping program valuation and their impact on evolving back-end agreements for actors, writers, directors, and producers.
“A Global Overview of Public Performance Revenues from Sound Recordings and Neighbouring Rights,” provided an international perspective on the complex and evolving landscape of performance royalties, offering guidance on how artists and producers can recover compensation from overlooked sources worldwide.
Afternoon breakout sessions covered AI-generated digital replicas under new SAG-AFTRA rules, defamation and liability in entertainment, and the evolving influencer economy, highlighting how the boundaries between media, publicity, and creative expression continue to blur.
“Location and Economics of Production” delved into how costs, labor considerations, and tax incentives are driving productions away from Los Angeles and toward new domestic and international hubs.
“A lot of people call these incentives tax credits, and they’re not all credits. They could be either rebates or grants, they could be 3 different types of tax credits. But at the core, they’re basically all the same thing: they subsidize production spend and local labor, and that could be either by country, by state.” said Joseph D. Chianese, Senior Vice President & Practice Leader, Production Incentives at Entertainment Partners.
In addition to offering up to 5.75 hours of MCLE credit, attendees gained access to on-demand sessions through 2026. Since 1958, the Institute has provided a vital forum for industry leaders to exchange ideas, strengthen professional networks, and shape the future of entertainment law.
USC Gould School of Law offers continuing legal education opportunities for professionals who want to learn and network with leading experts in their industries. A fixture of the Los Angeles legal community since 1948, USC Gould Continuing Legal Education hosts six annual conferences for professionals at every level to learn from, and network with, the biggest players in entertainment, estate planning, business, tax and intellectual property. To learn more, visit or subscribe at gould.usc.edu/cle – and follow on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
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