Entertainment
Entertainment industry leaders including “The Housemaid” director Paul Feig and leading attorney Patricia L. Glaser headlined Variety’s Power of Law breakfast on Wednesday. Presented by City National Bank, attendees gathered in Los Angeles to hear from dealmakers and litigators on Hollywood’s most pressing issues.
At the breakfast, Glaser, described by City National Bank’s Steven Shapiro as “a pillar of L.A.’s philanthropic world” in his intro, was joined in conversation by Variety’s Co-Editor-in-Chief Cynthia Littleton. The two discussed concerns about Los Angeles and social media’s impact on legal situations, among other topics.
“I can tell you that Los Angeles is one of the last vestiges of a meritocracy,” said Glaser. I’ve said this over and over again. It doesn’t matter who your family is, it doesn’t matter what club you belong to… If you’re perceived as good, you can be hugely successful here.” Glaser also noted how “guardrails” have not been developed for social media, something that has allowed it to become the “ultimate smear machine.” “What people say on social media is not penalized enough,” said Glaser. “It’s a constant, not just a legal battle, [but] a PR battle, and it shouldn’t be that way.”
Glaser also discussed entertainment executive Casey Wasserman, who is a chairman of the Los Angeles Organizing Committee for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. (In February, Wasserman announced that he would be selling his talent agency and marketing firm following his inclusion in the Epstein files.)
“For the L.A. Olympics to be successful, we all need to support Casey,” said Glaser. “I think he’s a terrific executive. I think he knows a tremendous number of people, and he’s pulling things together, and I think he deserves our support.”
Glaser, a partner at Glaser Weil who heads its litigation department, was honored with the Variety 2026 Power of Law Award at the event. Given her role in high-stakes cases for major studios, global brands, financial institutions, high-profile talent, entertainment executives and production companies, the honor recognized Glaser as one of the nation’s most influential trial attorneys.
Glaser was featured in Variety’s 2026 Legal Impact Report, published Wednesday. See the full report here.
Feig joined the event as the keynote speaker, discussing his box office successes, interest in telling women’s stories and more with Variety’s Senior Entertainment Writer Matt Donnelly. “To me, the mission of all filmmakers of all Hollywood has to be, first and foremost, to entertain the audience,” Feig said as he discussed the box-office success of “The Housemaid,” starring Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried. Having surpassed $395 million at the global box office, it has become Feig’s most successful film to date. “Giving people a good time makes people keep going to the movies,” he added, while also noting the role that Lionsgate’s powerful marketing played in the box office success.
Feig’s remarks about Oscar-season movies feeling “like homework” drew widespread reactions from online commenters. “They’re always really good, but it’s never like ‘I can’t wait to watch it,’” Feig said of awards contenders.
On the topic of the current state of the industry, Feig touched on the future — or end — of the Hollywood mega-deal. “Those mega deals I think are gone,” he said. “Unless just everything you’re putting out is so high value. But that level of hitting it all … Either you put out a lot of stuff and you have a pretty good track record, or you put out a few things that you make sure are really great, and those go, but then those aren’t necessarily generating enough money for them to give the $250 million deal that they gave to J.J. [Abrams].”
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Payton Turkeltaub