mehrin saleem
ENTERTAINMENT LEGAL PROFESSIONALS ON THE RISE: MEHRIN SALEEM
written by: Milla Nguyen
I had the opportunity to interview my good friends and respected colleagues, Mehrin Saleem, Makayla Rabago, and Libby Morehouse. All three women graduated from Loyola Marymount Law School and are currently on their way from entertainment lawyers to attorneys. Mehrin’s childhood started in upstate New York City and the Massachusetts (greater Boston) area. Her family also moved to Singapore for a couple of years. With such a diverse background and the ability to adapt quickly to new cities, Mehrin found herself passionate about being explorative. She fell in love with the idea that people from all different parts of the world can still connect over various subjects. Regarding her career, she found herself interested in international affairs and international business. She attended UC San Diego for college, where she took classes in entrepreneurship and intellectual property. There, she read copyright cases and looked more deeply into patent law. One of the first cases she read discussed comparative similarities in screenplays. She wasn’t a filmmaker, but that didn’t stop her from curating an artistic eye. In her own way, she explored how she could contribute to art through law. She said, “I wanted to make a career by supporting artists. With the legal and analytic mindset, I can consult creatives on their projects.” Having an Asian background, she thought she was going to be a doctor at first. Little did she know that her path would be completely different.
Diving deeper into Mehrin’s experience at LMU, I asked about her extracurriculars outside the classroom. Mehrin worked on the Entertainment Law Review, a published journal at LMU (ELR for short). She served on the board as the Chief of Alumni Relations and Symposia Editor. Her tasks included bringing in entertainment alums from across the board. She organized panels, discussions, and the larger Symposia at the beginning of the Spring semester. She interviewed various alums from HBO, Disney, and various law firms. The journal itself explores legal issues in the entertainment industry. For example, she mentioned one of the other interviewees, Libby Morehouse, who wrote a note on the legal ethics of child celebrities. The members of the journal wrote smaller notes that were digitally distributed. Mehrin said, “From my perspective of being in a leadership role, we worked together with every team to ensure that one source was cited correctly. We focused on the end goal and the vision. We worked really well together. Not everyone there wanted to be an entertainment lawyer, so it was nice that we could still express our love for entertainment interests.”
I asked Mehrin what three words she would use to describe herself. She said that she considered herself a driven person—someone who is creative and also giving. When I first met Mehrin, I could tell she had a powerful voice and deeply cared about what she was working on. While you can never really know everything about a person when you first meet them, I could tell she was also gentle with her words and gestures. In the field of entertainment, it is important to be personable and friendly, especially towards clients.
When it comes to favorite classes, Mehrin loved taking her copyright class. She recalled enjoying the final exam, which doesn’t always happen in her classes. She was excited to hear the professor’s thoughts and her classmates' thoughts. She was able to apply the principles she learned in class and brought them to her internship at Sony. She said, “I was able to talk about pop culture in a relevant way. I saw a direct application when we were drafting and learning about business affairs terms at Sony.” Further in the discussion, I asked Mehrin if she could give some insight into what filmmakers can do to avoid legal mishaps (especially as students who are not trained in deal-making or the law). She said, “It’s not that filmmakers always need to know what questions to ask or the legal specifics but I think it is important to have awareness. Large commercial studios and independent companies operate on different systems. The story is important, and so is having boots on the ground during the set, but the business side is just as essential. How are people getting paid? How are we securing locations? You could have all these ideas and talk about them with filmmaker friends, but selling your idea is a different ball game. When screenwriting, these aspects will cost money. As a junior lawyer, I constantly learn about the film industry ecosystem. You need to understand who the players are.”
Mehrin spoke about her internship experiences during law school. She started at Free Mantle Media, where she worked on unscripted and scripted television. At the time, she learned the rules of the game. Then, she went on to intern at Sony. She mentioned how supportive her boss was there. She worked in the business affairs side. There, she saw how deal-making was an integral part of the system. The WGA strike caused a significant disruption to the business at that time. Mehrin observed the various perspectives in her workplace and on the trades. Sony trusted Mehrin to handle communications between a wide array of talent and agents on overall deals. While it was stressful, she learned to manage her stress and be productive. Afterward, she worked at Marvel, where she looked at high-level deals and assisted executives; now, she currently works as a junior lawyer at Disney, where she can take the reins and make her own deals. She said, “Every day has just been growth after growth. Looking back on my journey, I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
I asked Mehrin if she had anyone in her life that she would like to thank for supporting her in this journey. Mainly, she talked about family. She said, “Definitely my mom. I’d like to think the universe gave me my mom and my sister at the same time. She grew up with only brothers. I have my brother, too. My mom has always kept me optimistic like a best friend, no matter the circumstances. She’s a light in my life and is so positive in how she sees the world. I can get really negative at times. We talk everyday. I love her.”