Today, I received email confirmation that my latest solicitor’s practising certificate was available for review online, signifying 20 years post qualification experience as a solicitor.
Wow.
The same year that HBO launched seminal TV series: “Sex and the City”.
So, I got to thinking.
I always knew that I would never reach 20 years in a law firm and that one day, one day goddammit, I would take up residence in my heart’s home: the entertainment industry. It took 4 uninspiring years of study, 300 training contract applications, 300 rejections, 1 paralegal post, 1 interview, 2 years of training and a further 2 years as a banking lawyer before I first found my first apartment as an in-house entertainment lawyer in 2000 at Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Really Useful Group.
18 years ago.
Now established in my own house, I combine business, legal and creative experience and talents within a corporation, as a film agent and for myself.
There are good days and bad days but every day I learn something, whether about myself, others and/or the industry that I hold close to my heart.
So on this 20th anniversary (before I get back to my film reviews with the next instalment, 1973: “Don’t Look Now” coming before the year-end (I promise)), I wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of you that I have met so far – yes, even and particularly those that I have crossed swords with – for your contribution to my development over the last 20 years. I look forward to the next 20, especially if they are on my own desert island as an early retiree!
Yours, as ever:
Entertainment lawyer (20 years!) – Executive Producer – Film Agent – Photographer – Screenwriter – Enjoyer of Life – Dreamer – Optimist