PROFILES
Rebecca Prentice ’82: Rising Star in Entertainment Law Enjoys Role as Lead Counsel at Paramount Though her first love is reading, Rebecca Prentice ‘82 has been a big fan of the movies since childhood. But unlike most film buffs, Hollywood is her home. Prentice’s days are spent behind the big screen as general counsel and executive vice president of Paramount Pictures.
It’s often unpredictable and sometimes things can go haywire. But then again, that is what I enjoy the most. I never expected I would be working in the entertainment industry, but it turns out I love it. I’m surrounded every day by some of the most talented and creative people there are. It makes work really interesting.” — Rebecca Prentice ‘82
A native of Visalia, California, Prentice went back west after her time in Ithaca at Cornell Law School. But going from the classroom to the studio lot didn’t happen overnight. In fact, Prentice spent four years working in the Los Angeles offices of Kindel & Anderson and another decade with Shearman & Sterling, where she ultimately made partner. That was all before she got the fateful call from Hollywood: Paramount was looking for a new general counsel. “I didn’t
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know much about entertainment law, but I thought it would be interesting and a challenge to do something outside my comfort zone,” says Prentice of being offered the position. “And I really liked the people there, including several who had been at Shearman & Sterling.”
day, she may be dealing with litigation matters or government inquiries and investigations. At another point, she could be working on issues in a distribution agreement. She’s also tasked with overseeing the sixty-five lawyers currently working in Paramount’s legal department.
In 1996, Prentice took her current post at Paramount, a job which “is unpredictable” on a day-to-day basis. According to Prentice, there are major differences between working in-house compared to a firm setting. Rather than focusing all of her attention on one or two transactions at a time, she deals with myriad issues each day.
Having a smorgasbord of responsibilities is the best and toughest part of the job, Prentice confesses. “There’s a challenge in not knowing what type of work I’ll be dealing with from one day—or hour—to the next,” says Prentice. “It’s often unpredictable and sometimes things can go haywire. But then again, that is what I enjoy the most. I never expected I would be working in the entertainment industry, but it turns out I love it. I’m surrounded every day by some of the most talented and creative people there are. It makes work really interesting.”
“You have to be able to juggle any number of matters, and make the best judgments you can based on the information available to you at the time,” says Prentice. “Most of the time, we don’t have the luxury of waiting for the perfect legal analysis before moving forward.” At one point during the
Since joining Paramount more than fifteen years ago, Prentice has made a splash on the entertainment law scene. She