SKILLED INSIDER KNOWS HOW TO NAVIGATE THE BIZ
Ken Ziffren, keynote speaker at Variety’s Power of Law breakfast, has bridged the worlds of show business and politics
Ken Ziffren grades himself a B-minus when it comes to using new technology (“I type very well,” he says), but after more than 50 years as one of Los Angeles’ top attorneys, he remains fully up-to- date on the legal implications of the ongoing digital revolution.
“The experiences that I’ve had get experienced in new bottles, if you will,” says Ziffren. “I look at it as a challenge, but the challenge is the opportunity.”
Recently, Ziffren — who will be the keynote speaker at Variety’s Power of Law breakfast on April 20 — helped spearhead an effort to bring exhibitors and the major studios together on a deal to make films available for early home viewing via premium VOD. Negotiations were derailed by pending mergers (e.g., Disney’s acquisition of Fox), but he’s hopeful they’ll be revived soon.
“The whole VOD movement has changed not just television but also home viewing ... so we have to focus on how we develop our programming to work with that audience, because that audience will be the future,” says Ziffren. “That’s the kind of stuff that our firm and I are trying to figure out and process.”
Zeffren has been at the center of a lot of public activity for several decades, from representing Democratic politicians in the ’70s (including Gov. Jerry Brown and Sens. John Tunney and Alan Cranston) to his recent efforts as Los Angeles’ “film czar,” lobbying the California Legislature to improve the state’s film and TV tax credit to keep productions — and jobs — in town. He was tapped for that advisory position in 2014 by L. A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, succeeding the late Tom Sherak.
Ziffren didn’t have to look far for a role model. His father, attorney Paul Ziffren, was a major power