Favorite Parts of Working in the Legal and Film Industries as an Attorney and Filmmaker
Michael finds deep satisfaction in both legal work, where "you're kind of your psychiatrist," listening to clients' personal struggles before addressing legal matters, and filmmaking, marveling at "how the tech pole, big budget movies...allows...people like us...to make...low budget movies." The interconnectedness of these industries, allowing for diverse creative expression and impacting audiences profoundly, is what Michael values most.
Emotional Intelligence, Legal Practice, Film Production, Entrepreneurship, Creative Storytelling
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Michael Erike
Attorney & Filmmaker
Bailey Law Firm & YachtKlub Productions
Loyola Marymount University
Sandra Day O’Connor College Of Law - J.D.
Finance
Arts, Entertainment & Media, Law
Legal
Scholarship Recipient, Greek Life Member
Video Highlights
1. Being an attorney allows you to connect with people on a personal level, dealing with their significant life issues and offering support beyond just legal advice. The attorney-client relationship often involves acting as a listener and providing emotional support before even getting to the legal aspects of a case.
2. The film industry's ecosystem, from big-budget productions to smaller independent films, creates opportunities for filmmakers at various stages of their careers. The ability to make a visual impact on the world and influence audiences is a significant reward.
3. Both law and filmmaking allow for positive contributions to the world; one by addressing personal and societal legal issues, and the other by creating art that can impact and inspire.
Transcript
What do you enjoy most about being in your industry?
I must say, both attorneys and filmmakers have vocations. When it comes to a client, even though to them, dealing with their issue is the work, it is their entire world.
This is a real case I worked on. When a family hires a neighbor they've known for decades to be their president, and then that neighbor starts stealing from them, to them, that is very personal. It's like they got stabbed in the back.
Even to me, I understand that is the job. I can't help but kind of put myself in their shoes. So that sentimentality, I think, makes the vocation of being an attorney. You're really dealing with the lives of people.
A lot of the time, when clients call, half the time they just want to vent. They want to vent about what they've been through and what they're dealing with before they even get to the logistics of how I can help them.
When you're an attorney, you're kind of like their psychiatrist. You listen first, and then you deal with the aspects of their problems. That's cool.
In the filmmaking space, growing up it was all about going to movies. That whole industry, with the big-budget superhero movies now, props up the studios. But that allows people like us, or places like A24, to make the smaller, low-budget movies that a lot of people gravitate to.
That ecosystem of giant CGI versus low-budget, and how it all feeds into each other, is beautiful. The business of that, I could talk about for hours.
It allows people like myself, my brother, and directors like Robert Eggers and Nolan, who started with low-budget films, to make a career and provide an impact to the world. That is incredible.
I really don't think you could choose a bad profession in the world as long as you're doing legal stuff or stuff that pushes the world forward positively. Even if it's not legal, I don't think there is a bad profession.
But to me, obviously, I'm very biased. That's why I think the filmmaking profession is so interesting because you connect a whole bunch of domains, and it leaves such a visual impact on the world.
My brother, my family, and I grew up going to the movies every single weekend. That kind of set the stage, and I'm sure that's the story of millions of kids who have been influenced so much by what they saw on the screen.