Entertainment × Strategy × Culture

Where
Deals
Get Made.

The ecosystem for entertainment's next power players. Courses, live negotiations, community, and cultural fluency — for creators, executives, founders, lawyers, and industry insiders.

Join Inner Circle Waitlist Watch a Live Negotiation
Entertainment Law Deal Psychology Negotiation USC Professor IRL Experiences Community
The Ecosystem

Three Ways
to Enter

Whether you're discovering dealmaking for the first time or building your career inside it — pick your style of engagement. You can Watch & Learn via the podcast and courses, engage in the Community conversations and mentorship on Discord or apply to join Inner Circle, and enjoy Events curated to bridge the gap between learning dealmaking and practicing that *ish in the real world.

01
Watch & Learn

How elite deals actually move — translated into practical intelligence for anyone building in entertainment.

  • LAW.ISH Podcast Audio — wherever you listen
  • LAW.ISH Podcast Full Video — Inner Circle members only
  • YouTube & Social Media Clips
  • USC Executive Education Courses & Seminars
Explore Watch & Learn
02
Community

Where the actual conversations happen — from free access to the invite-only room where the deals get talked through.

  • LAW.ISH Discord Free with light application screening
  • Office Hours with Entertainment Law & Business Professors
  • Resources & Databases Some reserved for Inner Circle
  • Inner Circle Membership Invite Only
Enter the Community
03
Events

In the room where it happens — live dealmaking at festivals, symposia, and curated industry gatherings.

  • Live Mock Negotiations
  • Curated Industry Invites
  • Festival & Symposium Partnerships
  • IRL & Online Formats
See What's Coming
USC Executive Education Partner

Learn the
Language
of Deals

Practical executive intelligence for the people who need to understand how entertainment actually works — before the meeting, during the negotiation, and after the ink dries. Delivered with the perspective of someone still in the deals.

  • I
    Deal Anatomy
    Deconstruct how entertainment contracts move from concept to greenlight
  • II
    Negotiation Psychology
    Power, pressure, and psychology behind every negotiation table
  • III
    IP & Creative Rights
    Protect, license, monetize — IP fundamentals for creative industries
  • IV
    Leverage & Relationships
    How reputation and strategic positioning create deal power
Explore USC Course
Featured · USC Executive Education

Dealmaking for Entertainment Professionals

Executive-level curriculum and certificate program, delivered with a dealmaker's perspective. Real deals, real dynamics, real stakes — over a 6-month guided video series.
In Development

Entertainment Deal Lab

An immersive workshop series on how major entertainment deals get structured, negotiated, and closed — with real case frameworks.

In Development

Negotiation Intensive

A high-intensity, hands-on negotiation simulation workshop for entertainment professionals and ambitious operators.

Get Notified First

Be the first to know when new courses drop

Course announcements go out in the LAW.ISH Discord before anywhere else. Free access, light application screening. Tap to join.
IRL Experiences

Live Mock
Negotiations

Real-time contract battles played out live at festivals, symposia, and curated industry events. Livestreamed to Discord when the venue allows.

LIVE
NEGOTIATION

Mock Negotiation Sessions

Not lectures. Live dealmaking in front of a real audience — industry scenarios, real-stakes energy, real participants at the table. Hosted at festivals, symposia, and curated in-person events; livestreamed to the LAW.ISH Discord when the venue allows.

Announcements drop in Discord first. Join to get on the list for the next one.

Get Notified of the Next One
Scenario 01

Talent Negotiations

Artist deals, representation agreements, and touring contracts

Scenario 02

Creator × Brand Deals

Sponsorship, partnership, and content licensing disputes

Scenario 03

Studio vs. Producer

Film and TV development, rights acquisition, greenlight dynamics

Scenario 04

IP Acquisition

Licensing, option agreements, and franchise deal architecture

Scenario 05

"What Would You Negotiate?"

Live audience interaction — you call the play in real time

Community Infrastructure

Discord & Inner Circle

Two layers. Both intentional. Discord is where the pulse lives. Inner Circle is where the strategy sharpens.

Discord — Momentum

Fast. Social.
Organic.

The conversation you'd overhear at the after-party if you knew the right people. Where the pulse of the community lives — and where every announcement drops first.

  • Announcements for Live Mock Negotiations & industry events
  • Office Hours with entertainment law & business professors
  • Curated industry event drops & ticket alerts
  • Livestreams from festivals & symposia when hosted
  • Industry news, hot takes, and real-time deal reactions
  • Spontaneous networking & introductions
  • Free with light application screening
Apply to Join Discord →

Discord = Momentum

Inner Circle — Infrastructure

Invite-Only.
Membership.

The invite-only room for people already inside the industry — or building fast toward it. Currently invitation-only; the waitlist is how you raise your hand.

  • Full LAW.ISH video podcast episodes
  • 1-on-1 sessions with Professor McKinney, Esq.
  • Salary & compensation database for entertainment lawyers
  • Templates, learning guides & deal frameworks
  • Curated dinner socials & deal labs (invite-only)
  • Member directory & premium networking
  • Member perks & industry discounts
  • Event access, session recordings, mentorship adjacency
Join Inner Circle Waitlist →

Inner Circle = Infrastructure

Kimberlina McKinney, Esq. — entertainment attorney, USC professor, strategist
Entertainment Attorney USC Professor Strategist Cultural Translator
The Mind Behind It

Kimberlina N.
McKinney, Esq.

15+ Years Entertainment Lawyer  ·  USC Professor  ·  Founder of LAW.ISH

Professor McKinney, Esq. sits at the intersection of elite dealmaking, creative industry strategy, and cultural fluency — translating how power actually moves in entertainment for the people who need to know.

Practitioner-first. Human-centered. The kind of insights that usually stay behind closed doors because industry insiders are too busy making moves to write them down — brought into the open with the real conversations, real case studies, and real dynamics of the people actually in the deals.

"I'm not delivering a lecture. I'm teaching you how to think like the person in the room who closes."
USC
Executive Education Partner
15+
Years Experience
3
Ways to Enter  ·  Learn · Community · Events
In Print

Published
Writings

A sampling of Professor McKinney's writing — bylines drawn from the inner workings of her mind. Observations on entertainment law, dealmaking, and the quirks of life that shape both (and other *ish). More writing ahead — essays, long-form, whatever calls next.

Want to write or teach alongside her? Apply to Inner Circle ↗

N°01
Daily Journal Op-Ed

Control the Copyright, Control Hollywood

Coogler, Tarantino, and the legal playbook every filmmaker should be studying.

Read the Article N°02
Daily Journal Essay

Mothering Like a Lawyer

Nurturing kids using legal principles that instill grit and grace.

Read the Article N°03
Award-Winning Thesis
Scripps College Senior Thesis

The Punishment of Other People's Children

Winner of the Agnes Moreland Jackson Senior Thesis Award, Scripps College. Published in the Scripps Scholarship Archive.

Read the Thesis
Selected Honors , including
Top Women Attorneys
Daily Journal · 2025
Women of Influence — Top Attorneys
Los Angeles Business Journal · 2024
Nominee, Women's Leadership Symposium & Awards
Los Angeles Business Journal · 2024
Certificate of Recognition and Exemplary Service
Speaker Karen Bass · California State Assembly
Inner Circle Waitlist · Invite-Only

Join
Inner
Circle.

Inner Circle is the invite-only membership — full LAW.ISH video podcast episodes, the salary & compensation database, templates & deal frameworks, curated dinner socials, 1-on-1 sessions with Professor McKinney, and the room where the real conversations happen. Currently invitation-only. Drop your details and we'll reach out as spots open.

Invite-only. No spam. Your details are private and used only to evaluate fit for Inner Circle.

Join Free Discord → Watch on YouTube → USC Course → Explore Ecosystem →