Inspiring Conversations with Chrissy Maron of Rowan Maron Feil

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chrissy Maron.

Hi Chrissy, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I was born and raised in a small, rural town in northeastern Connecticut. From an early age, I was a singer, a performer and an athlete – all of which helped to curate what would become a lifelong interest in and love for sports and entertainment. After high school, I left Connecticut for upstate New York and ultimately obtained a degree in public relations from Syracuse University. I credit my time at Syracuse for exposing me more fully to the world of entertainment and the many careers it offers – including the behind-the-scenes jobs that I had not before fully considered.

With this in mind and after contemplating how my skillset might best translate to the industry, I continued on to Villanova Law School where I was determined to find a way to combine my interest in sports and entertainment with a growing appreciation and love for business and law. Perhaps it will not come as a surprise (though it sure did to my parents!) when, following graduation, I turned down offers for more traditional legal work and moved to LA to formally pursue a career in entertainment law. But, of course, wanting that job and actually finding it are two very different things! For the first four months that I was in LA, I was awaiting bar exam results and quickly found that no firm would hire me unless and until I passed. So, I did what so many people before me have done upon arriving in Hollywood – I got a job as a PA. I worked on commercials and music videos until a friend happened to see and forward a post from a local listserv: an entertainment attorney was looking for someone to fill in for his assistant while she went on vacation. I will be the first to admit that working as a temp really did not sound exciting to me, but with no professional contacts on the west coast, I was hardly in a position to be picky!

And, so, I answered the posting, interviewed that afternoon and started the very next day. During the two weeks that I was scheduled to temp, the bar results came in and I found out that I passed! And, it just so happened that the attorney who had hired me to answer phones, make photocopies and file also needed someone to help draft and review contracts for an upcoming television show. I lacked experience, but I did not lack eagerness and, in quite short order, found myself doing the very work that I had moved across the country to pursue. The temp job wasn’t so temporary, after all! I continued to make myself available, did my very best work, never made the same mistake twice and that effort was rewarded just three months later when I was brought on as a full-time attorney. After four years, I became a partner. I have now been at the firm more than 13 years.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The biggest obstacles I have personally faced on my journey are fear, self-doubt and…the bar exam! All three ultimately acted as gatekeepers to my dream job and I could not have gotten to where I am without a willingness to take risks while simultaneously believing in myself and, of course, working hard to get my license to practice law in California!

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Rowan Maron Feil LLP is a boutique transactional entertainment law firm located in Santa Monica, California. In addition to negotiating and drafting agreements for actors, directors, writers, producers, authors and other entertainment industry talent, the firm provides production legal services for television programs, film projects, podcasts, live events, awards shows and more. Our small size allows us to have more direct contact and foster meaningful relationships with our clients. The ever-evolving nature of the entertainment industry keeps my job incredibly interesting. More traditional mediums like television, film, print and radio have in recent years been supplemented by new media, podcasts, social media and more. Every deal that I work on is different, every client is different and, so, every day at my job is different!

What was your favorite childhood memory?
I have always been a bit of a chatterbox. And no one would agree with that more than my late Grandpa. Many years ago, the two of us were riding together in the front seat of his bright red pick-up truck – making our way from Connecticut to Vermont, where I was going to spend a weekend with my grandparents. As we made our way north, I was bubbling with excitement and chatting away about school, my favorite toys, what I planned to do that weekend and anything else that popped into my brain. My Grandpa, however, remained impressively quiet. You see, he wasn’t much of a talker, was alone with me for the first time and, as I learned later, was operating under the assumption that a five-year-old would surely fall asleep on such a long drive. But when 30 minutes went by without a sign of me tiring, my Grandpa decided to take matters into his own hands; if he stopped responding and engaging, he was certain that I would lose interest and drift off to sleep.

Meanwhile, after several more minutes of chatter, I started to wonder why it was so quiet on the other side of the cab and if my stories and questions were falling on deaf ears. “Grandpa! Are you listening to me?!” I asked, completely exasperated. And my Grandpa could do nothing but sigh, laugh and join back in on the conversation. This five-year-old was not going to be sleeping and he might as well be a good audience! Hearing my Grandpa retell this story and seeing the smile it always put on his face cemented this memory as one of my favorites – emblematic both of my talkative nature and his love. There is certainly no doubt that I have always had a lot to say!

Contact Info:

• Website: rowanmaronfeil.com

Image Credits:
Becca Murray