Gary A. Watson, Esq. has over the past 35 years provided clients in the music, motion picture, television, internet, theater and allied and ancillary industries with a full range of transactional entertainment and entertainment dispute resolution legal services.

His music industry clients have included Arista Records, Bad Boy Records, Motown Records, Def Jam Records, Tommy Boy Records, Jimmy Jam’s and Terry Lewis’ Flyte Tyme Records, Kool & The Gang and Dr. Dre. In the motion picture industry, his work has included representation of Tyler Perry, The Estate of William Holden, BET Pictures, II and the producers of the feature film, “Get On The Bus,” which was executive produced by Spike Lee and starred Ossie Davis and Charles Dutton. He also served as attorney for Universal Pictures on “The Guardian,” a film by the director of “The Exorcist” and “The French Connection,” William Friedkin; two pictures by Spike Lee, “Mo’ Better Blues” and “Jungle Fever;” “Childs Play 3;”Wes Craven’s and Shep Gordon’s “People Under The Stairs;” the John Goodman starrer, “The Babe;” the film featuring Goldie Hawn, Bruce Willis and Meryl Streep, directed by Robert Zemekis, entitled “Death Becomes Her;” and the Oscar Award winning picture starring Al Pacino titled “Scent of a Woman.” Television industry clients which he has served include BET, Bobby Brown, LisaGay Hamilton and Kathleen McGhee Anderson. His work as well has included representation of Yahoo! Additionally, he has provided legal assistance to thespians like Glynn Turman.

He was the Chair and a Governing Committee Member of the American Bar Association’s Forum on the Entertainment and Sports Industries. He formerly was Head of the Motion Picture, Cable, Television and Radio Division of the American Bar Association’s Forum on The Entertainment and Sports Industries. Gary has been inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Association. Previously he was a Member of the Board of Directors, Chair of the Public Relations Committee and Treasurer of the Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Association. Gary has taught at UCLA Extension (various entertainment law courses), the American Film Institute Conservatory (Legal and Business Affairs for Directors and Screenwriters), Whittier Law School (Film Finance), USC Law School (Music Production, Business and Legal Aspects), and Stanford University (Entertainment Law and Business).

At MI Gary teaches law courses for both the Music Business Associate degree and Certificate programs, with a focus on contracts and negotiation.

Gary majored in economics at Stanford University where he obtained his A.B. Thereafter he received his law degree from the University of California at Berkeley (Boalt Hall). Gary is a member of The State Bar of California, and is the owner of the law firm of Gary A. Watson & Associates in Century City, CA.