Law & Policy Fellowship

The MPA partnered with the Entertainment Industry College Outreach Program (EICOP) to launch the MPA-EICOP Entertainment Law & Policy Fellowship — the first entertainment-focused law and policy program of its kind to serve outstanding recent graduates from Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), and other Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs).

This prestigious program eliminates systemic barriers to entry by providing selected Fellows with housing, travel, and stipends to participate in the year-long program. Fellows will gain relevant work experience working at the MPA as well as its member studios and interact with senior executives and policymakers, while building the skills needed to prepare them to be the next generation of law and policy leaders in the entertainment industry.

Ultimately, the Fellowship aims to expand the pipeline and grow opportunities for graduates from diverse backgrounds to enter the entertainment industry.

About the Fellowship

The Entertainment Law & Policy Fellowship is the first entertainment-focused law and policy program of its kind. Two dynamic students from Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs), or other Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) will be selected as Fellows during each annual period.

The year-long program is an immersive and bi-coastal experience in Los Angeles and Washington, DC that hones the skills needed to prepare for future roles in the law and policy fields. The program enables Fellows to:

• Interface with MPA Policy and Legal executives to understand the entertainment landscape and various roles.
• Gain relevant practical experience through MPA member studios (Disney, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount, Universal, and Netflix)
• Interact and network with senior-level industry executives and policymakers while building the skills necessary to prepare for future law and policy leadership.

Meet the 2023-24 MPA-EICOP Entertainment Law & Policy Fellows

Alberto Lugo

UCLA School of Law ‘22

Alberto Lugo received his J.D. in 2022 from the UCLA School of Law with specializations in Media, Entertainment, & Technology Law and Policy and Critical Race Studies. He is a first-generation college graduate and the only person in his family to have gone to law school. While in law school, he was active in the Latinx Law Students’ Association and the Mexican-American Bar Association of Los Angeles County.

Samantha Wauls

University of New Mexico School of Law ’22

Samantha Wauls, a 2022 graduate from the University of New Mexico School of Law, is African American and Lakota-Lower Brule Sioux Tribe (descendant). Wauls has worked with Indigenous communities, both as a crime victim advocate focusing on the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives and as a teacher in her tribal community. She is also a first-generation college graduate and the first in her family to earn a law degree.

Qualifications & Eligibility

• Must be interested in Entertainment Policy or Entertainment Law.
• Open to graduating seniors or graduating Law Students from an HSI, HBCU, and MSI.
• Open to recent graduates of an HSI, HBCU, and MSI with either a related bachelor’s degree, JD, Master’s, or other related advanced degree/s.

For a full list of Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs), click here.

How to Apply

Applications for the 2024-25 MPA-EICOP fellowship period will open later this year. Please check back for more information.

About the Entertainment Industry College Outreach Program

EICOP is a non-profit educational arts workforce development program, dedicated to educating, training, and recruiting the best and brightest diverse student leaders from our nation’s Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs) and other Minority-Serving Institutions for careers across all aspects of the entertainment, media, sports, music, and technology industries.

Its signature program, HBCU in LA, was launched in partnership with then-President Obama’s White House Initiative on HBCUs. Since its launch, the MPA has served as an important partner creating access for HBCU law students to participate in this important diversity pipeline development initiative.