His early aspirations were to be an international opera star. But after graduating in 1985 with a bachelor of fine arts from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and performing around the world in various musical theater productions, Darrell D. Miller decided to head to law school.
“I had an epiphany, thinking about the information superhighway, because for me it represented an entirely new paradigm,†he explains. “Where most Americans had grown up with three primary distribution channels of broadcast television content, we were now going to have a heck of a lot of choices. I thought either I can be part of the distribution platform or I can be part of the content creation mechanism for that platform. And I chose go where the content is being created and to build a reputation of representing content creators.â€
In 1990, he received his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center and moved to Los Angeles, beginning his legal career with Lord Bissell and Brook focusing on civil litigation and general corporate law. By 1996 he was head of his own firm serving as counsel for a variety of film and television projects while developing a reputation as a progressively strategic entertainment lawyer. Today he is a partner at Fox Rothschild L.L.P. and co-chair of the Entertainment and Sports Law practice with oversight and management for a range of areas from new media and licensing agreements to merchandising, intellectual property, and development, production, and distribution agreements.
Miller, who was named among be’s Top 50 Power Brokers in Hollywood has worked with a number of athletes, celebrities, and media properties including Blair Underwood, Green Lantern, NCIS, and Jumping the Broom. But his passion is helping his clients leverage their talents and brands to create multiple streams of revenue, such as the movie, television, and fine cognac deals for rapper Ludacris, and the independent and studio film projects, Oil of Olay ads, and book deal for actress Angela Bassett. Here Miller explains how professionals can maximize their brands and follow the steps of the richest people in America to achieve wealth.