Master Class Archive: How to Find Representation for Writers and Directors with The Hollywood Reporter’s Rebecca Sun
About this Master Class
To maintain a fulfilling career in the entertainment industry as a writer or director, you need to surround yourself with a team that supports your work and helps you get exposed to the most opportunities. If you’re trying to break in, how do you choose when to bring on a talent agent and a manager? What are the key elements to finding the collaborators that will represent you as your career progresses? Who can you trust and turn to when there are many important decisions to be made? Join us in this three-hour master class for a unique opportunity to learn when to seek representation, what are the key roles to fill, how to find them and other essential information you need to know before building your team. The Hollywood Reporter’s Rebecca Sun will share her insights from the field and moderate in-depth conversations with managers Melissa Breaux and Adam Marshall from Management 360, literary agent Christina Chou from CAA, and entertainment attorney Elsa Ramo.
Topics covered will include:
- What agents and managers do and don’t, how to find them, and what to expect from them
- How managers, agents and lawyers work together to support your career and how to make yourself attractive to the best possible team
- What kind of research to do when you are seeking representation, identifying legal restrictions and red flags
- When to seek legal representation and advice, and what is the key information you need to know before closing a deal
- The initial steps to build a representation plan that will help you familiarize the industry with your work
Resources:
Sundance Collab Master Classes are open and free of charge to all members as a live event. Sessions are recorded and posted within 24 hours to the event page, where it will be available to all members for 48 hours. After that, on-demand access to the recording is available only to Creator+ and Course Pass members. Sign up today to get a free 30-day trial Creator+ Membership.
If you have a disability and require accommodation in order to fully participate in this event, please complete this form, contact us at (435) 776-7900 or email us at accessibility@sundance.org to discuss your specific needs. Every effort will be made to accommodate advance requests; requests made within 5 days of the event may not be guaranteed.
Master ClassTeam
Rebecca Sun
Moderator
Rebecca Sun is senior editor of diversity and inclusion at The Hollywood Reporter, where she oversees equity and representation for the publication. She previously covered the agency business for THR. In 2019, the nonprofit collective Gold House named her to the A100 list of the most impactful Asians and AAPIs in culture, and she won a National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Award for her feature about a Black woman TV writers’ collective. Her bylines have also appeared in Vanity Fair, Esquire China, Red Bulletin and New York, and her work has been nominated for GLAAD Media and Southern California Journalism Awards. Sun serendipitously developed a second career as a sports journalist, having served as an editor for Sportico and as a writer and editor at Sports Illustrated. A native of the Bay Area, she earned a master’s degree in journalism from NYU and a bachelor’s degree in biology and English from Duke University.
Melissa Breaux
Panelist
Breaux’s clients include many Sundance alum filmmakers, including Nicole Kassell (CLAWS and WATCHMAN pilots, THE LEFTOVERS), Sean Durkin (MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE, THE NEST), Antonio Campos (SIMON KILLER, THE DEVIL ALL THE TIME), Josh Mond (JAMES WHITE), Nicolas Pesce (EYES OF MY MOTHER, PIERCING), Eliza Hittman (BEACH RATS, NEVER RARELY SOMETIME ALWAYS) and Nia DaCosta (LITTLE WOODS, CANDYMAN).
Breaux, a graduate of Howard University and Howard University Law School, began her career in the William Morris mailroom, then worked as a development exec at various companies before moving into management.
Elsa Ramo
Panelist
At the dealmaking intersection of where content makers meet buyers, financiers, and distributors, Elsa Ramo is at the forefront of first-time deals with emerging and established streamers and studios, guiding her clients into innovative terms that optimize their reach and prevalence in today’s flattened marketplace. Elsa provides comprehensive legal services to producers, financiers, creators, and owners of film, television, and digital content and projects across a range of budgets and production levels. She established her law firm to enable up-and-coming filmmakers and producers to bring their stories to life.
Ramo works with established content-creating powerhouses such as Imagine Entertainment, Skydance, Lion Forge Studios, Boardwalk Pictures, Scout Productions, Riff Raff Entertainment, The Comedy Store, The Jim Henson Company, Wonder Project and French Tuck. She also represents independent prolific producers and directors like Lee Broda, Zachary Drucker, Anne Clements, Liza Mandelup, and founder of the Los Angeles Festival of Movies, Sarah Winshall.
In addition to directly overseeing high-level clients, Elsa Ramo founded and manages her boutique firm, which has grown from a solo practice on the Universal Backlot in 2005 to a team of over 22 attorneys with offices in New York and Los Angeles. Ramo is notable for its majority female partners and diverse group of attorneys. Elsa is a Forbes.com contributor, speaking to current issues and topics in the entertainment industry. She and the firm were recently featured in a Variety article, "The Rise of Ramo from Two-Person Law Firm to Industry Player," celebrating Ramo Law’s 20th anniversary. She was recently recognized among Variety’s 2025 Legal Impact Report and 2022 Dealmakers Impact Report, Daily Journal’s Top 100 Women Lawyers, and Los Angeles Business Journal’s 2022 Women of Influence; she was nominated for the LA Times B2B Inspirational Women Awards; and her Firm was featured among Los Angeles Business Journal’s Most Admired Law Firms. In 2024 she was awarded LAW.com’s Women, Influence & Power in Law Managing Partner of the Year Award. Elsa lives in Brentwood with her husband and two children.