Debra Martin Chase brought us girlhood cult classics like The Princess Diaries and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. But about 10 years ago, Chase, who now serves as CEO of Martin Chase Productions, almost gave up on the entertainment business.
“It was just a time in business where nobody was interested in making TV or movies about women, about women of color, about people of color. It just was not happening,” Chase said during a main stage interview at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit in Laguna Niguel, Calif., on Tuesday. “I would go in and pitch stuff and people’s eyes would glaze over.”
That was a tough pill to swallow for Chase, who said she had committed her career in entertainment to bringing more diversity to the big screens. She wanted to have an impact on culture and industry.
“Then all of a sudden, I found myself just throwing stuff up against the wall,” Chase said. “It didn’t have meaning for me. And if it doesn’t have meaning for me, I can’t sell it.” At that point, she thought it was the universe’s way of telling her she’d had a good run in the entertainment business. At that point, she had been with Disney for 20 years, but the people who had invested in her personally were “long gone.”
At that point, she thought of exploring other options including film finance or law (she earned her J.D. from Harvard Law School). But a longtime friend convinced her to keep course—Vernon Jordan Jr., no less. Jordan was an American business executive and civil rights attorney who was a close adviser to President Bill Clinton and executive director of the National Urban League. He passed away at his home in Washington, D.C., in March 2021 at the age of 85. Chase had known him since she was 18 years old.
He was an “expert in life and knew me well,” Chase said. “He sat there and he listened to me as I poured my heart out, and he looked at me and he said, ‘You are too old to do anything else.’”
But Jordan also told Chase: “You have a great reputation, you have great relationships, you have great experience. You need to figure out how to make it work.” That served as a slap in the face for Chase—as she demonstrated literally on stage—and kept her on the film production path.
Sisterhood has been key in surviving the entertainment business
In addition to Jordan’s advice, Chase and her fellow panelists Pearlena Igbokwe, chairman of Universal Studio Group, and Nina Shaw, founding partner of entertainment law group Del Shaw Moonves Tanaka Finkelstein Lezcano Bobb & Dang, said there has been another key to success in Hollywood: sisterhood.
“Literally, these women have held me up, and I know we’ve helped each other,” Chase said.
Nina Shaw, Founding Partner, Del Shaw Moonves Tanaka Finkelstein Lezcano Bobb & Dang; Debra Martin Chase, Chief Executive Officer, Martin Chase Productions;
Pearlena Igbokwe, Chairman, Universal Studio Group
Kristy Walker/Fortune
And these three women have been supporting each other for a long time. Shaw first met Chase when she was a summer clerk and Chase was a paralegal—and the two of them were friends with Anita Hill, the renowned attorney who first entered the spotlight after giving her testimony in the 1991 Senate confirmation hearings for U.S. Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas, whom she accused of sexual harassment. Hill was also a summer clerk at the time.
“We were the three Black women,” Chase said, adding she had also met Igbokwe early on in her career—and now the two work together. Igbokwe currently oversees more than 100 projects across more than 25 platforms worldwide, bringing us hits like Law & Order and Hacks. “It’s the sisterhood.”
Chase also discovered other renowned writers, producers and actors including Shonda Rhimes, Anne Hathaway, Blake Lively, and Jesse Williams. Shaw credits Chase with introducing her to musician John Legend, who is now her client. Legend’s producing partner had contacted Chase one night in search of a lawyer and Shaw happened to be in the car with Chase that night. The two of them headed to Legend’s house that night and signed him, which led to other major connections for Shaw—including Quinta Brunson, creator of the hit TV show Abbott Elementary.
While these three women are dominating the entertainment industry, none of their paths were linear—or easy.
“I say to people I was a 30-year overnight sensation,” Igbokwe said. “When I got this job as chairman, [people said] ‘she came out of nowhere. For some people, that was the perception. For me, it was steadily working in the business.”