‘Lost’ and ‘Watchmen’ Showrunner Damon Lindelof and Fuzzy Door Productions President Erica Huggins Keynote Variety’s Power of Law Breakfast

This year, Variety’s Power of Law breakfast at The Maybourne Beverly Hills on April 19 is treating attendees to not one but two keynote conversations with industry players: showrunner Damon Lindelof, interviewed by Variety Co-Editor-in-Chief Cynthia Littleton, and executive Erica Huggins, interviewed by Variety Chief Production Officer Claudia Eller.

At the Power of Law event – where City National Bank is the presenting partner and Signature Resolution is an official partner – the pair will offer their insights into the rapidly evolving entertainment landscape to an audience of invited attorneys who form this year’s Legal Impact Report honorees.

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Damon Lindelof: Storyteller and Disruptor – The prolific, award-winning creator, known for his ambitious and genre-bending scripts, will share with Variety Co-Editor-in-Chief Cynthia Littleton his thoughts on how the creative community is adjusting to the upheaval in the content business and how strong legal representation is vital for navigating these choppy waters. The conversation will also delve into the showrunner’s evolution as a writer and executive producer as he expands his activities to mentoring and shepherding TV projects created by other writers.

Lindelof’s most recent television credits include critically acclaimed HBO superhero series “Watchmen” and drama series “The Leftovers”; he was co-creator and showrunner on both.

Prior to that, Lindelof was co-creator and co-showrunner (along with Carlton Cuse) of ABC’s seminal “Lost,” the mind-blowing sci-fi series that ran for six seasons starting in 2004 and proved to be an inflection point in TV storytelling. His feature film credits include “Star Trek,” “Prometheus,” “World War Z” and “Tomorrowland.”

The Stephen King fan began his pro career as a writer on drama series “Wasteland” and anthology series “Undressed.” In 2000-2001 he worked as a writer on CBS crime drama series “Nash Bridges,” and then wrote and produced another crime drama for NBC, “Crossing Jordan.”

Lindelof got involved in Hollywood union politics big-time in 2019, joining other members of the Writers Guild of America in firing their agents. The move came in support of the WGA’s battle against the talent agencies’ practice of packaging, whereby the tenpercenteries negotiate a lucrative overall packaging fee from the studios for each film or TV show instead of collecting the usual 10% fee from each client working on a given project.

In 2022 the writers emerged victorious. Packaging fees on new projects ended, ushering in a fresh era in TV production dealmaking just as the industry reached a crescendo of disruption.

Erica Huggins: Creative Rainmaker – Huggins is President of Seth MacFarlane’s Fuzzy Door and oversees all development and creative direction for the production company’s content creation, including its multiyear television pact with Universal Studio Group as well as endeavors in film, literature, music and digital.

Under Fuzzy Door’s Universal TV deal, she is executive producing Peacock’s “Ted” TV series, starring the foul-mouthed teddy bear who starred in the film versions of the franchise, and recently released Peacock’s disaster series “The End is Nye” hosted by science educator Bill Nye.

Up next, Huggins is executive producing “The Winds of War,” an Untitled Little Rock Nine series; TV adaptations of the celebrated novel “All Our Wrong Todays”; and dystopian sci-fi short film “Skywatch.” She and Fuzzy Door are also in production on Netflix’s new animated take on Norman Lear’s classic sitcom, “Good Times.”

On the feature side, Huggins executive produced Hulu’s “Books of Blood,” a film based on Clive Barker’s horror anthology book of the same name. She is also executive producing and developing a reimagined version of “Revenge of the Nerds” with the Lucas Bros. for 20th Century Studios, and a remake of “The Naked Gun” for Paramount Pictures.

With Huggins and MacFarlane at the helm, Fuzzy Door produces  Emmy-nominated Hulu space adventure series “The Orville,” Emmy-winning animated comedy series “Family Guy,” fan-favorite series “American Dad!,” and Emmy-winning “Cosmos: Possible Worlds,” now available on Disney+.

Prior to her present gig, Huggins served as President at Imagine Entertainment, focusing on expanding Imagine’s independent model of incubating material in-house for all feature development and the company’s feature animation division. During her tenure there, she produced “The Spy Who Dumped Me,” “Get On Up,” and “The Dark Tower,” among others.

During her conversation with Huggins, Eller expects to address such issues as how an indie production company navigates though this time of upheaval and transformation; what key factors must be addressed before greenlighting a project; and how to prepare for a potential writers’ strike this year.

“Since her years at Imagine,” says Eller, “I’ve always thought of Erica as someone who is incredibly cultured and smart with great creative instincts.”

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