Rob Rader, M.A., J.D.
Rob Rader, a Santa Monica resident for nine years, was elected to the Board of Trustees in November 2004. This is his first time serving as Chair.
Rader is an entertainment and new media attorney at Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP in Los Angeles, where he represents studios, producers, distributors and talent in all aspects of acquisition, development, production, promotion, distribution and licensing of motion pictures, interactive videogames, television programs, consumer products, themed entertainment, videocassettes, DVDs, and websites and online content production.
Previously, he had been Vice President of Business Affairs at Metro-Goldwyn Mayer Studios, serving in a variety of capacities, including head of business affairs for MGM Domestic Television Distribution, senior acquisitions executive for United Artists Pictures, head of MGM Interactive, deputy head of business affairs for MGM Home Entertainment and head of business affairs for MGM Consumer Products and MGM.COM.
Before joining MGM, Rader was an Advance Team Leader on President Clinton’s 1996 re-election campaign. He had previously been Deputy State Director for Dukakis/Bentsen in Oregon.
Rader’s public service includes serving as Secretary/Treasurer of Santa Monica’s Bayside District Corporation, which manages the Third Street Promenade. He is also a board member and former chairperson of the Wilshire/Montana Neighborhood Coalition, Santa Monica’s largest neighborhood group. He has served on the Executive Committee of the California Bar’s Intellectual Property Section.
Rader graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he gave the Graduate English Oration at Harvard’s 343rd commencement. His master’s is in sociology from Stanford Graduate School and he graduated magna cum laude with highest honors from Harvard College, with a bachelor’s degree in sociology. He won the Fulton Prize for Harvard’s best undergraduate sociology thesis and was a Junior Fellow of the American Sociological Association.
Rader teaches entertainment law at Pepperdine Law School as an adjunct professor. He speaks and publishes widely on media and entertainment law.
He is married to Melissa, a former attorney and Los Angeles Unified School District teacher in Pacoima. They have a son, Dashiell, and a daughter, Zora.
e-mail to: rader_rob@smc.edu
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