NYWIFT Blog

By Briana Wilson

Welcome to NYWIFT, Leah Gaydos!

Leah M. Gaydos is a New York-based attorney and independent producer whose work spans film, entertainment law, and nonprofit leadership. She has produced more than 20 shorts and two features, including Rounding, which premiered at Tribeca and was distributed by Doppleganger.

Leah serves as Board Member & Entertainment Law Chair for Healing TREE and provides production counsel and strategic consulting to independent filmmakers.

She currently practices law at Rebar Kelly while pursuing opportunities in business affairs and legal for film, television, and emerging media. Her career centers on balancing creative vision with the legal frameworks that allow meaningful storytelling to thrive.

In our interview, Leah discussed her philosophy of producing, the production that shaped that philosophy, and her vision for the future of entertainment law.

Could you give our readers a brief introduction to yourself?

I’m a New York-based attorney and independent producer whose career has always lived at the intersection of film, business, and law. I’ve produced more than twenty shorts and two features, including Rounding, which premiered at Tribeca in 2022, and received theatrical distribution this past spring, currently available on Apple TV.

I currently practice as an Associate Attorney at Rebar Kelly while also serving as Board Member & Entertainment Law Chair for Healing TREE and working as production counsel on select independent projects. My work is driven by a belief that creative storytelling and strategic legal thinking are most powerful when they inform each other.

What brought you to NYWIFT?

Community. I’ve spent years balancing my legal career with hands-on producing, and I wanted to connect with women who understand that duality; who are building, advocating, and innovating across the entire entertainment ecosystem.

NYWIFT felt like a natural home base where I could learn from others, contribute meaningfully, and continue developing as both a lawyer and a creative producer.

What sparked your interest in producing independent films?

Producing began as an extension of my love for problem-solving and storytelling. Very early in my career, I co-founded Airborne Productions, a student-run production company that created commercials, short films, and news content.

That experience taught me how transformative independent filmmaking can be; you learn every aspect of the craft out of necessity, and you witness firsthand how a small team with limited resources can still create something deeply impactful.

You’ve produced a wide range of films over the years. What has been the most memorable project you’ve worked on so far, and what made the experience stand out?

One of the most memorable projects I’ve ever worked on is Gayby, a short film I produced in college that was written and directed by one of my closest friends, Liv Krusinski.

The film explored her coming-of-age and coming-out journey through a dual structure: one timeline following an eight-year-old experiencing early, innocent connection, and another following her as an older teenager beginning to understand desire and identity. It was tender, personal, and grounded in love, and the process of making it felt just as meaningful as the story itself.

Gayby was the first project where I felt fully empowered as a producer. Liv trusted me entirely with the logistical and operational side of the film, allowing her to stay deeply focused on the creative vision. It was the clearest example of how a writer-director and producer can, and should, function as distinct but collaborative halves of one whole.

Every challenge that arose, from unexpected weather shifts to the fire department being called during our elementary-school location shoot, became opportunities for our team to adapt with confidence and care. We stayed on-schedule, under-budget, and, maybe most importantly, maintained a set environment that everyone described as unusually warm and affirming.

That experience shaped my entire philosophy of producing. It taught me what it feels like when a set is run with both precision and empathy, and how the energy behind the camera directly affects the story in front of it. Even now, working more on the legal and business side of the industry, I still draw on the lessons from Gayby every day.

How did you decide to study law after producing, and are there any overlaps between production and law that you’ve discovered?

I realized very early that the part of producing I was most drawn to—negotiation, contracts, rights, finance, risk management—was essentially the business of the industry.

While running [REDACTED] (my indie production company), I worked mainly with the finance and legal. Entertainment law was a natural next step, to hone my legal knowledge in this industry. Studying law gave me the structure, clarity, and precision needed to support creative work at a higher level.

The overlap is enormous: whether you’re a producer or a lawyer, you’re constantly identifying problems before they arise, protecting the project, and ensuring the creative vision can actually come to life.

What is your perspective on how producers and entertainment lawyers can best support impactful storytelling through creative logistics?

Producers and lawyers are at their best when they operate as true collaborators rather than separate checkpoints in the process. Impactful storytelling requires safety, clarity, and trust; and those things come from creating environments where artists can take risks because the logistics are sound.

Over the years, I’ve developed a philosophy I call “people-first producing,” and it deeply informs how I view both production and legal practice. At its core, the philosophy is simple: the people making the work must come first.

When producers and lawyers prioritize humane work schedules, transparent expectations, contracts that clearly reflect respect, and payment structures that value labor, creative teams are empowered to actually do their best work. Logistics aren’t barriers to creativity; they are the scaffolding that allows it to soar.

I often explain to my indie clients that a contract is, in many ways, a love letter of respect. It is a tangible promise: “I see your work, I value your contribution, and here is exactly how I will honor it.” When legal protections, communication, and logistical planning happen early and collaboratively, the result is not only a smoother production, it’s a healthier creative ecosystem.

And importantly, people-first producing is not just a moral stance. It’s good business. When crews are rested, respected, and properly compensated, they produce better content, more efficiently, with fewer crises and less burnout. When lawyers help establish those structures, they become partners in storytelling rather than obstacles to it.

Ultimately, meaningful stories flourish when legal, creative, and logistical minds work in tandem with a shared purpose: protecting the people who make the art, so the art can reach its full potential.

What are you excited to explore next in your career journey?

I’m currently focused on transitioning into a full-time entertainment law or business affairs role; ideally supporting studios, production companies, or emerging media entities as they navigate this rapidly evolving landscape. I’m especially excited by the future of film financing, creator-led models, and the expansion of sports-entertainment hybrids.

Long term, my goal is to operate at the executive level where I can combine my producing background with high-level legal strategy to help innovative projects thrive.

As an overall career goal, I intend to be part of the movement reshaping what the next era of entertainment looks like. The industry is undergoing enormous transformation, from the collapse of the old streaming models, to shifting theatrical landscapes, to AI, to new distribution verticals, to ongoing questions about sustainability in indie film.

These changes aren’t just technological or economic; they are human. And I want to be at the forefront of rebuilding the system in a way that actually supports the artists and craftspeople who make this industry possible.

My long-term goal is to push forward a people-first model at scale, one where ethical producing and sound legal practice work hand-in-hand to ensure that creative professionals are protected, compensated fairly, and given the conditions necessary to do their best work. I truly believe this is how the industry stabilizes: by investing in the workforce that creates the stories audiences love.

Whether through production counseling, business affairs work, or eventually serving on an in-house team shaping policy and practice, I want to help build a future where filmmaking is sustainable, where filmmakers can afford to stay in the industry, and where ethical logistics are seen not as luxuries but as foundational infrastructure.

We’re in a moment of enormous uncertainty, but also enormous possibility. I’m excited to be part of the generation that helps define what comes next.

Connect with Leah Gaydos on LinkedIn.

(All images courtesy of Leah Gaydos)