Episode 199: Jonathan Handel – Who Do You Want to Be?

A wide-ranging conversation with noted entertainment and technology lawyer, journalist, media commentator, and writer Jonathan Handel, with a focus on his children’s picture book, Who Do You Want to Be?

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About Who Do You Want to Be?

What do you want to do when you grow up?

One day my best friend
Said to me
Who in the world
Do you wanna be?

I thought and thought
And thought and said
Maybe a fireman
Cuz their trucks are red?

That’s not a great reason—but there are dozens of other possibilities in this lyrical, illustrated story. It’s an affirming book written for diverse kids aged 4-8 and their parents, but it just might appeal to anyone who isn’t sure what they want to do for work. (And, really, who is?)

With large illustrations on just about every page and rhymes throughout, it’s a great gift for any young kid. Handel is contributing ten percent of the book’s revenue to The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization.

About Jonathan Handel

Jonathan Handel is a transactional entertainment and technology lawyer at Feig/Finkel and independently, with an additional specialty in Hollywood unions and guilds, and is also a journalist, media commentator and occasional writer of screenplays, poetry and stories. A preeminent expert on Hollywood unions and guilds and the author of multiple books, Jonathan was a Contributing Writer for Puck News in 2022-2024 and a contributing editor at The Hollywood Reporter from 2010 to 2020, where he wrote about 1,400 articles. He has also appeared over 1,600 times as a commentator on entertainment law and business in most major television, radio, print and online outlets across the world. Jonathan has been an adjunct professor at UCLA, USC, and Southwestern law schools. 

Named by the Daily Journal as one of the top 100 lawyers in California, Jonathan has been profiled in a book, articles, websites and podcasts. He is a member of the Television Academy and an associate member of the Dramatists Guild and the Society of Composers & Lyricists. He’s a graduate of Harvard College (1982/83 AB magna cum laude in applied math and computer science) and Harvard Law School (1990 JD cum laude). Prior to law school, he worked in tech and was a Democratic party elected official and gay activist. Visit jhandel.com and jhandel.news.