LISTEN: Cannes Film Festival Slate Showcases Euro Auteurs; Patricia Glaser Defends Casey Wasserman and More From Variety’s Power of Law

In the March 27, 2025, episode of the 'Daily Variety' podcast, Variety journalists Brent Lang and Elsa Keslassy provided an in-depth analysis of the newly announced Cannes Film Festival lineup, highlighting its strong focus on European auteur cinema, while prominent Hollywood attorney Patricia Glaser delivered a robust defense of her client, embattled sports and entertainment executive Casey Wasserman, and commented on broader industry issues from her Los Angeles base. The analysis of the Cannes slate reveals a deliberate curatorial shift by festival director Thierry Frémaux, favoring established European directors over high-profile Hollywood studio productions. Films from auteurs like Italy's Paolo Sorrentino, France's Jacques Audiard, and Germany's Maren Ade are set to dominate the Competition section, signaling a return to the festival's roots as a bastion of cinematic art. This programming choice is seen as a response to both the evolving global film market and a desire to reaffirm Cannes's distinct cultural identity amidst the streaming era's homogenizing pressures. In a separate segment, litigator Patricia Glaser, speaking from her firm in Los Angeles, addressed the controversy surrounding Casey Wasserman, chairman and CEO of Wasserman Media Group. Glaser forcefully rebutted recent allegations of financial misconduct leveled against Wasserman, framing them as a targeted smear campaign driven by business rivals. She further contextualized her defense within a broader critique of the 'toxic' influence of social media on public discourse and expressed concerns about the Southern California economy's reliance on a stable entertainment industry, suggesting that unfounded attacks on its key figures could have destabilizing ripple effects. The podcast episode thus wove together two narratives central to contemporary entertainment: the cultural strategy of a premier international festival and the high-stakes legal and reputational battles defining Hollywood's power structures. It underscored how artistic curation and corporate defense are both, in their own ways, acts of shaping narrative and influence in a rapidly changing media landscape.