Legendary Hollywood producer Debra Martin Chase almost left the business almost 10 years ago. But Vernon Jordan convinced her to stick with it

Debra Martin Chase brought us childhood cult classics like The Princess Diaries AND Sister of the Traveling Pants. But about 10 years ago, Chase, who now serves as CEO of Martin Chase Productions, almost gave up on the entertainment industry.

“It was a time in the business when no one was interested in making television or movies about women, women of color and people of color. It just wasn’t happening,” Chase said during an interview on the main stage at FortuneThe Most Powerful Women Summit in Laguna Niguel, California, on Tuesday. “I would come in and throw things and people’s eyes would glaze over.”

It was a hard pill to swallow for Chase, who said she sacrificed her career in the entertainment industry to bring more diversity to the big screen. She wanted to influence culture and industry.

“Then all of a sudden I started throwing things at the wall,” Chase said. “It didn’t matter to me. And if it doesn’t matter to me, I can’t sell it.” At that moment, she thought it was the universe’s way of telling her that she was doing well in the entertainment industry. At that point, she had been at Disney for 20 years, but the people who were personally invested in her were “long gone.”

At this point, she thought about considering other options, including film finance or law (she received her J.D. from Harvard Law School). But a longtime friend convinced her to stay the course – no less than Vernon Jordan Jr. Jordan was an American business executive and civil rights lawyer, a close adviser to President Bill Clinton and executive director of the National Urban League. He died at his home in Washington, D.C. in March 2021 at the age of 85. Chase had known him since she was 18.

He was “a life expert and knew me well,” Chase said. “He sat there and listened to me pouring my heart out, and he looked at me and said, ‘You’re too old to do anything else.’”

But Jordan also told Chase, “You have a great reputation, you have great relationships, you have great experience. You have to figure out how to make it work. This was a slap in the face to Chase – which she literally demonstrated on stage – and kept her on the film production track.

Sisterhood has played a key role in the survival of the entertainment industry

In addition to Jordan’s advice, Chase and her fellow panelists Pearlena Igbokwe, president of Universal Studio Group, and Nina Shaw, founder of Del Shaw Moonves Tanaka Finkelstein Lezcano Bobb & Dang law group, said there is another key to success in Hollywood: sisterhood.

“Literally these women held me up and I know we helped each other,” Chase said.

And these three women have been supporting each other for a long time. Shaw first met Chase when she was a summer clerk and Chase was a paralegal – and the two were friends with Anita Hill, a famous lawyer who first came into the spotlight after testifying at the 1991 Senate confirmation hearings. candidacy for the Supreme Court of the United States Clarence Thomas, whom she accused of sexual harassment. Hill was also the summer clerk at the time.

“We were three black women,” Chase said, adding that she met Igbokwe early in her career and now the two work together. Igbokwe currently oversees over 100 projects on over 25 platforms worldwide, bringing us hits such as Law and order AND Hooks. “It’s sisterhood.”

Chase also discovered other famous writers, producers and actors, including Shonda Rhimes, Anne Hathaway, Blake Lively and Jesse Williams. Shaw credits Chase with introducing her to musician John Legend, who is now her client. Producing partner Legend contacted Chase one evening looking for a lawyer, and Shaw happened to be in the car with Chase that evening. The two went to Legend’s house that evening and signed him to a contract, which led to other important contacts with Shaw – including Quinta Brunson, creator of the hit TV show Abbott Elementary School.

Although these three women dominate the entertainment industry, none of their paths have been linear or easy.

“I tell people I became an overnight sensation for 30 years,” Igbokwe said. “When I got this job as CEO (people said), ‘it came out of nowhere. For some people, that was the perception. For me, it was a constant work in business.”

This story was originally published on Fortune.com