Marcela Davison-Aviles
Partner

Contact:
(415) 362-3050

Education:

Stanford Law School, J.D., 1984
Harvard College, Bachelors of Fine Arts, 1980 (cum laude)

Marcela is a partner in Tactical Law's entertainment, intellectual property and outside general counsel practice groups.  She has over twenty years experience in the arts and entertainment sector as a producer, presenter, writer, consultant and legal advisor, with specific expertise advising creative professionals on enterprise and small business formation, project and content creation and management, protection of intellectual property, and non-profit organization governance and compliance in film, television, theater and the performing arts.

Marcela’s current experience as a producer and writer on multi-platform entertainment projects - including film, television, theater, festivals and concerts - informs her advisory practice and extensive network in Hollywood, New York and globally. Her experience on Academy Award winning films (COCO), Emmy winning television programs (ELENA OF AVALOR, HANDY MANNY) and NEA honored performing arts festivals provides unique hand’s on experience for her advisory counseling to independent producers, writers, filmmakers and creative professionals. Veteran and emerging creatives utilize Marcela’s insights and guidance that is both specific to production needs and general advisory guidance on pathways to industry access, deal strategy, financing exigencies and creative project valuation.​

In addition to her legal practice, Marcela has served as a Latino cultural advisor for The Walt Disney Company including Pixar Animation Studios, and has provided creative and strategic cultural consulting capacity on various Disney projects. Recently she was the lead cultural consultant for Pixar's 19th animated feature, Coco.  Her arts and entertainment production activities also include award-winning production on numerous festivals, concerts, theatrical productions, social media and documentary projects. You can learn more about her work in this space at www.tcginsights.com.

Recent press on Marcela's important cultural consulting work on Pixar's smash hit movie Coco include articles at the ​Washington Post, Vanity Fair, Hip Latina, and Tucson.com.

A first generation Mexican-American, Marcela also is a frequent commentator on issues impacting the arts and Latino community, and has appeared as a guest speaker on programs such as National Public Radio and CNN. Her thoughtful editorial opinions have been published numerous times in the San Jose Mercury News, CNN, ModernLatina.com and other media outlets. Marcela also testified before the United States Senate on a bill related to the establishment of a national museum for Latinos and appeared on multiple occasions before government agencies advocating on behalf of Latino issues. 

Marcela holds a BA degree in Fine Arts from Harvard College and a JD from Stanford. 

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