LSU Law Alumnae and Red Street Pictures President Ivy Withrow
In December, Redburn Street Pictures released “The Last Champion,” the family-run production company’s first film to be produced in Baton Rouge. Among the co-writers of the film is LSU Law alumna Ivy Withrow (’18), who has been producing and writing movies alongside her parents since her high school days in Los Angeles, California.
While wrapping up her undergraduate studies at Chapman University in Orange, California, Ivy says the idea of pursuing her law degree in Baton Rouge “was kind of the last thing on my radar.” But that changed when her father—actor, director, and producer Glenn Withrow—decided to relocate Redburn Street Pictures from Los Angeles to Baton Rouge right around the same time she was making her final decision on where to attend law school. Ivy toured LSU Law at her father’s suggestion and says it was “love at first sight.”
“When I came to the admitted students weekend in 2015 after I got accepted, I totally fell in love with it,” she says. “I loved the program and got a good vibe from everyone I met.”
After earning her J.D. and Graduate Diploma in Comparative Law at LSU Law, Ivy began serving as president of Redburn Street Pictures, working alongside her father and mother, actress Hallie Todd. All three are co-writers of “The Last Champion,” for which Glenn is producer and director, and Hallie has a significant acting role. They began writing it about seven years ago, with work and filming taking place throughout Ivy’s three years at LSU Law.
“Even though it was certainly challenging to balance the film and law school, I don’t know if I would do it any other way,” says Ivy, who spent her summers at LSU Law on film sets and interning for Sexual Trauma Awareness & Response, a nonprofit organization she is very passionate about. “I had an amazing support system of incredible friends at the Law Center who were able to help me stay on track.”
Ivy says her degree from LSU Law benefits her work as a writer, producer, and president of her family’s production company in many ways.
“Understanding the law is so important, especially when I’m looking at contracts and communicating with other lawyers,” she says. “It’s also really important to have this education on the producer side of it. It opened up my whole world and informs my writing, which I’m grateful for.”
Ivy says her experience is proof that a high-quality law education provides endless career opportunities, no matter what students aspire to do after earning their law degree.
“The education in and of itself is so great,” she says. “I think for anyone, even if they’re not pursuing a career in the legal profession in a traditional way, law school can open up so many doors for different professions.”
As for now, Ivy and her parents are balancing marketing “The Last Champion” and working on upcoming projects. When asked if she would ever consider making an on-screen appearance like her mother, Ivy laughs and replies, “I love my job working behind the scenes, but maybe one day, you never know.”
