Roger Howard, a senior partner at entertainment law firm Glaser Weil, has died aged 81 after a battle with cancer. Over 35 years at the firm, Howard built a career as a corporate, real estate and mergers and acquisitions lawyer, representing studios, producers, filmmakers and Los Angeles County, and his legal work is credited with helping secure one of Hollywood's most notable recent preservation deals.

His most lasting legacy is likely to be his role guiding the 2024 acquisition of the historic Westwood Village Theatre by the Village Directors Circle, a coalition of major filmmakers including Jason Reitman, Steven Spielberg, Christopher Nolan and Guillermo del Toro, working alongside American Cinematheque. The nearly century-old, 1,000-plus-seat venue is set for a 12-month, multimillion-dollar renovation later this year. Howard, born in Los Angeles in 1944 and a UCLA law graduate, also sat on the Board of Governors of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center; he is survived by his wife, two children and six grandchildren, with the family requesting donations to Cedars-Sinai in lieu of flowers.