Scott Hummel, like so many of Whistler’s hires, met Sean at a bar – well, at the bar of a beloved restaurant, which somehow feels classier. Sean was immediately struck by the way Scott speaks (measured, precise, and with the diction of a New England boarding school head boy, despite growing up as a surfer in San Diego. Must be the Rudyard Kipling poetry he grew up on). Throughout the evening, his friends kept pulling Sean aside to explain why he “should really hire Scott.” They made a compelling case. References are important!
If those references weren’t enough to persuade the rest of the Whistler team, Scott’s twelve-year run at Disney did the trick. As a Creative Executive, he worked on films like Moana, Frozen, and Zootopia, helping to shepherd stories while thinking carefully about positioning, audience, and long-term franchise at one of the most sophisticated IP machines in the world, one that, in Scott’s words, “feeds all of the engines.”
After Disney, Scott expanded that brand lens further, first at an advertising agency developing campaigns for national brands and entertainment clients, and later as a freelance creative producer, contributing to projects for artists as varied as Mary J. Blige and Ai Weiwei. As the winds of the entertainment industry began to change, Scott recognized a familiar truth: if you want longevity, you have to evolve. So he did. What followed was a (somewhat surprising, even to himself) pivot to legal recruiting. It wasn’t a straight line, but it was a natural fit.
Today, Scott helps law firm partners think clearly about what’s next, pressure-testing decisions that will shape the rest of their careers, and refining the brands they’ve spent decades building. Despite being Whistler’s resident “entertainment guy,” he insists that his Letterboxd is very approachable, and he will gladly extol the virtues of Mrs. Doubtfire to you. While he isn’t quite ready to dress up as a Scottish housekeeper just to win you over, he is the type who will go above and beyond for his candidates.
Desired superpower:
"My unwavering conviction is that the single best answer to this question, which would facilitate many superpowers, is the ability to APPARATE."
Favorite Kevin Bacon movie:
"Kevin Bacon is dusty, and so I will disregard. Mrs Doubtfire, however, gets its flowers but is often forgotten for how great it truly is. It has everything you could want in a film—moments that make you laugh until you cry, others that simply make you cry, and a heartfelt theme that resonates with anyone at any age who’s ever been part of a family. They just don’t make movies like this anymore.”
Funniest quote from a significant other's mom:
"Parents love me, actually, and there's nothing funny about it."
